President Donald Trump met Wednesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, where they discussed the ongoing war with Russia, which is now nearing the 4½-year mark.
Trump, who in the past has been complimentary of Russian President Vladimir Putin, sung Zelenskyy’s praises and said Ukraine’s deep strikes into Russia were positive.
“President Zelenskyy and I just had a News Conference with the Fake News. It went very well. Everybody is looking for a solution. Very positive!” Trump shared online after their meeting.
While Ukraine isn’t an official member of NATO, it’s recognized as an official partner country of the alliance. Zelenskyy has actively pushed for Ukraine to join the group. In an appeal to join the alliance, he spoke on Tuesday at the summit with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte about how Ukraine needs more support.
Rutte praised Ukraine’s effort against Russia, both militarily and economically. He said the spot the country can improve on is air defense.
With this year’s NATO summit focused on defense, after Trump aired his grievances about other countries not spending what they’ve agreed to on their militaries, the two leaders discussed Ukraine’s ongoing battle against Russia.
Ukraine to produce Patriot missiles
Trump granted one of Zelenskyy’s longest-standing requests, which is the ability to start production of U.S.-designed Patriot air-defense missiles in Ukraine.
“One of the things we’re going to be talking about is ... we’re going to give a license to you to make Patriots. That’s pretty cool, right?” Trump said during their meeting.
“This way he can’t complain that we’re not giving him enough. I said, ‘Make them yourself,’” he added.
When asked whether the U.S. would provide Ukraine with the Patriot missiles while production gets underway, Trump said, “We don’t have that many” and the U.S. needs them “for ourselves, too.”
Zelenskyy thanked Trump for the meeting and said Ukraine is thankful “as always” for America’s support.
Trump said he thinks that the Russia-Ukraine war is getting “much closer than people realize” and Putin wants the war to end.
In all, it was a positive meeting between the two leaders who have had a rocky relationship.
During their first meeting of Trump’s second term in February 2025, the two and Vice President JD Vance were involved in a shouting match in the Oval Office, which led Zelenskyy to leave the White House after seeking more U.S. support.
Russia has recently increased its offensive strikes against Ukraine. In response, Ukraine recently launched more than 400 drones into Russia in its largest wave of long-range strikes, authorities in Moscow said, per ABC News.
Zelenskyy said in posts online that with the strikes targeting Moscow now, Putin would “begin to understand” what other Russian cities have gone through. He vowed that the amount of strikes would rise and continue.