President Volodymyr Zelensky spent more than 1 hour in talks with President Donald Trump. He said that the parties discussed a license to produce Patriot interceptor missiles.
Thank you for everything we have done together to protect the lives of the Ukrainian people and promote peace" - Mr. Zelensky shared on X after the talks.
“The President and I have discussed the Patriot missile manufacturing license as well as some other ideas that may be useful. We have also talked about diplomacy. It is important that the diplomatic process needs to be revived,” he added.
Mr. Zelensky revealed that Ukrainian and US officials will arrange further discussions. The Ukrainian leader also emphasized his gratitude for Washington's "strong support".
Before the meeting of US-Ukraine leaders, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP that Kiev's priorities are the supply of new air defense missiles and ways to restore diplomacy more than 4 years after the conflict in Ukraine broke out.
It is essential that Washington approve the purchase of a Patriot missile package. That is extremely important," the Ukrainian official said.
Since returning to power in 2025, Mr. Trump has stopped the US directly supplying weapons to Ukraine. Instead, he allowed European countries to buy weapons for Ukraine.
However, Washington is still an important ally of Kiev, providing intelligence and access to the Starlink satellite system used for ground communications.
Last week, President Zelensky discussed with President Trump's special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner how to restart diplomacy after the Middle East conflict pushed Ukraine talks to a secondary position on Washington's agenda.
Within the framework of his visit to the United States, Mr. Zelensky also attended a memorial service for Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a supporter of Ukraine, who died suddenly in July.
President Zelensky said he had sent condolences to President Trump on the passing of Senator Graham, calling the senator "a true friend of Ukraine".
After the meeting at the White House and the memorial service for Senator Graham, President Zelensky delivered a speech to senators at 6 pm on July 28, local time (5 am on July 29, Hanoi time), right before the initial procedure vote on the Russian sanctions bill.
Senator Graham spent more than 1 year supporting this measure and reached an agreement with the White House on the amendments right before his death. The bill has 62 senators co-sponsoring it.
