WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met at the White House on Tuesday to discuss efforts to revive peace negotiations with Russia and a proposed agreement allowing Ukraine to manufacture US-made Patriot missile interceptors.
The two leaders held private talks in the Oval Office without the presence of reporters.
The meeting gave Zelensky an opportunity to reinforce military cooperation with Washington at a time when ties between the two countries have improved after months of strained relations.
Despite the warming relationship, US military assistance to Ukraine has remained on hold. Kyiv has also lost a key supporter in Washington following the death earlier this month of Senator Lindsey Graham, one of Ukraine’s strongest advocates in the US Congress.
Graham, a Republican senator from South Carolina, died on July 11 at the age of 71 after suffering a heart ailment. A close ally of Trump, he was known for supporting an active US foreign policy and consistently backing Ukraine in its war against Russia.
The senator had visited Zelensky in Kyiv just one day before his death, marking his 10th trip to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022.
Following the White House meeting, Zelensky described the discussions as positive.
He wrote on Telegram that he had a “good meeting” with Trump and said the two leaders discussed the US president’s pledge, made during this month’s Nato summit, to grant Ukraine a licence to produce Patriot missile interceptors domestically.
As Russia has intensified missile attacks on Ukrainian cities, Kyiv’s stockpile of Patriot interceptors has dwindled. The Patriot system remains Ukraine’s only operational defence capable of intercepting ballistic missiles.
“We talked with the president about licences for producing interceptors for the Patriots and other ideas that could help,” Zelensky said.
