Zelensky Praises Meeting with Trump, Discusses Patriot Missiles and Russia

JAKARTA - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised his meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday, saying they discussed permission to produce Patriot air defense interceptors and ways to revive negotiations with Russia.

President Zelensky spent more than an hour with President Trump, in talks conducted with Kyiv and Moscow to intensify long-range attacks and US-led diplomatic efforts to end the stalled war.

"Thank you for everything we have done together to protect the lives of Ukrainian citizens and advance peace," President Zelensky said after the meeting in a post on the X social media as reported by Al Arabiya from AFP (29/7).

"The president and I discussed Patriot interceptor production permits and several other ideas that could help," he continued.

"We also talked about diplomacy - it is important to revive the diplomatic process," President Zelensky said.

President Zelensky said officials from both countries would arrange further discussions, adding he was grateful for Washington's "strong support".

The relationship between the two leaders has warmed since the start of US President Donald Trump's second term, with the Republican president earlier this month saying a Ukrainian attack on Russia could help end the war.

Meanwhile, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP ahead of the meeting that Kyiv's priority was new supplies of anti-ballistic missiles and ways to revive diplomacy, more than four years after Russia's massive invasion.

According to the UN, last month was the deadliest month for Ukrainian civilians since April 2022, when Russia increased its use of hard-to-intercept ballistic missiles.

"It is very important for Washington to approve the purchase of a Patriot missile package. That is very important," said the Ukrainian official.

Since returning to power last year, Trump has ended direct shipments of US weapons to Kiev, instead allowing European countries to buy weapons for Ukraine.

Even so, Washington remains its main ally, supplying intelligence and access to the Starlink satellite system used for communications on the battlefield.

Relations between the two leaders have improved since their extraordinary confrontation in the Oval Office in February 2025, when Trump accused Zelensky of being ungrateful and "gambling with World War III."

At their last meeting in Turkey this month, the US president praised the Ukrainian president for doing "an incredible job" and offered Kyiv a license to produce Patriot missiles.

Last week, Zelensky spoke with US Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner about how to "restart diplomacy" after the Middle East war made Ukrainian negotiations off the Washington agenda.

Ukraine and Russia have stepped up mutual attacks in recent times. Hours before Zelensky's meeting with Trump, Kyiv launched hundreds of drones into Russia.

Meanwhile, Moscow fired more than 100 drones into Ukraine overnight and continued to attack the port of Odesa and ships carrying Ukrainian agricultural exports.