Patriot Breakthrough? Zelensky Meets With Tusk in Lublin Following Washington Talks

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Poland directly from the United States to brief Prime Minister Donald Tusk on discussions regarding Patriot missile production licenses and ongoing bilateral cooperation.

Washington Funeral and Sanctions

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Poland straight from the United States. On Tuesday, July 28, he attended the funeral ceremony of Republican Senator Lindsey Graham at the Washington National Cathedral. Graham was a close ally of Ukraine and an advisor to Donald Trump.

On the same day, the US Senate accelerated work on new sanctions targeting Russia’s energy export revenues, which Graham had pursued before his death.

“There is no better way to honor Senator Graham’s legacy than by continuing work on this bipartisan agreement,” three Republican senators and three Democratic senators wrote in a joint statement.

Oval Office Talks on Patriot Missiles

“Good meeting with President Trump in the Oval Office. Thank you for everything we are doing together to protect the lives of Ukrainians and promote peace,” Zelensky wrote after the meeting.

“The President and I discussed a license to produce interceptor missiles for the Patriot system and several other ideas that could help,” he added.

As early as spring, Zelensky had sounded the alarm about critical shortages of ammunition for Patriot systems. The situation was exacerbated by the depletion of global stockpiles due to the United States war with Iran.

“It is a great honor to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Many issues were discussed. The meeting went very well!” Trump assessed in turn on his Truth Social social media platform.

Zelensky told Fox News that Trump agreed to transfer a license to Ukraine to produce missiles for Patriot systems. The White House has not yet addressed this declaration.

It is worth emphasizing that the meeting between Trump and Zelensky in Washington took place this time without the presence of the media.

Tusk-Zelensky Talks in Lublin

The Chancellery of the Prime Minister informed about the meeting between Donald Tusk and Volodymyr Zelensky in a Wednesday, July 29 statement.

Zelensky arrived in Poland on his way back from Washington. The meeting started at around 5:00 PM at the Voivodeship Office in Lublin. According to the Chancellery’s announcements, the topic of the conversation was to be a summary of the Ukrainian president’s visit to the United States.

“President Volodymyr Zelensky informed me about the course of the talks in Washington. We also discussed issues of Polish investments in Ukraine, anti-ballistic cooperation, and support for Ukraine in its fight against the Russian aggressor,” Donald Tusk wrote on social media.

This is Zelensky’s first visit to Poland since the crisis in Polish-Ukrainian relations. Let us recall that the president of Ukraine named one of the military units after the “UPA Heroes.” In response, Karol Nawrocki stripped him of the Order of the White Eagle, and Zelensky sent the decoration back by courier.