Zelenskyy returns to the Oval Office amid Trump's shift in position toward Ukraine - FT learns about expectations
Kyiv • UNN
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will hold talks with Donald Trump on Tuesday. Zelenskyy hopes to secure new military support and revive efforts to end the war.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy will hold talks with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday amid growing confidence in Kyiv that the US president has become more sympathetic to Ukraine's position, reports the Financial Times, writes UNN.
Details
Advisors to the President of Ukraine and a person close to the Trump administration said that "this meeting gives Zelenskyy the best chance since the start of Trump's second term to secure new military support and revive efforts to end Russia's full-scale war."
Seventeen months after a "tense confrontation" in the Oval Office, Zelenskyy, the publication writes, "will return to the gilded room, hoping to turn improved personal relations with Trump into military and political support."
"If Zelenskyy keeps it simple and doesn't overcomplicate things, everything will go well," said a person familiar with the discussions surrounding the meeting.
"The latest talks mark a sharp shift from the tension that once defined these relations, with Zelenskyy privately believing that months of direct interaction at the advisor level have changed Trump's view of the war and Ukraine's prospects," the publication writes.
His task, according to people close to both presidents, will be to convince Trump that supporting Ukraine serves US interests and to appeal to the president's desire to be associated with success — an argument that has gained traction in recent months.
On the eve of the NATO summit earlier this month, Zelenskyy told the Financial Times that Trump praised Ukraine's campaign using long-range drones against Russia's energy sector — a vital element of its war machine — saying it was "doing very well."
Asked whether this would be enough for Trump to decisively side with Ukraine, Zelenskyy replied that he feels the US leader now sees the war in a new light.
"President Trump wants to be where there is success," Zelenskyy said. "That is tied to many things — not just his personality, but also the approaching elections, his status, his belief in how this war can be ended."
At the NATO summit in Ankara, Trump told Zelenskyy that the US would grant Ukraine a license to produce Patriot surface-to-air interceptor missiles, agreeing to a key Ukrainian request.
Zelenskyy's top advisors told the Financial Times, "whether for good or ill, he has always believed he is most persuasive with Trump when they meet face-to-face," the publication writes.
The President of Ukraine acknowledged how far relations have come since the Oval Office meeting in February 2025, believing that a brief meeting with Trump at the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter's Basilica on April 26 last year helped change the relationship.
"But the shadow of the Oval Office confrontation will loom over the two men when they meet in Washington on Tuesday morning for about 90 minutes," the publication writes.
Zelenskyy also plans to attend the memorial service for Senator Lindsey Graham, a staunch supporter of Ukraine, who died suddenly on July 11, just hours after returning from Kyiv, his tenth visit to the country since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.
Some pro-Ukraine Republicans believe that Graham's death could push Trump closer to Kyiv and help revive a bipartisan bill on sanctions against Russia that the late senator championed in Congress.
Zelenskyy, the publication writes, also seeks to revive stalled diplomatic efforts, push Washington to increase pressure on Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, accelerate the delivery of Patriot air defense systems, and deepen cooperation in weapons production.
"Trump enters negotiations, balancing competing pressures within his own administration. He has become more critical of Putin's intransigence and more receptive to Ukraine's military gains, but part of his 'America First' base remains deeply skeptical of long-term support for Kyiv," the publication writes.
One unexpected marker of these shifting debates is Laura Loomer, a far-right activist who maintains regular contact with Trump. Once a vocal opponent of US military aid who echoed Kremlin narratives, Loomer spent last week in Kyiv, meeting with Zelenskyy and senior officials, studying Ukraine's history, and witnessing Russian missile attacks firsthand, the publication notes.
Her visit was welcomed by Zelenskyy, senior government officials, and energy industry leaders, and officials even found the birth certificate of her paternal great-grandfather, Pinkus Loomer, who was born in Vinnytsia in 1895, hoping her conversion would impress Trump.
Now she claims that influential figures in the American right-wing have been deceived by Russian propaganda — a shift that Ukrainian officials hope could further strengthen Trump's increasingly favorable attitude toward Kyiv.
"There are signs that these efforts may be working. After Loomer interviewed Zelenskyy, Trump shared the dialogue on his social media, calling it 'Very good!!!'" the publication notes.