Ukraine is getting creative in seeking U.S. help for its war effort, with some suggesting President Donald Trump may turn his full attention to pressuring Russia now that he’s secured a deal in Gaza.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be meeting the U.S. leader at the White House on Friday to discuss air defense, long-range weaponry and urgent energy assistance as Moscow intensifies strikes on its water and gas infrastructure before winter.
Nine months into Trump’s second presidency, the conflict in Ukraine has become a war of exhaustion with Russia suffering heavy losses for minimal advances on the battlefield and both sides using long-range strikes in a bid to undermine the morale of their enemies.
Zelenskyy is seeking to capitalize on Trump’s frustration with Russia’s Vladimir Putin after a series of conversations failed to deliver any meaningful progress toward ending the war.
Ahead of the visit — Zelenskyy’s third since Trump took office — Ukrainian officials have offered to share expertise in drone technology and production in exchange for badly-needed supplies of U.S. weapons and energy.
That includes advanced discussions on a deal that could see Ukrainian drones manufactured in the U.S. or in Europe to be exported back for the U.S. military’s use, according to people familiar with the matter.
While Ukraine is still seeking more air defense equipment, including Patriot missiles, Kyiv’s offer of cooperation on drone manufacturing reflects an area where Kyiv has gained an edge in expertise as a result of the pressure to innovate in order to repel Russian invaders.
“We have launched negotiations on a unique technology-sharing agreement that would give the U.S. access to Ukraine’s cutting-edge drone technologies,” Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S., Olga Stefanishyna, said in a statement. “This partnership is not only a strategic advantage for Ukraine but also a real contribution to U.S. and allied security globally.”
U.S. and Ukrainian officials have also been discussing the possibility of the U.S. exporting liquefied natural gas to help with Ukraine’s energy needs in the wake of Russian strikes, according to people familiar with the matter. They requested anonymity to speak freely about the talks.
That’s a plea Zelenskyy is expected to reiterate Friday and in exchange could offer Trump the opportunity for U.S. oil companies to use his country’s pipeline infrastructure to export to Slovakia and Hungary, one of the people said.
Trump has urged the European Union to cut off purchases of energy from Russia but Slovakia and Hungary are the two countries in the bloc that still rely on those imports.
“We have already prepared our part of the homework ahead of the meeting with President Trump – both the military component and the economic one,” Zelenskyy wrote on X.
Separately, officials in Kyiv have also pitched U.S. companies on cheap liquefied natural gas storage in Ukraine’s massive underground facilities in order to help boost U.S. energy exports to the rest of Europe, the people said.
The creative lobbying is an indication of Ukraine’s efforts to find a fresh approach that will keep the U.S. engaged in the war again Russia following a disastrous White House meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump back in February. The Trump administration, for its part, has increasingly called on Europe to do more to fund the war effort against Russia, which has been accused of launching a spate of hybrid attacks across Europe in the last month.
Several officials believe the time may be right for renewed diplomatic push to end Russia’s war on Ukraine. Trump is basking in the glow of a breakthrough deal in Gaza after two years of brutal conflict between Israel and Hamas, but still has the incentive to do more, given he wasn’t awarded the Nobel Peace Prize he’s openly sought.
Speaking in Brussels to NATO defense chiefs on Wednesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that Trump is in a “historic moment.”
“Given what the president has been able to do in Gaza and throughout the Middle East I think the world is seeing that we have a peace president who seeks that peace through standing by those who stand with the United States and stand for peace,” Hegseth said, “which is what we saw there and I hope we can see in Ukraine.”
Stefanishyna, the ambassador, also praised Trump’s “exceptional leadership” in the Middle East. She added that Ukraine is now working toward a “global political surge to end the war” the Russian invasion, citing Trump’s peace “through strength” mantra.
Zelenskyy has said he raised the issue of securing long-range Tomahawk missiles on recent phone calls with Trump and laid out options for financing such a delivery, including from NATO allies, mineral resources or frozen Russian assets.
One of the key issues remains who would pay for any additional U.S. military support, as Trump has made clear Europeans needed to foot the bill going forward. Hegseth told NATO defense chiefs as much in Brussels, when he called for “European-led NATO,” a shift in Washington’s stance toward the 76-year transatlantic alliance.
Zelenskyy has signaled that some allies were dragging their feet in providing financing for weapons. Kyiv managed to secure around $2 billion in funding from six countries through September, leaving it well short of its goal as Moscow steps up attacks on energy and civilian infrastructure.
According to a Ukrainian official, seven other countries intend to participate in the financing for the next weapons packages, adding that the two first batches had been delivered while the two following ones were being prepared.
Ukraine could loosen war-time export controls on military equipment, a long-standing western demand, which could spur shipments of Ukrainian sea drones, according to this official. Four non-western countries had expressed interest in being potential first-time buyers of the technology, they said.
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—With assistance from Chris Miller.
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