Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that he would meet US
President Donald Trump in Washington on Friday, where the two
would discuss Ukraine’s air defence and long-range strike
capabilities.
The two leaders spoke on both Saturday and Sunday amid
intensifying discussions about the potential provision of
long-range Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv, and a Ukrainian delegation
led by Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko is slated to visit
Washington before the Friday meeting.
Kyiv has been lobbying Washington to supply the
US-produced missiles, which have the capacity to hit Moscow,
but which Ukrainians say would be used only on military targets.
Moscow has said such a move would represent a serious
escalation.
Zelenskyy said he had given Trump, who has increasingly
signalled frustration with Russia in recent weeks, an idea of
how many of the coveted Tomahawks Ukraine needs.
“Frankly, I’ve already shared our vision with Trump… but
some of these things are not for a phone conversation, so we’ll
meet,” he told reporters in Kyiv.
Trump has said he is considering sending the missiles to
Ukraine, though he has also said he might talk to Russian
President Vladimir Putin about it.
Ukraine and the US are also closing in on a landmark drone
deal in which Ukraine would share drone technology with the
United States. European diplomats see such a deal as an
important tool for keeping the mercurial US president engaged
and supportive of Ukraine.
Diplomatic efforts to end the war, now in its fourth year,
have stalled as Russia steps up strikes on Ukrainian energy
facilities and presses forward with grinding gains on the
battlefield.
Zelenskyy said he will also meet with representatives of
US energy companies to discuss Ukraine’s current needs amid
what he described as shifting Russian tactics in strikes on
Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
Russian forces have recently targeted Ukrainian gas
production and the country’s power grid, with Zelenskyy adding
that Kyiv could soon be forced to begin importing electricity.
Ukraine has also carried out strikes on Russian oil
refineries, causing gasoline shortages.
