President Volodymyr Zelensky said he held a call with US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, with sanctions and defense agreements among the discussed topics.
The call came just days before Trump’s Friday, Aug. 8 ceasefire deadline for Moscow, in which he called for Moscow to move towards a ceasefire or face secondary tariffs on Russian oil purchases.
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Zelensky wrote on X that the two “coordinated our positions” during the call, calling the conversation “productive.”
“Today, we coordinated our positions – Ukraine and the United States. We exchanged assessments of the situation: The Russians have intensified the brutality of their attacks. President Trump is fully informed about Russian strikes on Kyiv and other cities and communities,” Zelensky wrote on Tuesday afternoon.
Zelensky said the two also discussed sanctions, with Trump vowing to impose them on Moscow if it fails to show progress toward a ceasefire by Friday.
“Of course, we spoke about sanctions against Russia. Their economy continues to decline, and that’s exactly why Moscow is so sensitive to this prospect and President Trump’s resolve. This can change a lot,” Zelensky said.
Trump had threatened to further raise tariffs on India – a major Russian oil buyer – a day prior due to its Russian oil purchases, with New Delhi dispatching its national security adviser to Moscow for talks this week, according to a Bloomberg report.
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On Tuesday, Politico reported that the EU is also considering sanctions against Beijing and New Delhi, aligning with Trump’s planned tariffs in response to ongoing Chinese and Indian support for Moscow that has enabled Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Zelensky, in his update, also thanked Trump for the recent arms initiative in which NATO would help procure US weaponry for Kyiv, with the Netherlands among the first to purchase arms under the scheme.
“We already have commitments from the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark – over $1 billion for American weapons that Ukraine will receive. Thank you! This cooperation with NATO countries will continue,” he wrote.
Zelensky also hinted at progress on a planned arms deal that would see the US purchasing Ukrainian drones in exchange for Kyiv purchasing advanced US weaponry.
“The draft agreement on drones has already been prepared by the Ukrainian side, we are ready to discuss it in detail and conclude it. One of the strongest agreements this could be,” Zelensky wrote.
Zelensky has previously called the planned agreement a “mega deal.”
Tuesday’s call took place amid reports that Trump would dispatch his Ukraine and Russia envoys, Keith Kellogg and Steve Witkoff, to the respective countries for last-minute talks ahead of Friday’s sanction deadline.
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