Following what has been a new in-person meeting between the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and his American counterpart Donald Trump in Washington, which was described as a positive encounter by the parties, the U.S. would seek to move forward with the sale of new Patriot anti-aircraft systems to reinforce the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In particular, it would be an agreement that would comprise up to 25 units of said system, which would represent an important reinforcement for the demanded air defense network of the country that daily faces Russian onslaughts with drones and missiles.
Although it is an agreement that is still being outlined by the Ukrainian government, President Zelensky himself indicated that much of the meetings with American officials revolved around the topic, even with President Trump face to face. It is worth recalling at this point that the U.S. had already recently advanced in the authorization of an additional support package to guarantee the operability of the systems transferred so far, being a contract for more than 179.1 million dollars.
The result, however, has not been in principle the one expected by President Zelensky himself, even though a greater cordiality than in the first encounters between both leaders was noted. Mainly, this would be due to the fact that the Ukrainian delegation intended to return to Kyiv with an announcement regarding the delivery of new Tomahawk missiles by the U.S., a possibility that shook the chessboard of the war that began in 2022 by representing the potential capacity to carry out attacks deep into Russian territory; consequently causing various warnings from the Kremlin regarding a greater escalation of the conflict.
According to the first local reports, based on the statements issued by Zelensky himself, this would be because his counterpart would not seek at the moment to take measures that undermine his fragile relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, amid efforts to negotiate an end to the conflict. Furthermore, at a time when the planned meeting between Trump and Putin himself to be held in Budapest has been postponed due to existing disagreements over the future of the situation.
In line with the above, Trump himself referred to the matter in the following way: “In fact, I asked him (Ed. note: President Putin via a telephone call): ‘Would you mind if I gave a couple of thousand Tomahawk missiles to your opposition?’. I told him. I told him exactly like that. He didn’t like the idea (…) We also need Tomahawk missiles for the United States. We have many, but we need them. That is, we cannot weaken our country. They are vital, very powerful, very precise, and very good. But we need them too.”
Finally, it is important to consider that these back and forths from President Trump are not only limited to the delivery of the Tomahawk missiles mentioned so far, but also to his view on Ukraine’s possibilities of obtaining a favorable result in the ongoing conflict. While last month the leader affirmed that Ukraine would be capable of recovering the territory lost due to the advances of Russian troops, which represented an almost total change from his initial position on the war, now he hinted, “I don’t think they will, but they could still win (…) Anything could happen. You know, war is a very strange thing.” Between this change in positions, the aforementioned call with President Putin occurred.
*Images used for illustrative purposes.
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