
Trump and Zelenskyi are expected to meet at the White House on Friday. Russia attacks a UN humanitarian convoy in Kherson region with artillery and drones. The U.S. could only send 20 to 50 Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, an expert tells the Financial Times.
Trump, Zelenskyi to meet at White House on Friday
President Trump is expected to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Friday, two sources familiar with the planning told Axios. The two will discuss what weapons should be supplied to Ukraine, specifically if the U.S. should provide game-changing long-range Tomahawk missiles to the war-torn country, the article, published on Monday, reads.
Zelensky is scheduled to arrive in the U.S. on Thursday.
Zelensky’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak will arrive in Washington, D.C., on Monday night to prepare for the visit.
Zelensky confirmed in a Monday post on X that he will discuss “a series of steps that I intend to propose” with Trump. A Ukrainian delegation has already departed for the U.S., he said. Zelensky added there would be “several other important meetings,” with defense companies and, possibly, lawmakers.
The news about the meeting was first reported by the Financial Times journalist Christopher Miller on Monday.
The last time the two leaders met was on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York last month.
Zelenskyi said on Sunday he had spoken with Trump twice in two days and discussed “strengthening” Ukraine, including the country’s long-range capabilities.
Russia attacks UN humanitarian convoy in Kherson region with artillery, drones
On Tuesday morning, Russia attacked the trucks belonging to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Ukraine, carrying humanitarian supplies to a community in Kherson region, head of the regional military administration, Oleksandr Prokudin, said. OCHA confirmed what happened in a statement Tuesday.
The mission’s convoy came under precision artillery and drone fire in the Bilozerka community, Prokudin said. All four vehicles were clearly marked with a UN agency’s emblem (WFP).
One vehicle burned down, another was seriously damaged, while two others managed to escape the attack, Prokudin said. The UN staff were unhurt.
“Today the ‘second [largest] army’ in the world has won over a few tons of humanitarian supplies. Terrorists — there’s nothing more to say,” Prokudin wrote in a post to social media.
The World Food Programme (WFP) is a UN agency that coordinates emergency food deliveries.
Russia has been deliberately attacking civilians in Kherson region, particularly with drones.
An explosive dropped from a Russian drone on a public transportation stop in Kherson on October 7 killed a man and injured another, officials said.
U.S. could only send 20 to 50 Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, expert tells FT
Stacie Pettyjohn, director of the defence programme at the Center for a New American Security think-tank, said Washington could spare some 20 to 50 Tomahawks for Ukraine, “which will not decisively shift the dynamics of the war,” the Financial Times reported Monday. The paragraphs below are quoted from the article.
US President Donald Trump will welcome his Ukrainian counterpart to Washington on Friday for talks about how they can force Russia’s Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table, including through the possibility of supplying American-made Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv.
While the long-range missiles could complement Ukraine’s own long-range attack drones and cruise missiles “in large complex salvos to greater effect”, they would “still will be a very limited capability . . . certainly not enough to enable sustained, deep attacks against Russia”, they added.
Mark Cancian, a former Pentagon official now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think-tank, estimated in a recent war game that the US had 4,150 Tomahawks in total.
However, the US would probably be able to supply only a few to Ukraine. This is in light of the fact that, out of the 200 the Pentagon has procured since 2022, it has already fired more than 120, according to defence experts. The defence department has requested funding for only 57 more Tomahawks in its 2026 budget.
The Pentagon declined to comment on how many Tomahawks it has.
Earlier this week, U.S. company Oshkosh Defense unveiled the X-MAV, an autonomous-capable heavy launcher configured with four Tomahawk missiles.