Ukraine is preparing a contract to buy 25 Patriot air defence systems, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, in what would be a huge boost to Kyiv's abilities to defend against Russia's aerial bombardments.
In comments to media at a meeting on Sunday and cleared for use on Monday, Zelenskyy said the systems would be supplied every year for a number of years, and that Ukraine would seek for some European nations to give Kyiv priority in the queue for the systems.
Patriots are seen by Kyiv as the most effective systems to stop Russian ballistic missiles, which travel several times faster than the speed of sound.
Zelenskyy also said he would be willing to come to Budapest, where Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump are due to meet, if a trilateral meeting or a "shuttle diplomacy" format was proposed.
The Ukrainian leader was speaking before media including Reuters reported, citing sources, that Trump had pushed Zelenskyy to make concessions in a tense White House meeting on Friday.
"After many rounds of discussion over more than two hours with (Trump) and his team, his message, in my view, is positive – that we stand where we stand on the front line," Zelenskyy said on Sunday.
After his meeting with Zelenskyy, Trump publicly called for a ceasefire on the current frontlines, a position that the Ukrainian president then embraced in comments to reporters.
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