President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet at the White House on Friday to discuss key defensive items and strategies to better counter Russia’s war.
The meeting, announced earlier this week, comes just one day after Trump held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Zelenskyy has made clear that his main goal is to secure better defense of Ukraine amid ongoing Russian aerial bombardment of civilian targets such as cities, energy infrastructure and hospitals. His big target is the American Tomahawk missile.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (L) meets with President Donald Trump (R) in Washington DC, United States on August 19, 2025. (Ukrainian Presidency / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
TRUMP, PUTIN PLANS HUNGARY MEETING ON WAR IN UKRAINE, ZELENSKYY TO VISIT THE WHITE HOUSE FRIDAY
With the ability to hit even further than Moscow, the advanced, highly accurate long-range cruise missile could boost Ukraine’s ability to penetrate further into Russia and better target not only its military complex but also its oil industry, which has largely funded Putin’s war chest.
Hardie said countering Russia’s war must be done through a range of tactics, including increasing missile power for Ukraine, but also attacking Russia’s war chest by undermining the Russian economy through sanctions, hitting the oil industry and crippling the defense complex.
Third, Ukraine must be better equipped for its war effort on the front lines.
“Putin still seems to believe, or chooses to believe, that he can crush the Ukrainian forces in this war of attrition, and that that will ultimately provide him with a path to achieving some of his goals,” Hardie said. ‘He will have to be rid of that.
“The goal must be to exploit the offensive potential of the Russian army,” he added.
Hardie also pointed out that while large items like Tomahawks would be useful for Ukraine given the long distances and heavy payload, there are items that Kiev could use more efficiently for its daily needs.
Apartment buildings are damaged by a Russian military strike, amid the Russian assault on Ukraine, in the frontline city of Kostiantynivka in Donetsk region, Ukraine, October 13, 2025. (Oleg Petrasiuk/Press Service of the 24th King Danylo Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces/Handout via REUTERS)
TRUMP THREATENS TO ‘TALK’ TO PUTIN ABOUT GIVING TOMAHAWK MISSILES TO UKRAINE NOW RUSSIA HAS THE HOSPITAL
“We’re kind of fixating on that one system, but there’s a wide range of things the United States can do to improve Ukraine’s long-range precision strike capabilities,” he said.
Systems such as the Extended-Range Attack Munition (ERAM) missiles, a more affordable long-range cruise missile designed by the US specifically for Ukraine, are expected to arrive in early October.
Hardie also pointed to defensive systems that are useful and necessary to better protect against Russia’s continued missile and drone attacks, such as Patriot battery systems.
After his phone call with Putin on Thursday, Trump said “great progress” had been made but gave no details on how progress was being made, although the pair agreed to meet in person again, this time in Hungary.
President Donald Trump greets Russian President Vladimir Putin, Friday, August 15, 2025, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. On Friday, Putin praised Trump’s peace efforts, despite not winning the Nobel Peace Prize. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/The Associated Press)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Although Trump said the pair discussed U.S.-Russia trade, he did not say whether U.S. aid to Ukraine was discussed, which appeared to be the impetus for the call earlier this week when he told reporters he “may have to speak” with Putin about whether he wanted U.S. Tomahawks near his borders, in what appeared to be an implied threat.
But neither Tomahawks nor defensive assistance were mentioned in the president’s account of the talks.
However, according to Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, the issue was discussed and contested by Putin.
“Vladimir Putin reiterated his statement that Tomahawks will not change the situation on the battlefield, but they will cause significant damage to relations between our countries. Not to mention the prospects for a peaceful solution,” he told reporters after the call, according to Reuters.
