Zelenskyy, Trump discuss air defense, long-range systems
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump discussed air defense and long-range systems during their meeting, as well as Trump's upcoming meeting with Vladimir Putin in Budapest.
"I thank the U.S. team. We talked about air defense, about our air defense systems, which are extremely important for us. And even as we're speaking now, a large number of drones are being used to strike Ukraine, to strike our families," Zelenskyy said at the Washington briefing following his meeting with Trump.
According to Zelenskyy, the teams will continue discussions about air defense production and procurement of various systems from different countries.
"But the positive signal is that we will continue to work on this. We understand the quantities we need and where we can get them. Of course, we understand there are certain challenges along the way," he said.
The leaders also discussed long-range systems, but according to Zelenskyy, "we decided not to talk about that right now, and the United States does not want escalation, so any possible questions on this topic will remain unanswered."
In addition, Zelenskyy and Trump discussed the U.S. president's upcoming meeting with Putin in Budapest. Trump, in turn, shared information about his dialogue with the Russian side.
"So we understand all the signals coming from Russia. They are not new. We are counting on pressure from President Trump to help bring this war to an end," Zelenskyy said.