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.
Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S., Olga Stefanishyna, confirmed that Trump invited Zelenskyy to a meeting this week, Ukrainian Embassy spokesperson Halyna Yusypiuk said.
The visit, previously reported by the Financial Times, comes as Trump said the U.S. is considering approving Tomahawk missiles for Ukraine, adding that they would be “a new step of aggression” in that country’s war against Russia. If the administration provided the long-range missiles, it would mark a new level of U.S. support for Ukraine in the war.
“We may not, but we may do it,” Trump said on Air Force One on Monday. “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 obtaining Tomahawks by phone over the weekend.
“We’ll see,” Trump said.
The long-range Tomahawk missiles could theoretically be used by Ukraine to strike inside Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin has cautioned the U.S. against supplying the weapons, saying earlier this month that it would mark 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 of the country, also said the delivery of Tomahawk missiles “could end badly for everyone, and first and foremost, for Trump himself.”
Zelenskyy’s visit Friday comes 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 in a post to X on Monday 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 in the post.
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 that she has an “open channel of communication” with President Vladimir Putin over the “welfare” of Ukrainian children believed to have been kidnapped and brought to Russia. The first lady penned a letter to Putin in August, when the U.S. and Russian presidents met in Alaska. In the letter, she called for Putin 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.”
