Ukraine's Zelenskiy says latest phone call with Trump his most productive yet


FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attend a meeting on the sidelines of NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands June 25, 2025. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

(Reuters) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday that his latest conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump this week was the best and "most productive" he has had to date.

"Regarding the conversation with the president of the United States, which took place a day earlier, it was probably the best conversation we have had during this whole time, the most productive," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.

"We discussed air defence issues and I'm grateful for the willingness to help. The Patriot system is precisely the key to protection against ballistic threats."

Zelenskiy said the two leaders had discussed "several other important matters" that officials from the two sides would be considering in forthcoming meetings.

Trump told reporters on Friday that he had a good call with Zelenskiy and restated his disappointment at a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin over what he said was Moscow's lack of willingness to work toward a ceasefire.

Asked whether the United States would agree to supply more Patriot missiles to Ukraine, as requested by Zelenskiy, Trump said: "They're going to need them for defense... They're going to need something because they're being hit pretty hard."

Russia has intensified air attacks on Kyiv and other cities in recent weeks. Moscow's forces launched the largest drone attack of the 40-month-old war on the Ukrainian capital hours after Trump's conversation with Putin on Thursday.

(Reporting by Ron Popeski and Oleksander Kozhukhar; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Diane Craft)

Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel for breaking news alerts and key updates!

Next In World

1st LD Writethru: Saudi Aramco's crude oil shipments temporarily directed to Yanbu Port -- media
Feature: T�rkiye's tourism city on tenterhooks as fallout from U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran spreads
Urgent: Saudi Aramco's crude oil shipments temporarily directed to Yanbu Port -- media
Flash: Saudi Aramco's crude oil shipments temporarily directed to Yanbu Port -- Al Ekhbariya TV
Over 30 hurt in Peru after nightclub explosion causes chaos
3 killed in head-on car collision in Russia's Murmansk region
Economic Watch: Global observers call China's economic growth target proactive, pragmatic
Flavio Bolsonaro draws even with Lula in Brazil election matchup, Datafolha shows
Trump says Cuba negotiating deal with him and Rubio
Sweden says ship seized in Baltic Sea had false flag, one crew member notified of crime

Others Also Read