Zelenskyy hails 'good meeting' with Trump on air defence, peace

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and US President Trump met at the NATO Summit, discussing strengthening Ukraine's air defence capabilities and paths to peace talks. Trump said the US would provide Ukraine with the ability to manufacture its own Patriot systems.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday (local time) said he held a "good meeting" with US President Donald Trump and his team on the sidelines of the NATO Summit, with discussions focused on strengthening Ukraine's air defence capabilities and efforts to advance peace talks.

In a post shared on X, Zelenskyy said, "Good meeting with President Trump @POTUS and his team. I'm grateful for the strong emphasis placed on strengthening Ukraine's air defense to better protect people's lives."

"President Trump and I spoke about some ideas that could strengthen our positions and bring peace closer. I count on our teams to follow up promptly on everything discussed today," he added.

Zelenskyy said the two leaders also discussed diplomatic efforts to end the conflict. "We also talked diplomacy - we are trying to make it work. We will keep working productively to make it happen. Thank you!" he said. https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/2074877540603203818

The meeting took place during the NATO Summit in Ankara, where Trump held a bilateral meeting with Zelenskyy.

US to help Ukraine manufacture Patriot missiles

Trump said the United States would provide Ukraine with the capability to manufacture its own Patriot missile defence systems. Currently, Japan and Germany are the only countries that hold licences to produce the systems, CNN reported.

Trump said strengthening Ukraine's capabilities could help create conditions for negotiations to end the war. "An escalation could help create the space now to negotiate the end of this war," Trump was quoted by CNN as saying, while referring to Ukraine's increasing ability to conduct strikes deep inside Russia.

Zelenskyy thanked Trump and the United States for continued support and has been urging allies to provide additional air defence missiles to counter Russian attacks, according to CNN.

During the meeting, Zelenskyy also said he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin's conditions for ending the war were changing, CNN reported. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianetnews Editorial staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)