U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met on Tuesday to discuss expanding Ukraine's domestic weapons production and other measures to bolster Kyiv's defense against Russia, ahead of attending Sen. Lindsey Graham's funeral.
The sit-down in the Oval Office, which was closed to the media, followed a consequential meeting at the NATO summit earlier this month in Ankara, Turkey, where Trump announced that the U.S. will give Ukraine a license to make Patriot defense systems - a long-running request from Kyiv to counter Russian missile attacks.
In a post on social media after the meeting, Zelenskyy thanked Trump for the "good meeting” and the Republican administration's efforts to aid Kyiv in the long-running war, which began more than four years ago when Russia invaded Ukraine.
"The President and I discussed licenses for Patriot interceptor production and several other ideas that could help,” said Zelenskyy, who also noted that he offered condolences to Trump for the death of Graham , a close ally. "We also spoke about diplomacy - it’s important that the diplomatic process be reinvigorated.”
The White House did not immediately return a request for comment on the meeting.
