'Tête-à-tête worked': Zelenskyy on meeting Trump, hints at air defense talks
Photo: Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump during a meeting at the Vatican on April 26 (Getty Images)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared new details about his meeting with Trump at the Vatican. During his meeting with journalists, he said that the personal conversation had positive results.
"With President Trump, I believe we had the best conversation of all. It might have been the shortest, but it was the most substantive. With all due respect to our teams, the tête-à-tête format, in my opinion, worked," he said.
According to the president, the agreement on natural resources allows for the protection of future US investments, including the protection of Ukraine and its people with air defense.
"And that's why we are ready to contribute with air defense systems. I told him about the necessary quantity — he promised that they would work on this, and these are not free things. And I would like to have the possibility for us to access the purchase of American weapons," Zelenskyy noted.
US–Ukraine minerals deal and Trump-Zelenskyy meeting
On May 1, Ukraine and the United States signed an agreement on economic cooperation known as the "minerals deal." The document was signed by Ukraine's First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, Yulia Svyrydenko, and US Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent.
After the signing of the agreement, Ukraine’s Minister of Economy, Yulia Svyrydenko, stated that Washington could provide new air defense systems to protect Ukrainian cities from Russian missile attacks, but the Trump administration did not address this issue.
It’s worth recalling that Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump met in the Vatican on April 26. Prior to that, Zelenskyy called the meeting with Trump "very symbolic." Media also reported that Zelenskyy told Trump that he was not afraid to make concessions in order to end the war, but for that, he needed sufficiently reliable security guarantees.
