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Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy will discuss the abrupt halt in some key US weapons deliveries to Kyiv in a call on Friday or the coming days, Zelenskyy said on Thursday.
Ukraine summoned a senior US diplomat on Wednesday after it was caught off guard by the Pentagon’s decision to stop delivering several advanced weapons systems. Zelenskyy has lobbied to buy US Patriot defence missiles, including in a meeting during last week’s Nato summit.
Ukrainians were alarmed by the pause in deliveries of weapons, while Russia intensifies a summer offensive that last weekend involved its largest aerial attack of the war. Zelenskyy said he wants to buy 10 Patriot systems for $15bn to defend against Russian drones and missiles.
“Of course, we count on [the] continuation of American support,” Zelenskyy said during a visit to Aarhus in Denmark on Thursday. He said it was “crucial” that Ukraine obtained missiles for Patriot systems, which Europe is unable to provide.
Trump suggested during the Nato summit that he would consider selling Patriot interceptors to Kyiv, but said supplies were low. Defence department spokesman Sean Parnell said on Wednesday the halt in deliveries came after a “capability review” conducted “to ensure US military aid aligns with our defence priorities”.
Zelenskyy said he hoped to discuss the US-Ukraine relationship with Trump soon. People familiar with the planning, who requested anonymity as they were not authorised to discuss it publicly, said the Ukrainian president would also raise potential future arms sales during the call.
The White House did not respond to requests for comment on the planned conversation.
Trump also spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday for nearly an hour.
Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters that the US president had called for an end to the war, but that Putin had said Russia would pursue its goals, “which are to settle all the well-known initial reasons that led to the current stand-off”.
“Russia will not abandon these goals,” Ushakov said, according to Russian state media.
Trump told reporters on Thursday afternoon that the two leaders did not get any closer to a deal to end the war in Ukraine.
“I didn’t make any progress with him today at all,” Trump said of Putin, before boarding Air Force One, adding that they did discuss “a lot of things, including Iran”.
Ukrainian foreign minister Andriy Sybiha called the acting head of the embassy, John Ginkel, to the foreign ministry on Wednesday to underscore the importance of US military assistance. He said the ministry warned that “any delay or hesitation in supporting Ukraine’s defence capabilities only encourages the aggressor to continue the war and acts of terror”.
On Thursday, Zelenskyy said that Kyiv had secured an agreement with US company Swift Beat for Ukraine to jointly produce drones capable of intercepting Russian attack drones and missiles.
He said the deal “foresees hundreds of thousands of drones this year alone, with the potential to significantly scale up production in the coming year”.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, also in Denmark, said of the US move: “It’s a clear signal, a clear message to step up our support. So ramping up our European defence capacities, not only at the level of the European Union, but a continental level.”
In Washington, lawmakers and former diplomats criticised the Pentagon for halting weapons that had already been committed to Ukraine.
Zelenskyy has accepted many of Trump’s proposals since the White House first suggested an unconditional ceasefire in March. The Trump administration pressured Kyiv into holding the first face-to-face negotiations with Moscow in three years by temporarily pausing weapons shipments and intelligence sharing with Ukraine in early March.
Those talks have stalled over the maximalist demands of Putin, who said last month that the “whole of Ukraine” was Russia’s, and that his forces would continue their advance.
Ukrainian officials said the aerial attacks were meant to sow terror and destroy critical infrastructure, while forcing them to use up their limited air defences. Sybiha said Russian forces had in June launched more than 330 missiles, including almost 80 ballistic missiles, as well as 5,000 combat drones and 5,000 gliding bombs.
The suspended shipments include Patriot interceptors, Stinger air defence systems, guided artillery shells and munitions used by F-16s and Nasams, according to senior US and Ukrainian officials.
More than 100 Hellfire missiles, about 250 GMLRS rounds for long-range precision strikes and anti-tank systems such as the AT4 launcher were also held back. Deliveries of some weapons have continued.
Additional reporting by Guy Chazan in New York, Barbara Moens in Brussels and Steff Chávez in Washington
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