Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that he had a “very important and productive” phone call with President Donald Trump.
The two leaders discussed how Ukrainian air defenses might be strengthened, possible joint weapons production between the U.S. and Ukraine, and broader U.S-led efforts to end the war with Russia, according to a statement by Zelenskyy.
“I had a very important and fruitful conversation with @POTUS,” Zelenskyy wrote on X. “I congratulated President Trump and the entire American people on the US Independence Day. We – in Ukraine – are grateful for all the support provided. It helps us protect lives, safeguard our freedom and independence. We have achieved a lot together with America and we support all efforts to stop the killings and restore just, lasting, and dignified peace. A noble agreement for peace is needed.”
“President Trump is very well informed, and I thank him for his attention to Ukraine,” he continued. “We spoke about opportunities in air defense and agreed that we will work together to strengthen protection of our skies. We have also agreed to a meeting between our teams. We had a detailed conversation about defense industry capabilities and joint production. We are ready for direct projects with the United States and believe this is critically important for security, especially when it comes to drones and related technologies. We also touched on mutual procurement and investment. Finally, we exchanged views on the diplomatic situation and joint work with the U.S. and other partners.”
Asked by reporters aboard Air Force One late Friday, Trump said he and Zelenskyy had “a very good call, I think a very strategic call.”
“Well, we’ve been helping them, and we’ll continue to help them,” Trump said of the Ukrainians. “It’s a pretty tough situation. We’ll see what happens. I told you I was very unhappy with my call with President Putin. And it just seems like he wants to go all the way and just keep killing people. No good. It’s not good. I was unhappy with him.”
When asked if the U.S. would sell more Patriot missiles to Ukraine, Trump said, “Yeah, we might. We’re looking at it.”
“They need them for defense. I don’t want to see people killed. They’re going to need them for defense. They’re amazingly effective,” Trump said. “They’re going to need something because they’re being hit pretty hard.”
