The Office of the President announced this, Ukrinform reports.
The Head of State briefed them on the brutal Russian drone attack in the Kharkiv region, which killed six people, including a mother and her child, who was just over a year old.
“This is how Russia responds to sanctions waivers and reduced pressure,” Zelensky stressed.
He also updated the delegation on the situation on the front, where Ukraine is reclaiming more territory than Russian forces are able to capture, and on offensive operations carried out by Ukrainian troops.
“I am grateful to America and to all our partners for their support. We fully understand that our success depends on the support of our partners. And without America, things would be much harder for us,” the President emphasized.
According to Zelensky, Ukraine continues to face restrictions on the operating speeds of Starlink and Starshield services in various sectors of the front.
“We still have no explanation for this. Just different strange stories we’re hearing, unfortunately,” he noted.
The restrictions on Starlink and Starshield speeds, he explained, undermine frontline logistics, Ukraine’s medium-range strike capabilities and its ability to defend against Russian drones.
“The hardest to shoot down are the jet-powered Shaheds. That’s exactly why we need Starlink and Starshield to work at higher speeds,” the head of state stressed.
He said Russian attacks had become more brutal and insidious, and that Ukraine had received no warning from its partners about the first wave of ballistic missile strikes the previous night.
“I’m talking first of all about the American early warning of missile threats. This is already the third time in a short period that we’ve had no such warning about ballistic missiles. And we have received no clear explanation from our partners, our strategic partners, from Washington – why this is happening,” Zelensky said.
The meeting also focused on strengthening Ukraine’s air defenses, including accelerating the delivery of missiles for Patriot systems under the PURL initiative.
The Ukrainian President also briefed the delegation on his contacts with U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoys, Steven Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
He separately thanked the delegation for supporting Lindsey Graham’s sanctions bill.
“This is an extremely strong bill that was supposed to take effect – but unfortunately, it has not. We hope this will change,” he said.
Read also: Republicans threaten to block Pentagon funding unless Trump takes tougher stance on RussiaAccording to the Office of the President, members of the U.S. Congress assured Ukraine of their support for efforts to bring Russia’s war of aggression to an end.
Zelensky said Russia had no intention of ending the war and was preparing new attacks for the winter. According to him, Ukraine supported U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal for an energy ceasefire, but Russia continued attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
The President stressed that the Russian leader had rejected a proposal to halt strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in exchange for Ukraine stopping attacks on Russian oil refineries.
“We also offered another option – and I want to thank the members of the U.S. Congress who raised this idea. We could stop striking Russian oil refineries for 30 days. And in return, we would expect America to help us protect our skies for those same 30 days – just 30 days – specifically with Patriot interceptors. That would be fair. I’m sure. But unfortunately, we have not heard any willingness to help with this option either,” Zelensky said.
The Office of the President added that the teams would follow up on all the issues discussed during the meeting.
As Ukrinform reported, Zelensky met in Kyiv with a team from U.S. defense company Lockheed Martin to discuss expanding supplies of ballistic missile interceptors and the possibility of servicing and repairing F-16 fighter jets in Ukraine.
Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine
