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By Brendan Cole
Senior Reporter
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said President Donald Trump had agreed to move ahead with production licenses for Patriot air defense interceptors during a Washington visit that delivered diplomatic wins for Kyiv just after it warned the war was entering a new phase with a large Russian mobilization.
On Tuesday, Zelensky discussed Patriots in the Oval Office with Trump and also watched the U.S. Senate vote to advance new sanctions penalizing countries that buy Russian oil.
Meanwhile, Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff and former Senior Advisor to the U.S. President Jared Kushner may visit Kyiv for the first time to try to end the war, according to the Financial Times.
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This report was backed up by right-wing influencer Laura Loomer who said such a visit could happen in two weeks, having posted videos in support of Ukraine in a U-turn from her previous criticism of American aid for Kyiv.
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The Washington trip, which also took in the funeral of Senator Lindsey Graham, a key supporter of Kyiv and driver of the sanctions bill, was a far cry from Zelensky's White House visit in February 2025, which ended in a spat over U.S. military support.
Trump posted on Truth Social, "Great Honor to meet with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine," adding "the meeting went very well!"
"Compared to their tense White House confrontation last year, the dynamic between Zelensky and Trump has certainly become more cordial and businesslike, partly because Trump likes to back a winner," Jaroslava Barbieri, research fellow, at Chatham House’s Ukraine Forum, told Newsweek.
Newsweek has contacted the Ukrainian president's office and the White House for comment.
Zelensky's Patriot Plea
Zelensky's visit to Washington was a busy one that signaled a warming of ties between Kyiv and the Trump administration. "President Zelensky is making progress in convincing the Trump administration that continued support for Ukraine aligns with U.S. strategic interests," Elina Beketova, fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), told Newsweek.
"If that diplomatic momentum is matched by further military successes of Ukraine and sustained pressure on Moscow, the Kremlin may see negotiations as a more attractive option than prolonging the war," she added.
The Ukrainian leader said on X he discussed licenses for Patriot interceptor production with Trump during an Oval Office meeting.
Trump had announced the Patriot production license for Ukraine on July 8 on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara in a key boost for Ukraine whose stockpiles of the interceptors had been almost depleted.
Ukrainian officials said on July 6 this lack of Patriots was why it could not stop Russian attacks on Kyiv which killed 26 people and left dozens injured.
Zelensky told Axios on Tuesday that the U.S. president had agreed to move ahead with the Patriot production licenses. The Ukrainian president said he met with representatives of Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, which both produce Patriot interceptors, whose U.S. stockpiles have been reduced because of the Iran war.
Zelensky had asked Trump for an emergency package of Patriot air defense interceptors, 300 of which he needs by winter. He also told Axios that Kyiv and U.S. defense companies were looking into modifying Ukrainian-made ballistic missiles and turning them into anti-missile interceptors that have similar capabilities to Patriot missiles.
Barbieri from Chatham House said that Trump’s agreement to grant Ukraine the license to domestically manufacture Patriot missile systems "is a major win, but it offers no immediate relief for the urgent air defense shortages Kyiv faces ahead of winter."
"Still, by proving it can stand up to Russia, Kyiv has shattered the idea that Russian victory is inevitable," she said. "Kyiv’s strategy is to appeal to American self-interest, with a simple argument at its core: the fastest way to end the war is to apply maximum pressure on Moscow, rather than forcing Ukraine to make premature concessions.
"However, given his long history of favoring Russia, it is too early to claim that Trump has made an irreversible U-turn on Ukraine."
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Threat of Mobilization
Even if Ukraine gets the licenses to make Patriots, it could take between one and five years to produce large amounts of interceptors.
But Zelensky's push for Patriots comes ahead of concerns that if the shortage is not solved by winter, Russian missile attacks could destroy Ukrainian power plants, shutting off heating for millions of people.
Beketova from CEPA said that even if it takes up to five years to build up Patriot production capacity, it would represent a deeper level of U.S.-Ukrainian defense cooperation and strengthen Ukraine's long-term resilience.
"Military and diplomatic gains reinforce one another. The stronger Ukraine's position on the battlefield, the greater its leverage at the negotiating table," she added.
Adding to the urgency is Ukraine's warning that Russia is planning a mobilization of between 300,000 and 500,000 troops following the parliamentary elections in September, signaling a new phase in the war.
"This would pose a challenge for Ukraine," military analyst Giorgi Revishvili told Newsweek. "Much will depend on the scale of Russia's mobilization and how quickly newly mobilized personnel can be trained and integrated into combat units."
Revishvili said that the way in which Ukraine adapts and addresses its long-standing challenges, particularly manpower shortages and uneven manning across brigades, would be important.
"With General Mykhailo Drapatyi assuming the role of Commander-in-Chief, there is growing optimism that the long-awaited transformation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces will accelerate," he added.
Russian Sanctions Advanced
Zelensky witnessed lawmakers voting 86 to 12 to advance a sweeping Russia sanctions bill that the late Senator Graham had long tried to move forward before his unexpected death.
Zelensky attended a memorial service for Graham, a staunch supporter of Ukraine who died on July 11, just hours after arriving back in the U.S. from Kyiv.
The bill still has hurdles to overcome before its final passage in the Senate, which is expected later this week, but it could sanction Russian leaders, its energy sector and shadow fleet, which has been used to evade existing sanctions.
Zelensky has said that the new sanctions could help build on the gains Ukraine has made on the battlefield and force Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table amid a growing consensus in Washington that the momentum is with Kyiv.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: John Fitzpatrick and Tony Phillips
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