Trump to host Zelenskyy at the White House with long-range missiles topping the agenda
WASHINGTON — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to meet with President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday, with long-range Tomahawk missiles and the trajectory of war with Russia on the agenda as kyiv steps up its efforts to secure U.S. military aid.
The meeting followed Trump’s phone call Thursday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, during which Moscow warned that a U.S. decision to supply long-range Tomahawks to kyiv would lead to a sharp escalation in tensions. The missiles, which could be used to strike deep into Russia, would mark a “qualitatively new stage of escalation”, the Kremlin said.
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Trump did not announce a decision on weapons, but adding to speculation, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth promised more “firepower” would be available for Ukraine before NATO defense ministers meet in Brussels this week. It’s unclear if the Tomahawks were among them.
Zelensky arrives in Washington after a night of punitive strikes against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, emphasizing the need to strengthen air defense and long-range capabilities to pressure Russia to end the war.
Friday’s meeting at the White House caps a week of exchanging signals from the two leaders. Trump has publicly discussed the possibility of providing Tomahawks, while Zelensky framed the discussion as part of a broader effort to obtain weapons needed to deter Russia and defend critical infrastructure.
Zelensky also struck an optimistic tone, suggesting that diplomatic advances elsewhere, as Trump secured a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, could help build momentum to end the war with Russia.
Trump appeared to acknowledge this in his speech to the Israeli parliament on Monday, saying: “Let’s focus on Russia first.”
During his presidential campaign last year, Trump promised to resolve the war within 24 hours, but he has since acknowledged that was a more difficult task than expected and turned his attention to other conflicts after months of negotiations with Moscow yielded little progress.
Returning from the Middle East on Monday, Trump said he was considering approving the Tomahawk missiles, saying they would constitute “a new stage of aggression” in the war against Russia. He also said he could tell Russia: “If this war is not resolved, I will send [Ukraine] Tomahawks.
“We can’t do it, but we can do it. I think it’s appropriate to talk about it,” Trump said aboard Air Force One. “I want to see the war settled.”
He said he discussed the possibility with Zelenskyy in a call last weekend. “We’ll see,” Trump said.
Trump also said this week that he plans to meet with Putin in Budapest in the coming weeks after making “great progress” during their Thursday call. It would be Trump’s second meeting with Putin in recent months as Putin seeks to end the war.
Trump said he asked Putin in a “light-hearted” way if he would mind if he sent Tomahawks and that Putin objected to the move. “What do you think he’s going to say: ‘Please sell Tomahawks,'” Trump joked to reporters.
