Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky is pictured during his visit to HM Naval Base in Portsmouth on the south coast of England on July 27, 2026. (AFP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was due to meet U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on July 28, seeking additional air defenses and renewed U.S. support as diplomatic efforts to end the war with Russia remain stalled.
The closed-door Oval Office meeting was scheduled for 9:30 a.m. local time. Patriot missile interceptors are Kiev’s top priority, while a proposed U.S.-Ukraine drone agreement is also expected to be discussed.
The talks are likely to cover Trump’s pledge at the NATO summit in Ankara earlier this month to allow Ukraine to manufacture Patriot interceptors under license.
“Now is the time to end the war,” a White House official said, adding that the two leaders would discuss the ongoing peace process.
Zelensky said ahead of the visit that he hoped Washington would continue supporting Ukraine and help secure what he called a “dignified peace.”
The meeting comes as Kiev and Moscow step up long-range attacks. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said more than 390 Ukrainian drones had flown toward the Moscow region overnight and that 81 were downed as they approached the capital. Regional officials reported damage to residential buildings.
Trump and Zelensky have had a strained relationship, including a public clash in the Oval Office in February 2025. The tone has softened in recent weeks, however, with Trump praising Zelensky at the Ankara summit and backing licensed Patriot production in Ukraine.
Since Trump returned to office in January 2025, direct U.S. arms deliveries to Kiev have largely shifted to a program under which European allies buy American weapons for Ukraine. Washington continues to provide intelligence and other support.
Zelensky was also expected to attend the funeral of U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, a prominent supporter of Ukraine, and meet lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
Burnham meets Zelensky, pledges new 'Stone Cloak' for Ukrainian drones
Seperately, on July 28, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham held his first meeting with Zelensky at a U.K. naval base, pledging new "Stone Cloak" jamming technology to help safeguard Ukraine's drones on the battlefield.
The meeting on the dockside and on board an aircraft carrier in the southern city of Portsmouth was Burnham's first bilateral with a foreign leader.
"We are with Ukraine 100 percent. I am personally with you 100 percent, Mr President," Burnham assured Zelensky after the two men, both wearing similar dark casual clothes, shook hands on the dockside.
Zelensky thanked Burnham for an "important signal of support" and said he had invited Burnham to visit Ukraine, after the leaders spoke by phone within hours of the new prime minister taking office.
Vowing to "honour every commitment this country has made to Ukraine," Burnham said Britain was "going further" and was "providing new, home-grown jamming technology to protect Ukrainian drones" as both Moscow and Kyiv intensify drone and missile strikes.
"It will help them to hit their targets and help save Ukrainian lives. It also shows the kind of innovation our industries can deliver together," Burnham said.
