Ukraine’s Zelenskyy hails ‘good meeting’ with Trump at White House

Discussions included joint production of Patriot missiles in Ukraine to bolster defence against Russian aerial attacks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he held a “good meeting” with his United States counterpart Donald Trump at the White House, the latest sign that the once-frosty relationship between the two leaders has significantly improved in recent months.

“Good meeting with President Trump in the Oval Office. Thank you for all that we are doing together to protect the lives of Ukrainians and achieve peace,” Zelenskyy said after the meeting on Tuesday.

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“We talked with the president about licences to produce Patriot interceptor missiles in Ukraine,” he said on Telegram.

Earlier this month, Trump agreed to allow Ukraine to jointly produce Patriot air defence interceptors, a crucial component of the country’s defence against Russian aerial attacks.

Zelenskyy said the talks also centred on reviving diplomatic efforts to bring the more than four-year-running war to an end.

The meeting took place behind closed doors and, according to US media, lasted just over an hour. It came on the same day that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was also at the White House for talks with Trump.

White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said in a post on X that both encounters were “positive and productive”.

The Ukrainian president arrived in the US earlier to attend Senator Lindsey Graham’s funeral service. He will also hold separate talks with Finnish President Alexander Stubb and a bipartisan group of senators as the US Senate prepares to hold its first vote on the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctions Act on Russia and Iran.

“Our number-one priority is anti-ballistic defence and strategic cooperation with America. Peace needs to be brought closer,” Zelenskyy had said upon his arrival in the US.

Kyiv and Washington are also moving closer to a deal on joint drone production, a move that could help the US catch up with Ukraine in one of the war’s most important military technologies. Ukraine is on track to produce six to seven million short-range attack drones this year, while the Pentagon’s $1.1bn production programme is expected to have ordered nearly 200,000 drones by February 2027.

The cooperation marks a significant improvement in the two countries’ relationship following a disastrous meeting in February last year, during which Trump and Vice President JD Vance publicly berated Zelenskyy, accusing him of being insufficiently grateful for US assistance.

The Trump administration has sharply curtailed new military assistance to Ukraine, leaving Europe as Kyiv’s main source of financial and military support.

The US has continued to act as a mediator in the war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. However, diplomatic efforts have slowed in recent weeks as Washington has focused on other foreign policy priorities.

Trump and Zelenskyy have met several times in recent weeks, including at the NATO summit in Ankara earlier this month and at the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains in mid-June. At both meetings, the two leaders reaffirmed their support for closer cooperation on the war.

In Ankara, Trump said he had a good relationship with his Ukrainian counterpart.