US President Donald Trump will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for talks at the White House on Friday. According to the Ukrainian government, the main topic of the meeting will be the possible delivery of long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles, which Kyiv hopes will be used to defend against the Russian war of aggression. Meanwhile, Trump announced another meeting with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, which will take place soon in Hungary. Moscow stated that numerous issues still need to be resolved before such a meeting can take place.

Zelensky arrived in Washington on Thursday and has already held talks with representatives of the US defense company Raytheon, which manufactures Tomahawk cruise missiles and Patriot systems."We discussed Raytheon's production capabilities and possible ways for cooperation to strengthen Ukraine's air defense and long-range capabilities," Zelenskyy said online. Possible joint US-Ukrainian production was also discussed.

Cruise missiles as game changers?

Upon his arrival in the US, Zelenskyy expressed hope that Trump's success in the Gaza peace agreement would also lead to a successful effort to end the war in Ukraine. The prospect of the US supplying Ukraine with Tomahawk cruise missiles is forcing Moscow to negotiate, Zelensky explained at X. We can already see that Moscow is hurrying to resume dialogue.

Last weekend, Trump said he could threaten Putin with delivering Tomahawks to Kyiv if Russia did not stop its attacks on Ukraine.

Ending an inglorious war?

After a phone call with Putin on Thursday, he then announced a meeting with the Kremlin chief in Budapest. The goal, Trump wrote on his online service Truth Social, is to find out whether we can end this ignominious war between Russia and Ukraine. The meeting, he said, is likely to take place within the next two weeks.

At the same time, Trump expressed doubt that Ukraine would receive the coveted Tomahawk cruise missiles. He told reporters that the US should not deplete its own stockpile. We need them too, so I don't know what we can do about it.

Cruise missiles have a long range

Tomahawk cruise missiles have a range of up to 1,600 kilometers, allowing Ukraine to launch attacks deep into Russian territory. Older models even had a range of 2,500 kilometers, but these are no longer in service.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday regarding a possible meeting between Trump and Putin:"There are many questions, the negotiating teams need to be determined, and so on." Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his US counterpart Marco Rubio will work to clarify these issues by phone and at a meeting. The meeting could take place in two weeks or a little later, Peskov explained. There is agreement that nothing should be postponed. (AFP)