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Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke on Friday with US President Donald Trump, in what the Ukrainian leader said was a “very important and fruitful” phone call.
“Today we discussed the current situation, including Russian airstrikes and the broader frontline developments,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X.
“President Trump is very well informed, and I thank him for his attention to Ukraine. We spoke about opportunities in air defence and agreed that we will work together to strengthen protection of our skies. We have also agreed to a meeting between our teams.”
He added that they also discussed in detail the prospects for joint defence production.
“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,” Zelenskyy pointed out.
The Ukrainian leader added they discussed the possibility of joint defence production, mutual purchases, and investments.
Neither the White House nor Trump himself have said anything about the call.
Trump speaks to Putin
That conversation comes a day after Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed Ukraine, Iran and other issues in a call the Kremlin described as “frank and constructive.”
It was their sixth publicly disclosed talk since Trump returned to the White House.
On the war in Ukraine, Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said Trump emphasised his push for a quick halt to the fighting, and Putin voiced Moscow’s readiness to pursue talks with Kyiv, noting the previous rounds in Turkey yielded humanitarian results.
At the same time, the Russian leader said Moscow will seek to achieve its goals in Ukraine and remove the “root causes” of the conflict, Ushakov said.
“Russia will not back down from these goals,” Ushakov told reporters after the call.
Also on Thursday, Trump complained that the United States provided too many weapons to Ukraine under the previous administration, his first public comments on the pause in some shipments as Russia escalates its full-scale invasion.
On Tuesday, the US said it was halting shipments of some air defence missiles and other weapons previously promised to Kyiv amid concerns that its own stockpiles had declined too much, according to officials.
Certain munitions were previously promised to Ukraine under the Biden administration to support its defences. However, the administration appears to have revised some of those decisions due to concerns for US interests.
“This decision was made to put America’s interests first following a review of our nation’s military support and assistance to other countries across the globe,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement.
