Zelenskyy visits Trump as Ukraine seeks stronger air defense

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in the United States for talks with President Donald Trump on Tuesday, saying Kyiv's top priority was securing stronger air defense and strategic cooperation as Russia intensified attacks. "The President and I discussed licenses for Patriot interceptor production and several other ideas that could help," said Zelenskyy on X. "We also spoke about diplomacy -- it's important that the diplomatic process be reinvigorated." In a sign of improving ties, Trump, in a meeting with Zelenskyy in Turkey earlier this month, pledged to help Ukraine produce Patriot air defense systems, and said Kyiv would be able to produce them "pretty quickly." Since returning to office in January last year, Trump largely stopped direct US arms shipments to Ukraine, instead leaving European allies to buy American weapons and supply them to Kyiv.