Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived Thursday in Washington ahead of his White House meeting Friday with President Donald Trump, as the U.S. leader signals a renewed push to end Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II.
The summit comes as Trump prepares for another meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which he said will take place “soon” in Budapest, Hungary, following what he described as a “great” phone call with the Russian leader earlier Thursday. The two last met in Alaska in August, but their talks failed to produce a breakthrough.
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Before the Trump-Putin summit, U.S. officials led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio are expected to meet Russian representatives next week. The venue for the meeting has yet to be announced.
Trump’s call with Putin came ahead of his meeting with Zelensky, who is pressing Washington to approve the sale of long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles that would enable Ukraine to strike deeper into Russian territory. Zelensky argues such capability would strengthen Ukraine’s hand in potential negotiations to end the war, now nearing its fifth year.
“If this war doesn’t get settled, I may send Tomahawks,” Trump told reporters traveling with him to Israel on Sunday. “A Tomahawk is an incredible weapon. And Russia does not need that. If the war is not settled, we may do it. We may not. But we may do it.”
Trump, buoyed by what he calls his success in brokering a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, says his next foreign policy goal is bringing the conflict in Ukraine to an end. Ending the wars in Ukraine and Gaza has been central to his second-term agenda and a key element of his 2024 presidential election campaign, in which he criticized his predecessor Joe Biden for his handling of both conflicts.
Tomahawks on the table
Zelensky and Trump are meeting Friday for their fourth in-person discussion this year. Trump has said he is considering selling Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv despite the Kremlin saying that it viewed such a move with "extreme concern,” further straining relations between Moscow and Washington.
“He would like to have Tomahawks,” Trump said of Zelensky on Tuesday. “We have a lot of Tomahawks.”
Each Tomahawk missile, built by U.S. defense giant Raytheon, costs about $1.3 million and has a range of roughly 1,000 miles—far beyond Ukraine’s current arsenal, which includes U.S.-made HIMARS missiles and Britain’s Storm Shadow cruise missiles with up to a 155-mile range. The Tomahawk can be launched from ships, submarines or ground platforms and is capable of changing course mid-flight to strike moving targets with high precision.
Defense analysts say delivering Tomahawks to Ukraine would be both a political and military decision. Mark Montgomery of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies said the move would make a statement but could take years to implement. He noted Ukraine could benefit more immediately from a larger supply of Extended Range Attack Munition (ERAM) missiles and Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS).
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“To provide Tomahawks is as much a political decision as it is a military decision,” Montgomery said. “The ERAM is shorter range, but this can help them put pressure on Russia operationally, on their logistics, the command and control, and its force disbursement within several hundred kilometers of the front line. It can be very effective.”
Kremlin warnings and Ukrainian hopes
Moscow has warned that supplying Kyiv with Tomahawks would mark a major escalation. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia viewed the move with “extreme concern” about the possibility, calling it a “dramatic moment in terms of the fact that tensions are escalating from all sides.” He also reminded Western audiences that the Tomahawk is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said delivering the missiles "could end badly for everyone, and most of all, for Trump himself,” though he expressed hope that Trump would not follow thorugh on his remarks.
Zelensky, for his part, said the missiles could form part of a broader “mega-deal” in which Ukraine would buy up to $90 billion in U.S. weaponry. Mykhailo Podolyak, one of Zelensky’s senior advisers, wrote on X that Kyiv’s strategy in Washington is to “raise the costs of war” for Russia. “We want peace,” he said, “so we must project power deep into the heart of Russia.”
In the lead-up to Friday’s summit, a Ukrainian delegation met in Washington with U.S. defense companies—including Raytheon—to discuss expanding weapons cooperation.
Attacks intensify on both sides
The latest talks come as Russia and Ukraine continue striking each other’s energy infrastructure. Kyiv said Thursday that Moscow launched an overnight barrage of 320 drones and 37 missiles, of which Ukraine intercepted 283 drones and five missiles. Power outages were reported across eight regions, including the capital, and gas facilities in the Poltava region suffered significant damage.
Ukraine has retaliated with intensified drone and missile attacks on Russian energy sites, contributing to a sharp decline in Russian oil exports, which Bloomberg reported this week had dropped to 1.88 million barrels per day—the lowest since early 2022.
Trump has urged India and China to halt purchases of Russian oil, which help finance Moscow’s war effort. On Wednesday, he claimed that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had agreed to stop buying Russian crude, though New Delhi has not confirmed the statement.
Signs of new US sanctions push
Zelensky is expected to press Trump to impose new sanctions on Russia’s economy, a move the president has so far resisted. Congress is weighing legislation that would levy heavy tariffs on countries buying Russian energy, part of a bipartisan effort led by Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.
While Trump has not formally endorsed the bill, administration officials have been reviewing its language—signaling growing White House interest in the measure. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the administration wants greater European participation before taking further action.
“So all I hear from the Europeans is that Putin is coming to Warsaw,” Bessent said. “There are very few things in life I’m sure about. I’m sure he’s not coming to Boston. So, we will respond … if our European partners will join us.”