While in Washington, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a joint phone call with several EU leaders after he met with U.S. President Donald Trump. During the call, President Zelenskyy spoke with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President António Costa, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
Zelenskyy updated them on his discussions with President Trump, which focused on air defence, Ukraine’s needs, and security guarantees. Zelenskyy described the conversations as productive and extensive.
“We want the United States to be part of security. We count on the leadership of the United States. And we also spoke about the PURL programme [the framework known as the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List -PURL, in which European allies and Canada are procuring American weapons to support Ukraine’s efforts]. The United States and the President have opened this corridor for us,” noted Volodymyr Zelenskyy, talking to journalists.
He highlighted that the most crucial priority at this moment is to protect as many lives as possible, ensure security for Ukraine, and strengthen all European nations. Zelenskyy expressed gratitude to the partners who participated in the conversation for their support of Ukraine.
The leaders aligned their positions and agreed that their national security advisors would discuss the next steps.
