Ukrainian Officials Lay Groundwork for New Weapons Deal Ahead of Trump-Zelensky White House Meeting

Ukrainian officials at Washington ahead of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s White House meeting with President Trump on Friday are trying to pave the way for more American weapons to land in the besieged European nation.A high-level Ukrainian delegation is meeting with administration officials in the hope of bolstering its offensive capabilities in the ongoing war with Russia. Mr. Trump indicated this week that he may provide Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles to strike targets up to 1,500 miles into Russian territory.Mr. Trump had sought to quickly end the war but has grown increasingly frustrated with Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, refusing to negotiate. He has turned to encouraging Ukraine to go on the offensive in a bid to change the dynamics of the war.Providing the longer-range missiles would be something the Biden administration refused to do during the early part of the conflict.The prospect of Tomahawk deliveries drew immediate condemnation from senior Russian officials. “The topic of Tomahawks is of extreme concern,” the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said on Russian state television. “Now is really a very dramatic moment in terms of the fact that tensions are escalating from all sides.”Along with the Tomahawks, Ukraine is hoping to buy more air defenses and shorter-range missiles. Ukraine is also expected to double its production of drones by the end of the year to four million, according to the Atlantic Council. Ukraine is hoping to reach a deal for joint drone production with the United States.Ukraine is gambling that it can cause enough damage to the Russian economy to push it to the negotiating table three years after Moscow’s February 2022 full scale invasion.On the economic front, Secretary Scott Bessent is urging European allies to escalate pressure on not only Russia, but on any country that purchases Russian oil. Mr. Bessent met with the prime minister of Ukraine, Yulia Svyrydenko, on Tuesday.The Treasury secretary said he reaffirmed the United States’s unwavering support for Ukrainian sovereignty and thanked the prime minister for her continued support of the United States-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund. The agreement allows the United States access to natural resources in Ukraine in exchange for weapons and financial assistance.Mr. Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, is among those in Washington. “There will be increased sanctions from our partners against Russia’s military-industrial complex and financial sector,” Mr. Yermak said in an X post. “The pressure will continue — and that’s a good thing.”

Ukrainian Officials Lay Groundwork for New Weapons Deal Ahead of Trump-Zelensky White House Meeting

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