Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday welcomed a “good meeting” with Donald Trump at the White House during which they discussed the possibility for Ukraine to produce Patriot interceptors, vital for the anti-aircraft defense of Kyiv.
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“The president and I discussed licensing for the production of Patriot interceptors and other ideas that could help,” the Ukrainian president said on X after the nearly hour-long closed-door meeting in the Oval Office.
At the beginning of July, Donald Trump expressed his desire to authorize Ukraine to produce these surface-to-air missiles and their meeting comes at a time when Russia is intensifying its strikes on Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (left) and U.S. President Donald Trump pose for a photo during their meeting in Washington, DC, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
AFP
Before the meeting, Volodymyr Zelensky had expressed his “absolute priority”: “defense against ballistic missiles”.
According to the UN, June was the deadliest month for Ukrainian civilians since April 2022, as Russia increased its ballistic missile strikes, which were particularly difficult to intercept.
Only American Patriot systems are capable of shooting them down, but Ukraine is seriously lacking PAC-3 interceptor missiles. A shortage which has worsened since the war launched by the United States with Israel against Iran in February.
Moscow intends to further increase its attacks by deploying additional ballistic launchers near the Ukrainian border and expects new deliveries of this type from North Korea in August, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaking with US President Donald Trump during their meeting in Washington, DC
AFP
Diplomacy to be “revived”
“It is crucial that Washington authorizes the purchase of a batch of Patriot missiles,” added this source, who refused to specify how many missiles Kyiv requests, simply stating: “Enough to be able to intercept what Putin uses in a month.”
“A lot will depend on President Trump’s mood,” the official conceded before the meeting.
In July alone, Moscow launched 120 high-speed ballistic and anti-ship missiles against Ukraine, of which only 35 were intercepted, according to the Ukrainian Air Force.
For comparison, Russia had fired between 250 and 320 ballistic missiles over the whole of 2024, according to expert estimates.
According to Volodymyr Zelensky, the meeting was also an opportunity to talk about “diplomacy”.
“It is important that the diplomatic process be revived” to end the conflict, he urged in his message on X.
A good meeting with President Trump @POTUS at the Oval Office. Thank you for everything we do together to protect the lives of Ukrainians and advance peace. First and foremost, I offered President Trump our condolences on the passing of Lindsey Graham. He was a true friend of… pic.twitter.com/56yoaeqb2B
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Volodymyr Zelensky (@ZelenskyyUa) July 28, 2026
The meeting took place on the day of the planned tribute to Senator Lindsey Graham, who died on July 11, and whom the Ukrainian president described on Tuesday as a “true friend of Ukraine”.
Relations between Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump have long been tense, sometimes stormy.
Since his return to power, Donald Trump has largely interrupted direct deliveries of American weapons to Kyiv, preferring the PURL program which allows Europeans to buy them and then transfer them to Ukraine.
Meeting at the Capitol
During a memorable meeting in February 2025, the two presidents had an argument in front of the cameras in the Oval Office, with Donald Trump accusing Volodymyr Zelensky of ingratitude and of “playing with World War III”.
But in recent weeks, the American president has shown more complacency towards his Ukrainian counterpart.
During their last meeting in early July in Türkiye, he said that Volodymyr Zelensky was doing “a wonderful job”.
After his meeting at the White House and a ceremony for Lindsey Graham at the Washington Cathedral, the Ukrainian president is expected at the Capitol at the end of the day for a meeting with several senators.
He should push elected officials to adopt a new package of sanctions against Russia, which Lindsey Graham had defended and to which Donald Trump would have recently given his approval.
Relations between Moscow and Washington have cooled recently, after initiatives by the United States which resulted in an invitation to Vladimir Putin by Donald Trump for a summit in August 2025.
During a meeting in Manila last week, the head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov, warned his American counterpart, Marco Rubio, against continuing arms deliveries to Ukraine.
