Zelensky and Netanyahu meet Trump as wars in Ukraine and Iran drag on

"He accepted that he will give us licences," Ukraine's leader told Fox News, "and then I had a meeting with representatives of production, very strong military companies of the United States.

Zelensky and the Ukrainian army have previously said Ukraine needs 25 Patriot interceptor systems.

What we know

Ukraine has long sought American Patriot missiles, which Kyiv says could be used to defend Ukrainian cities from escalating Russian drone and ballistic missile attacks across the country. While there was no official US confirmation of military assistance to Ukraine, Zelenksy said afterwards that Trump had agreed to give Ukraine licences for domestic production of Patriot missiles.

Afterwards, Trump said in a brief post on Truth Social that it was "a very good meeting!" Netanyahu told Israeli media the two had "an understanding of a shared goal, to ensure that Iran does not have nuclear weapons, and other goals as well". After the meeting, the US military said Iranian forces had attempted a surprise attack on American forces in the Middle East, but that all the missiles were intercepted.

US and Saudi forces meanwhile attacked Iranian proxies in eastern Iraq which had allegedly fired drones at Saudi energy infrastructure, according to the US military.

The details

It can catch rockets with flight ranges of up to 1,000km (620 miles). One battery can simultaneously track up to eight targets and detect more than 100. But it comes with a price tag – each missile for the Patriot is estimated to cost from $3m to $5m.

Reactions

Trump posted briefly on Truth Social that the closed-door meeting "went very well!" Lindsey Graham remembered by Trump as 'giant of the US Senate' at funeral As the US pauses the war with Iran, is Trump really running out of weapons? Zelensky also met a bipartisan group of US lawmakers just before the Senate voted overwhelmingly to sanction buyers of Russian oil and gas. The Ukrainian president told reporters beforehand that such sanctions are a "big signal to Europe, big signal to Ukraine, big support of our people".

What to watch

Zelensky and Trump discussed Kyiv's hope that the US would help bolster its air defences. Ahead of the visit, Zelensky was expected to press Trump to follow through on a promise he made at this month's Nato summit to grant Ukraine a licence to produce Patriot interceptor missiles.