Ukrainian president presses US defence giants for missiles ahead of White House talks

As part of his visit to the United States, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held talks with representatives of Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and several US energy companies to discuss strengthening Ukraine’s air defence, expanding long-range strike capabilities, and ensuring the resilience of its energy infrastructure.

“I met with representatives of the defence company Raytheon, which produces, in particular, Patriot systems. I told them about the battlefield situation and Russia’s intensified attacks on our people and civilian infrastructure,” Caliber.Az quotes Volodymyr Zelenskyy as saying in an X post.

“We discussed Raytheon’s production capacity, potential avenues for our cooperation to strengthen Ukraine’s air defence and long-range capabilities, and the prospects for Ukrainian-American joint production. Solutions to enhance the protection of lives in Ukraine exist, and we are working at all levels to ensure their realisation,” the statement read.

Zelenskyy also met with representatives of the Lockheed Martin group, energy sector companies, and US Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

In another X post, he emphasised that during talks with representatives of the defence company Lockheed Martin, they discussed prospects for cooperation, measures to bolster Ukraine’s protection against Russian assaults, and outlined the country’s concrete requirements for air defence systems, compatible missiles, and F-16 fighter jets.

“I outlined Ukraine’s specific needs for air defence systems and their compatible,” the statement said.

These missiles would give Ukraine’s armed forces the ability to strike deeper into Russian territory at a time when Moscow’s intensified attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure have already caused widespread power outages in recent days.

The Ukrainian leader is scheduled to visit the White House on October 17, where Donald Trump will receive him for the third time since taking office.

On October 16, Trump held an extended phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who cautioned that supplying Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine would “seriously undermine” US–Russian relations and efforts to resolve the conflict.

By Jeyhun Aghazada