WASHINGTON − Former President Donald Trump plans to meet Friday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as America's role in the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine has become a factor in the 2024 election.

“President Zelenskyy has asked to meet with me, and I will be meeting with him tomorrow morning at around 9:45 in Trump Tower," the Republican nominee told reporters during a Thursday news conference. "It's a shame what's happening in Ukraine, so many deaths, so much destruction. It's a horrible thing."

“Let's get some peace. We need peace. We need to stop the death and destruction. Don't you think? Wouldn't that be nice?"

During his visit to the U.S. this week for United Nations meetings, Zelenskyy and supporters have alleged Trump's calls for peace in the region involve Ukraine giving up territory to Russian leader Vladimir Putin. In an interview with The New Yorker magazine, Zelenskyy took particular aim at Trump running mate JD Vance, calling him "too radical" and saying "the idea that the world should end this war at Ukraine’s expense is unacceptable."

The Ukraine president also said that "my feeling is that Trump doesn’t really know how to stop the war even if he might think he knows how."

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Trump has long claimed without evidence that Russia would not have embarked on its bloody invasion of Ukraine if he was currently in the White House. Trump has said some U.S. aid to Ukraine is a waste of money and has declined to say whether he wants Ukraine to win.

“Every time Zelenskyy comes to the United States, he walks away with $100 billion,” Trump said during a speech Tuesday in Savannah, Georgia. “I think he’s the greatest salesman on Earth. But we’re stuck in that war unless I’m president.”

Zelenskyy has already met with Trump's opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as President Joe Biden.

After her meeting with Zelenskyy, Harris appeared to take a jab at Trump by telling the Ukrainian president that "there are some in my country who would instead force Ukraine to give up large parts of its sovereign territory, who would demand that Ukraine accept neutrality, and would require Ukraine to forego security relationships with other nations."

Harris, who has accused Trump of being too supportive of Putin, added that "these proposals are the same as those of Putin. And let us be clear, they are not proposals for peace. Instead, they are proposals for surrender, which is dangerous and unacceptable."

As Trump and Zelenskyy arranged their meeting for Friday, some Republican leaders criticized Ukraine's president for what they called a political tone to his current U.S. visit. They focused on a Zelenskyy trip to Pennsylvania, appearing with Democratic leaders in a key electoral battleground state.

In a public letter, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., demanded that Zelenskyy fire its ambassador to the U.S. for arranging the trip to a munitions factory in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

"The tour was clearly a partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats and is clearly election interference," Johnson said.

Trump and Zelenskyy have not met in person since Trump's presidential term ended in 2021.

Trump's dealings with Zelenskyy became the subject of his first impeachment as president by the U.S. House of Representatives in 2019. He was accused of pressing Zelenskyy to help smear Biden in return for aid, but was acquitted by the Senate in 2020.

Contributing: Reuters; Joey Garrison, USA TODAY