Ukrainian officials meet with US weapons manufacturers before Trump-Zelenskyy talks

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KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Ukrainian government delegation has met with prominent American weapons manufacturers during a U.S. visit, a senior Kyiv official said Wednesday, before President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s meeting with U.S. counterpart Donald Trump at the White House later this week.

A delegation led by the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, Andrii Yermak, and Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko met with representatives of Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, Yermak wrote in a Telegram post.

Yermak didn’t disclose what was discussed during the talks, but said that his country's cooperation with the two companies “continues to grow” as Ukraine looks for further help resisting Russia's all-out war, which began on Feb. 24, 2022.

Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Yermak, posted on X that Ukraine is seeking cruise missiles, air defense systems and joint drone production agreements from the United States.

Raytheon produces Patriot air defense systems, which have been vital for Ukrainian efforts to counter Russian long-range strikes, and Tomahawk cruise missiles. Kyiv officials are keen to obtain Tomahawks, which could allow Ukraine to strike targets deep inside Russia, including Moscow, accurately and with large warheads.

Lockheed Martin also manufactures a wide array of sophisticated weapon systems that can help Ukraine.

While Zelenskyy is widely expected to request Trump’s go-ahead at the Oval Office to procure Tomahawks, Washington has hesitated over such a move out of concern that it could escalate the war and deepen tensions between the United States and Russia.

However, Trump on Sunday warned Russia that he may send Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine if Moscow doesn’t end its war there soon — possibly using that threat to increase the pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to compromise.

“If this war does not end, if there is no path to peace in the short term, then the United States, along with our allies, will take the steps necessary to impose costs on Russia for its continued aggression,” U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Ukraine’s Western backers, gathered at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

“If we must take this step, the U.S. War Department stands ready to do our part in ways that only the United States can do," he said.

Putin said that Tomahawks wouldn't change the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine, while Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in published remarks Sunday that the issue of Tomahawks is “of extreme concern” to Moscow.

The NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels discussed how they can maintain the momentum of weapons supplies to Ukraine, after European military aid for Kyiv dropped sharply in the summer. European allies and Canada are buying American weapons to help Kyiv hold back Russia's forces.

Meanwhile, Svyrydenko, the Ukrainian prime minister, said that she met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday, as the two countries put the finishing touches to the U.S.-Ukraine Reinvestment Fund, part of an agreement granting American access to Ukraine’s vast mineral resources.

Svyrydenko said that the fund is “several important decisions away” from starting to function.

The first potential projects set to receive investments in the critical minerals, energy and infrastructure sectors are taking shape, she said.

Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine continued their almost daily attacks on each other’s energy assets, as Ukraine tries to dent Russian fuel supplies and oil revenue and Russia seeks to cripple the Ukrainian power grid before winter.

Ukraine’s armed forces conducted an overnight strike on an oil terminal in Feodosia, in the Russia-annexed Crimean Peninsula, according to a post on Telegram Wednesday by the General Staff. The terminal is an important logistical link supplying Russian forces with fuel, it said.

The attack damaged 16 fuel reservoirs that were still intact after Ukrainian forces struck the terminal last week, sparking a fire, it added.

Meanwhile, Naftogaz Group, Ukraine’s biggest oil and gas company, said Wednesday that Russia struck one of its thermal power plants overnight, the latest in a series of major attacks on the company’s natural gas facilities and infrastructure.

At least two Ukrainian regions reported blackouts.

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Lorne Cook contributed to this report from Brussels.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine