In the first reaction after Trump announced that he was meeting with Putin, Zelenskiy evokes the “language of strength and justice” / The Ukrainian leader arrived in Washington

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday, on the eve of talks with his American counterpart, Donald Trump, that he hopes the momentum in the Middle East peace process will help end the more than three and a half year war between his country and Russia, writes Reuters. The Ukrainian leader landed in Washington, to be received at the White House on Friday.

“We have a meeting planned with President Trump tomorrow (Friday) and we are building on the momentum that has worked in the Middle East to stop terror and war to help end Russia's war against Ukraine,” Zelenskiy wrote in a message posted on the Telegram messaging app.

“The language of force and justice will certainly work with Russia as well,” the Ukrainian leader added.

Zelenski did not directly refer to the agreement announced by Trump after the phone conversation on Thursday to hold further talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, this time in a meeting to be held in Hungary.

But Zelenskiy added that it was clear that “after hearing about the Tomahawk missiles, Moscow is rushing to resume dialogue,” in an apparent reference to signals to Trump that Washington is considering supplying Kiev with the long-range missiles.

Zelenskiy said he would meet with representatives of defense companies, “producers of powerful weapons that can certainly strengthen our defenses,” including air defense systems that would better protect against attacks on energy infrastructure.

Volodymyr Zelensky made these claims in the post announcing that he had already arrived in Washington. He attached video footage of his reception at the airport in the US capital.

Already in Washington.

Today, I am having meetings with representatives of defense companies – producers of powerful weapons that can definitely strengthen our protection. In particular, we will discuss additional supplies of air defense systems. I will also meet today with… pic.twitter.com/MRFmPARkq1

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Volodymyr Zelenskyy (@ZelenskyyUa) October 16, 2025

US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that “great progress has been made” following his afternoon discussion with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and that he will meet with him in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, at an unspecified date.

“I have decided that a meeting of our top advisers will take place next week. The first meetings will be led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with others to be named. The location is to be chosen. Then, President Putin and I will meet in an already agreed upon location, Budapest, Hungary, to see if we can end this 'shameful' war between Russia and Ukraine,” he wrote the American president, in a message published on his social network, Truth Social.

“President Zelensky and I will meet tomorrow in the Oval Office, where we will discuss my conversation with President Putin and much more. I believe that great progress was made following the telephone conversation today,” the White House leader also wrote, without giving details about the content of the discussion, which he described as “very productive.”

The Trump-Putin conversation was also described in a White House statement as “good and productive.”

The White House announced, through spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, quoted by CNN, that the telephone conversation between the two heads of state lasted “more than two hours”. More details will be provided later, Leavitt said. “I just spoke with the president, the secretary of state and the vice president, and it was a very good and productive conversation. It lasted more than two hours,” she told reporters.

Previously, the Kremlin leader had warned the US that the transfer of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine would irreparably damage Russian-American relations and noted that these missiles requested by Kiev to strike deep into Russian territory cannot be operated by the Ukrainian army without American assistance.