Zelenskyy lands in US for Trump talks seeking more air defenses

Kollen Post, Bloomberg News on Jul 28, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

WASHINGTON — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in the U.S. for talks with President Donald Trump on Tuesday, looking to reinforce a warming in relations and gain additional help to strengthen air defenses against Russian attacks.

“Our number-one priority is anti-ballistic defense and strategic cooperation with America,” Zelenskyy said in a post on social media. “Peace needs to be brought closer.”

Trump and Zelenskyy are due to begin Oval Office talks at 9:30 a.m. in Washington, according to an official White House schedule. Zelenskyy said he also planned to pay his respects at the funeral service Tuesday for the late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a staunch backer of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian leader is set to meet Trump to discuss what the U.S. side says will be efforts to revive diplomatic talks to end the war with Russia.

Zelenskyy’s looking for additional Patriot air-defense interceptors to protect Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities from intensifying Russian missile attacks. While Trump said the U.S. will let Ukraine produce Patriot missiles under license when he and Zelenskyy met at the NATO summit earlier this month, that’ll take time to set up and won’t help overcome the immediate shortfall.

Those talks in Turkey were marked by a notable shift in relations between the two leaders following their infamous Oval Office bust-up last year, when Trump told Zelenskyy the Ukrainian leader had “no cards” in the war. At the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit, Trump said Zelenskyy was doing “an amazing job.”

Ukraine has gained momentum in the war recently, with drone strikes deep into Russia targeting oil refineries and leading to widespread fuel shortages. Attacks on warehouses of Russian e-commerce giant Wildberries have caused inventory losses for thousands of small businesses.

Mid-range strikes behind the frontlines in eastern and southern Ukraine have also disrupted the Russian army’s supply routes, while attacks on Crimea threaten to isolate the Black Sea peninsula annexed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2014.

Trump and Zelenskyy are likely to discuss further sanctions pressure on Russia at their talks, according to a person familiar with the matter, asking not to be identified discussing sensitive issues.

The meeting comes ahead of an expected congressional vote as soon as this week on legislation that would authorize Trump to impose sanctions on buyers of Russian oil.

Zelenskyy arrived in the U.S. from the U.K., where he became the first foreign leader to meet with the new British prime minister, Andy Burnham. The U.K. shared its new “Stone Cloak” technology capable of jamming Russian air defense systems with Ukraine, and Burnham pledged continued support for Kyiv’s defense against Russia’s full-scale invasion that’s now in its fifth year.