Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Friday that he agreed to a telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump that both parties will work together to reinforce Ukrainian air defense capabilities.
“We talked about air defense opportunities and we agreed that we will work together to reinforce the protection of our sky,” Zelensky said in a message published on his social networks after call with Trump.
The conversation occurred after the US suspended the sending of missiles to Patriot anti -aircraft systems and another type of military aid already agreed with Ukraine, while evaluating the levels of their weapons reserves.
Both leaders also agreed to organize a meeting among their respective teams, but Zelensky did not disclose any date.
“We had a detailed conversation about the abilities of the defense industry and joint production,” said the Ukrainian President, who expressed his willingness to start cooperating in a “direct” way with the American part, especially when developing drones and drone -related technologies.
Zelensky had already talked to Trump about this possibility at the NATO summit held last month in The Hague, and announced this week an agreement between a Ukrainian company and an American to manufacture hundreds of thousands of drones later this year.
“We also address the mutual (weaponry) and investment acquisitions,” wrote the Ukrainian President, who is still waiting for a Trump response to his US buying offering with European money that, with the previous Democratic government, he received for free.
Zelensky also reaffirmed that Ukraine supports “all efforts to end the killings and to restore just, lasting and decent peace.”
The new contact between Trump and Zelensky happens after the US president talked by phone on Thursday with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
After this conversation with the Kremlin chief, who rejected the aggression against Ukraine, Trump said he was “unhappy” for the lack of advances toward peace.
