US President Donald Trump has held separate meetings in Washington with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to BBC News, with the White House describing the talks as “positive and productive”.
Both leaders were in the US capital for the funeral of Senator Lindsey Graham, who was described as a strong supporter of Israel and an advocate for American assistance to Ukraine.
Zelensky’s talks with Trump centred on Ukraine’s request for support to strengthen its air defences. Kyiv has been seeking Patriot air defence missiles to counter Russian drone and ballistic missile attacks.
Ahead of the meeting, Zelensky had been expected to press Trump over a pledge made at this month’s Nato summit to give Ukraine a licence to produce Patriot interceptor missiles. After the talks, Trump wrote on Truth Social that the meeting “went very well”.
There was no official US confirmation of fresh military assistance, but Zelensky told Fox News that Trump had agreed to provide licences for domestic production of Patriot missiles. The BBC said it had asked the White House for comment.
During the visit, Zelensky also met executives from Lockheed Martin. In a post on X, he said discussions covered joint capabilities involving Patriots and other systems, and that teams were working on possible joint production.
Zelensky later met senators at the US Capitol before a vote on a new Russia sanctions package. He told reporters that Patriot systems had also been discussed there, and said passing the sanctions legislation would send a strong signal of support to Europe, Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.
Netanyahu arrived at the White House shortly after Zelensky’s departure, with his talks expected to focus on Iran. BBC News reported that US-Israel ties have become strained by differing views on Iran and by Trump’s criticism of continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon and Israel’s approach to a ceasefire.
After the meeting, Trump wrote on Truth Social that it had been “a very good meeting”. Netanyahu told Israeli media the two leaders shared the goal of ensuring that Iran does not obtain nuclear weapons, describing the discussion as one of his best with a US president.
Following the meeting, the US military said Iranian forces had attempted a surprise attack on American forces in the Middle East, but that all missiles were intercepted. It also said US and Saudi forces attacked Iranian proxies in eastern Iraq which had allegedly launched drones at Saudi energy infrastructure. Tehran had not commented, according to the report.
