WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday discussed efforts to revive peace talks with Russia and a deal to allow Ukraine to make US-made Patriot missile interceptors.

Zelensky held a private meeting with Trump in the Oval Office, in the absence of reporters.

The visit offered Zelensky an opportunity to shore up military support at a moment when US-Ukraine relations are warmer than they have been in months.

The US, however, has been sitting on aid for Kyiv and the death earlier this month of Senator Lindsey Graham has removed one of Ukraine’s most influential advocates in Washington.

Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who died suddenly from a heart ailment on July 11 at age 71, was one of Trump’s most visible allies. He was a defence hawk who regularly called for an interventionist US role on the world stage and strongly backed Ukraine.

He met Zelensky in Kyiv only a day before his death, the 10th time he had visited Ukraine since Russia’s 2022 invasion.

About the White House talks, Zelensky said on Telegram that he had a “good meeting” with Trump and they had discussed the US leader’s promise at a Nato summit this month to grant Ukraine a licence to produce Patriot missile interceptors.

As Russia has stepped up its attacks on cities, Ukraine has run low on supplies of Patriots, which remain the only weapon in its arsenal capable of downing ballistic missiles. “We talked with the president about licences for producing interceptors for the Patriots and other ideas that could help,” Zelensky said.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2026