Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed a "good meeting" with Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday, where discussions centred on air defence provisions and the necessity for "reinvigorated" peace talks with Russia.
This engagement occurred a day after the Ukrainian president visited the UK, during which the prime minister pledged ongoing support for Kyiv, now in the fifth year of its conflict with Moscow.
Following these talks, Mr Zelensky attended the funeral of the Republican senator Lindsey Graham, whom he lauded as "a true friend of Ukraine".
Senator Graham's unexpected death came after a visit to Kyiv, where he secured cross-party backing for a sanctions package aimed at countries acquiring Russian oil, gas and other exports.
Mr Zelensky confirmed in a post on X following the private meeting that they had discussed the US president’s recent pledge at the Nato summit to allow Ukraine to produce Patriot missile interceptors as well as “several other ideas that could help”.
Permission to make the defence system had been a long-running request by the Kyiv government to counter Russian rocket attacks.
Mr Zelensky added: “We also spoke about diplomacy – it’s important that the diplomatic process be reinvigorated.”
Ahead of the meeting, Mr Zelensky had warned that Russia was providing Iran with satellite images to carry out strikes on US bases in the Gulf region, although Mr Trump downplayed any impact of potential Russian assistance for Iran.
The face-to-face talks represent a significant turnaround in relations between the two leaders, after Mr Trump had previously described Ukraine’s president as a “dictator” and last year’s Oval Office clash where Mr Zelensky was publicly berated for being ungrateful for American support.
Mr Trump also held discussions on Tuesday with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ahead of Mr Graham’s funeral.
White house press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on X: “Both meetings were positive and productive!”
Mr Zelensky had flown to Washington after he was hosted by Andy Burnham at Portsmouth naval base.
The PM said it was “no accident” the Ukrainian president was his first international guest since taking office and said the UK could be counted on “for as long as it takes”.
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