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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet with President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday, according to U.S. and Ukrainian officials, as the administration weighs sending long-range Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv — a move that could dramatically escalate tensions with Moscow.
Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, Olga Stefanishyna, confirmed that Trump extended the invitation earlier this week, Ukrainian Embassy spokesperson Halyna Yusypiuk said Tuesday. The visit was first reported by the Financial Times.
The meeting follows Trump’s remarks aboard Air Force One on Monday that the U.S. is “considering approving Tomahawk missiles for Ukraine,” which he described as “a new step of aggression” in the war against Russia. The president said he discussed the possible transfer with Zelenskyy in a weekend phone call.
“We may not, but we may do it,” Trump told reporters. “I think it’s appropriate to bring up — yeah, I want to. I want to see the war settled.”
If approved, the missiles would mark the most significant U.S. weapons delivery to Ukraine since Trump took office, giving Kyiv the capability to strike targets deep inside Russian territory.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that such a decision would mark a “qualitatively new stage of escalation, including in relations between Russia and the U.S.” Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said providing Tomahawks “could end badly for everyone, and first and foremost, for Trump himself.”
Zelenskyy’s upcoming visit will come just days after Trump returns from a Middle East trip celebrating a U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Ukrainian officials said the Washington talks would center on “strengthening Ukraine’s defense, securing our energy resilience, and intensifying sanctions pressure on the aggressor,” according to Andriy Yermak, the head of Zelenskyy’s office.
Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko and national security chief Rustem Umerov will join Zelenskyy as part of the delegation, Yermak said on X.
Zelenskyy last met Trump at the White House in mid-August, shortly after Trump’s controversial summit with Putin in Alaska. That meeting was followed by another session involving several European leaders aiming to reinforce Western unity on Ukraine.
The diplomatic backdrop has also included an unusual outreach by first lady Melania Trump, who said last week she maintains an “open channel of communication” with Putin regarding the welfare of Ukrainian children reportedly taken to Russia. In August, she sent a letter urging Putin to “protect the innocence of these children.”
Trump has long claimed he could end the war “within 24 hours,” but in recent months acknowledged the conflict may be more intractable than he once believed. “I thought it might be the easiest to end,” Trump said earlier this year. “But Putin let me down.”
