Zelenskyy has a 'good meeting' with Trump at the White House as he seeks more cooperation with US

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Tuesday ahead of Sen. Lindsey Graham's funeral, with the two leaders discussing ways for Ukraine to produce its own powerful weapons and "other ideas that could help" in its ongoing war against Russia. The sit-down in the Oval Office, which was closed to the media, followed a consequential meeting at the NATO summit earlier this month in Ankara, Turkey, where Trump announced that the U.S. will give Ukraine a license to make Patriot defense systems -- a long-running request from Kyiv to counter Russian missile attacks. Taken together, those meetings underscore how much the U.S. president, once a major skeptic of continued assistance to Kyiv, has warmed to Zelenskyy as Ukraine continues to withstand the Russian barrage more than four years after Moscow's invasion in 2022. In a post on social media after the meeting, Zelenskyy thanked Trump for the "good meeting" and the Republican administration's efforts to aid Kyiv in the long-running war. Officials also agreed that Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president's main envoys, would make a trip to Kyiv sometime in the future, according to a person familiar with the talks who was granted anonymity to discuss the closed-door meeting. "The President and I discussed licenses for Patriot interceptor production and several other ideas that could help," said Zelenskyy, who also noted that he offered condolences to Trump for the death of Graham, a close ally. "We also spoke about diplomacy -- it's important that the diplomatic process be reinvigorated." Trump on Tuesday night weighed in on his meeting with Zelenskyy, calling it a "Great Honor" to meet with him. "Many things were discussed. The meeting went very well!" he wrote on Truth Social. Zelenskyy posted that he met with officials from Lockheed Martin for further cooperation in both defense production and exchanging of technologies. In a meeting with senators at the Capitol, Zelensky again made his case for why Ukraine needs Patriot interceptors, as well as a sweeping sanctions bill. While Ukraine remains grateful to Trump for agreeing to issue a license to manufacture the Patriots, Zelenskyy emphasized to senators that that is a longer-term solution. This year, Zelenskyy said, Ukraine will need the U.S. to provide missiles that Kyiv would pay for with European funds. In a Fox News Channel interview on Tuesday, Trump recalled Graham's hawkishness and said the Republican South Carolina senator's support for Ukraine never wavered. Trump said Graham had suggested it was time to make a deal with Iran but had no similar suggestion for the Russia-Ukraine war. "Ukraine, he's very militant about," Trump said on "Fox & Friends." "I mean, Lindsey liked war, to be honest with you."