President Donald Trump will welcome Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the White House for a working lunch on Friday.
They will discuss how they can force Russian President Vladimir Putin to enter into peace negotiations.
Russia and Ukraine have been at war since February 2022 when Putin’s unprovoked forces invaded Ukraine.
Zelenskyy’s visit to the White House will be his third since Trump took office in January.
The meeting was confirmed by three people familiar with the matter, Financial Times first reported.
Trump and Zelenskyy have gotten along much better since the Ukrainian president’s first visit on Feb. 28 — when he was told to leave the White House following a fiery exchange with Trump and Vice President JD Vance in the Oval Office.
Since then, Trump met with Putin in Alaska and has grown increasingly frustrated with the Russian president’s refusal to end the war in Ukraine.
Trump and Zelenskyy spoke during the weekend and discussed the possibility of NATO allies purchasing U.S.-made long-range Tomahawk missiles for Kyiv and how to bring an end to the war.
Zelenskyy said he had spoken with Trump for the second time in two days, discussing strengthening of Kyiv’s air defense, resilience, and long-range capabilities.
“We also discussed many details related to the energy sector. President Trump is well informed about everything that is happening,” Zelenskyy said on X.
“We agreed to continue our dialogue, and our teams are doing their preparations.”
Trump on Sunday warned Russia that he may send Ukraine long-range missiles if Moscow doesn’t settle its war there soon — suggesting that he could be ready to increase the pressure on Putin’s government using a key weapons system.
“I might say, Look: If this war is not going to get settled, I’m going to send them Tomahawks,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he flew to Israel.
“The Tomahawk is an incredible weapon, very offensive weapon. And honestly, Russia does not need that.”
Zelenskyy said Ukraine would only use Tomahawk missiles, which could reach Moscow, for military purposes and not attack civilians in Russia, should the U.S. provide them.
A Ukrainian delegation led by Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko will visit Washington for talks on strengthening Kyiv’s defense and energy resilience, Zelenskyy’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak said on Monday.
Ukraine is seeking more U.S. support for its war effort against Russia as Kremlin forces step up strikes on energy facilities across the country and press forward on the battlefield.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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