WASHINGTON — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to meet with President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday, according to an administration official, a Western official and a Ukrainian embassy spokesperson.
Trump appeared to confirm the meeting while speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One on his way back from the Middle East. Asked whether he is hosting Zelenskyy on Friday, Trump responded, "I think so, yeah."
Ukraine's ambassador to the United States, Olga Stefanishyna, confirmed that Trump invited Zelenskyy to a meeting this week, Ukrainian Embassy spokesperson Halyna Yusypiuk said. The Financial Times previously reported the visit.
Trump said earlier Monday that the United States is considering approving Tomahawk missiles for Ukraine, adding that they would be “a new step of aggression” in its war against Russia. Providing the long-range missiles would mark a new level of U.S. support for Ukraine in the war.
"We may not, but we may do it," Trump said in separate remarks to reporters on Air Force One. "I think it’s appropriate to bring up — yeah, I want to. I want to see the war settled."
Trump also said he and Zelenskyy discussed the possibility of Ukraine’s obtaining Tomahawks by phone over the weekend.
“We’ll see,” he said.
Ukraine theoretically could use the long-range Tomahawk missiles to strike inside Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin has cautioned the United States against supplying the weapons, saying this month that it would be a “qualitatively new stage of escalation, including in relations between Russia and the U.S.”
Dmitry Medvedev, a top Russian official and former president and prime minister, also said delivering Tomahawk missiles “could end badly for everyone, and first and foremost, for Trump himself.”
Zelenskyy will visit on the heels of Trump's trip to the Middle East, where he was hailed for his role in championing a peace deal that led to Hamas' release of the remaining living hostages and Israel's release of Palestinian prisoners.
Andriy Yermak, the head of Zelenskyy's office, said Monday on X that Ukrainian officials were on their way to Washington for "high-level talks." Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko and top national security official Rustem Umerov are part of the delegation, he said.
The talks aimed "to strengthen Ukraine’s defense, secure our energy resilience, and intensify sanctions pressure on the aggressor," Yermak said.
Zelenskyy last visited the White House in mid-August, a few days after Trump met with Putin in Alaska. Zelenskyy was joined by a group of prominent European leaders, who acted as diplomatic backup after a tense Oval Office meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy in February.
Last week, first lady Melania Trump said she has an “open channel of communication” with Putin over the “welfare” of Ukrainian children believed to have been kidnapped and taken to Russia. She wrote a letter to Putin in August, when Putin and President Trump met in Alaska, calling for him to protect “the innocence of these children.”
During the 2024 campaign, Trump repeatedly claimed he could end the war in Ukraine, quickly, even within 24 hours. But during his first few months in office, he said that while he originally thought the war in Ukraine might be the "easiest" to end, Putin "let me down."
