LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in Washington today to meet with President Trump in the White House.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Zelenskyy wants long-range weapons that could hit even farther inside Russia than Ukraine already has. Trump has been trying to arrange a ceasefire. He spoke by phone with Russian president Vladimir Putin and made plans to meet him face-to-face in Hungary. Trump is even suggesting that the recent ceasefire in the Middle East may build momentum for Ukraine. In a few minutes, former U.S. diplomat Michael McFaul assesses that idea. We begin with the view from Ukraine.
FADEL: Joining us now to talk about all this is NPR's Ukraine correspondent, Joanna Kakissis, who's in Kyiv. Good morning, Joanna.
JOANNA KAKISSIS, BYLINE: Good morning, Leila.
FADEL: So what are Ukrainians hoping will come out of this visit today?
KAKISSIS: Well, Leila, they're hoping at least for some more military support because this is a war of attrition, remember, and Russia is bigger and has more resources. Now, we have been hearing a lot lately about Tomahawk cruise missiles. These are American missiles. They can travel a thousand miles. And Oleksandr Kraiev of the Ukrainian Prism Foreign Policy Council here in Kyiv, he told me why Ukraine sees the Tomahawk as an effective tool.
OLEKSANDR KRAIEV: Because everything that is long-range, everything that is precise, everything that can destroy not only Russian logistics, but also Russian industry, especially Russian fuel industry, is something that is able to stop Russian advances.
FADEL: But hasn't Trump been giving mixed signals about whether or not he'll send these missiles to Ukraine?
KAKISSIS: Yes. He seemed to be warming up to the idea until his phone call with Putin yesterday. After that call, Trump told reporters the U.S. needs these missiles, too, and cannot deplete its own stock. And Putin has warned that supplying Tomahawks to Ukraine would be a provocation.
FADEL: Ukraine has already been striking Russian refineries and oil depots with its own weapons. What effect has that had?
KAKISSIS: Yeah. Ukraine has struck Russian oil industry targets at least 58 times since August, and that's according to an analysis by Reuters and the Open Source Center in the U.K. These strikes have strained Russia's fuel supply, and as a result, Ukraine's military claims it is seeing Russia lose momentum on the front line. Ukrainian forces say they have been even able to take back some land occupied by Russian forces.
FADEL: Earlier this year, Trump told Zelenskyy that Ukraine didn't have the cards to win. Does Zelenskyy have better cards now?
KAKISSIS: Well, it feels that way, and some of that has to do with Ukraine feeling better, feeling stronger. I spoke with Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksandr Merezhko. He leads parliament's foreign affairs committee, and he brought up another point, that Trump seems to see that Ukraine is worth fighting for.
OLEKSANDR MEREZHKO: He started to believe in Ukraine, that we can win. And strategically speaking, Ukraine is not losing, and Russia is not winning the war. On the contrary, the tide might change anytime.
KAKISSIS: And also, Leila, the tide has definitely changed in the personal relationship between Trump and Zelenskyy, at least since Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated the Ukrainian leader in the White House this February. Zelenskyy has even said Ukraine will nominate Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize if the president manages to secure a durable ceasefire for Ukraine.
FADEL: How do Ukrainians feel about the prospect for a ceasefire?
KAKISSIS: Well, we've been speaking to lots of Ukrainians about this, and they're not optimistic. They say Putin still wants to take over all of Ukraine, and they still see Trump as too soft on Putin. They say they're worried that Trump's attitude towards Ukraine could shift again after his meeting with Putin in Hungary.
FADEL: That's NPR's Joanna Kakissis. Thank you, Joanna.
KAKISSIS: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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