Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday, which is part of a week-long coordinated effort by Ukrainians to shift the U.S. administration's attention from the Middle East to Russia.
The two presidents will discuss Kiev's request to provide Tomahawk long-range missiles and other additional weapons and air defense systems. The topic of their talks will also be strengthening Ukraine's energy resilience and tightening cooperation in the field of drone production.
U.S. and Ukrainian officials will hold bilateral talks before the meeting at the White House.
— Many Ukrainian delegations are already working to make the most of Friday's leaders' meeting, Olga Stefanishyna, Ukraine's new ambassador to the United States, told POLITICO. — This is a completely new format of cooperation —she emphasized.
— Military teams have been working for two weeks, the Prime Minister is working with financial partners to coordinate activities; economic and energy delegations are focused on mitigating the effects of Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure by mobilizing US involvement in gas purchases, she explained.
“A strong impulse for peace”
On Monday, Zelensky told Ukrainian journalists that Trump advised him to meet with representatives of energy companies while in Washington. During his visit, the Ukrainian leader also intends to talk to arms companies and Congress leaders. Zelensky emphasized that his The priority will be the protection of Ukrainian infrastructure against ongoing Russian missile attacks, but did not mention who exactly he would meet on his trip.
Trump has often lamented that the war between Russia and Ukraine is much more difficult to resolve than he initially thought — but that calculation may now change as the administration remains hopeful after its success in the Middle East.
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“President Trump has long expressed a desire to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, just as he ended the war between Israel and Hamas,” said a White House official granted anonymity to comment on the administration's position.
Zelensky seems eager to using the administration's momentumwhich he suggested in a speech to the nation on Tuesday. As he emphasized, “currently there is a strong impulse for peace in the world.”
— The US president himself and his team did a lot, and various leaders also got involved and helped a lot, Zelensky continued. — Now there are serious chances for life without war in the Middle East. This shows that you can really put pressure on Russia to stop its aggression.
“The president remains optimistic”
The representative of the White House emphasized that Russia should be motivated to enter into talks due to its military and economic position.
– As the president said, the war is not going well for Russiawhose economy is in shambles and which continues to lose thousands of lives while gaining virtually no land. If they had been wise to pursue an agreement to end a war that has done significant damage to Russia's reputation, it would have stoppedkilling and put their country back on track. President Putin has repeatedly rejected generous peace offers that would have benefited Russia, the official noted.
“The president remains optimistic that he will be able to get both sides to stop the senseless killing,” he added.
Of course, Trump has talked about this before — most recently claiming, after several days of tumultuous diplomacy in August, that Putin and Zelensky had agreed to meet. This meeting never took place.
US President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, DC, October 14, 2025.Andrew CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP / AFP
Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy and chief negotiator for the Middle East and Europe, has told foreign partners that the president's three main foreign policy goals for his second term are ending the conflict in Gaza, ending the war between Russia and Ukraine and reaching a new nuclear deal with Iran, according to a person close to the president's national security team.
“They decided that Gaza would be the easiest of the three targets,” he said. — But they don't give up on the others. If anything, then there is a belief that success will lead to further successes.
Stefanishyna stressed that Kiev's efforts to engage with the White House, lawmakers and business communities in Washington are aimed at “revealing the potential for a global political push to end the war.”
In an interview with POLITICO, she explained that Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov and the head of Zelensky's office, Andriy Yermak, arrived in Washington on Monday and will talk about strengthening Ukrainian air defense, long-range capabilities, resilience of the energy sector and imposing additional sanctions on Russia.
She also suggested announcing additional arms shipments to Ukraine as part of the new Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative, established earlier this year by NATO to broker and cover the costs of US arms deliveries to Ukraine. Additionally, the ambassador signaled a willingness to expand economic ties beyond the minerals agreement signed earlier this year through a technology exchange agreement that would give the United States access to Ukrainian drone technologies.
“This partnership is not only a strategic benefit for Ukraine, but also a real contribution to the security of the United States and allies around the world,” she said.
“Putin must end this war”
Trump's success in the Middle East may have strengthened his confidence in his diplomatic abilities, but so far Russia has remained largely unresponsive to his peacemaking efforts.
Trump, working closely with Arab partners, he was able to put pressure on on weakened Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to accept a ceasefire agreement after Hamas partially agreed to it. But it has much less influence on Putin, who is generally less dependent on the United States and more resistant to the political pressures faced by democratically elected leaders.
Trump publicly confirmed Zelensky's interest in Tomahawk missiles, suggesting that may decide to deliver them to Ukraine in response to Putin's continued reluctance to engage in substantive peace talks. However, he also mentioned the risk of escalation of the conflict if Russia, concerned about the ability of Tomahawk missiles to hit Moscow, perceived the transfer of them to Ukraine as a fuller involvement of the United States in the war.
Asked Tuesday about his upcoming meeting with Zelensky, Trump repeated his oft-expressed surprise at Putin's determination to continue fighting.
“Vladimir and I had a good relationship, we probably still do,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. – I don't know why he continues this war… He needs to really end this war.
I’m Ashley Davis as an editor, I’m committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity and accuracy in every piece we publish. My work is driven by curiosity, a passion for truth, and a belief that journalism plays a crucial role in shaping public discourse. I strive to tell stories that not only inform but also inspire action and conversation.
