During his latest visit to the White House on Tuesday, July 28, President Volodymyr Zelensky met with representatives from Lockheed Martin, one of the largest American defense manufacturers, to discuss expanding joint production.Zelensky announced the meeting in a statement on Telegram, noting that Ukraine has been cooperating with the company for years, and is now working toward a deeper partnership.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.“Today, we discussed even greater development of our cooperation – joint production and technology exchange,” Zelensky said.“Our teams are already working on concrete solutions to move as quickly as possible toward joint production and to increase our capacity to protect lives,” he continued.Talks focused on Patriot production capacityZelensky praised Lockheed Martin as “one of the strongest defense companies in the United States,” noting that the company produces Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS), a long-range guided ballistic missile, alongside High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), and Air Force F-16 fighter jets, the same type Romania used to down Russian drones in its territorial waters over the weekend on July 24-26.According to Zelensky, both sides are pursuing concrete steps to accelerate the transition toward co-production arrangements rather than relying solely on imported systems, as Russia continues to launch ballistic missiles on Ukraine, and tensions between Iran and the US deepen.