US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian Leader Volodymr Zelensky to meet at the White House on Friday Staff WritersReutersTue, 14 October 2025 5:53AMCommentsComments
US President Donald Trump will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for a working lunch, three sources familiar with the planning said, amid intensifying discussions about the potential provision of long-range Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv.
The two leaders spoke on both Saturday and Sunday, and a high-ranking Ukrainian delegation, led by Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, is slated to come to Washington before the Friday meeting to lay the groundwork for the leaders’ talks.
The main topics are expected to include air defence, additional US weapons for Kyiv and Russia’s potential return to the negotiating table, said one of the sources who, like the others, requested anonymity as the visit has not been publicly announced.
Mr Zelensky has been lobbying Washington to supply US-produced Tomahawk missiles, which have the capacity to hit Moscow, but which Ukrainians say would be used only on military targets.
On Monday, he told reporters in Kyiv he had shared with Mr Trump a “vision” of how many US Tomahawk missiles Ukraine needs for its war effort against, adding the two leaders would discuss further details on the matter on Friday.
Moscow has said such a move would represent a serious escalation.
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday that supplying US Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine could end badly for everyone, especially President Trump.
Mr Medvedev, an arch-hawk who has repeatedly goaded Trump on social media, said it is impossible to distinguish between Tomahawk missiles carrying nuclear warheads and conventional ones after they are launched – a point that President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman has also made.
“How should Russia respond? Exactly!” Mr Medvedev said on Telegram, appearing to hint that Moscow’s response would be nuclear.
Mr Trump has said he is considering sending Tomahawks to Ukraine, though he also said on Sunday that he might talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin about it.
“Yeah, I might tell him (Putin), if the war is not settled, we may very well do it,” Mr Trump said.
“We may not, but we may do it… Do they want to have Tomahawks going in their direction? I don’t think so.”
Mr Medvedev wrote: “One can only hope that this is another empty threat… Like sending nuclear submarines closer to Russia.”
He was alluding to Mr Trump’s statement in August that he had ordered two nuclear subs to move closer to Russia in response to what he called “highly provocative” comments from Mr Medvedev about the risk of war.
Mr Putin has said supplying Ukraine with Tomahawks – which have a range of 2500 km and could therefore strike anywhere within European Russia, including Moscow – would destroy relations between the United States and Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine would only use Tomahawk missiles for military purposes and not attack civilians in Russia, should the US provide them.
Ukraine and the US are also closing in on a landmark drone deal in which Ukraine would share drone technology with the United States. European diplomats see such a deal as an important tool for keeping the mercurial US president engaged and supportive of Ukraine.
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