Ukraine is preparing a contract to buy 25 Patriot air defence systems, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said, in what would be a huge boost to Kyiv's abilities to defend against Russia's aerial bombardments.
He said they would be supplied every year for a number of years and that Ukraine would ask for some European nations to give his country priority in the queue for the systems.
Patriots are seen by Kyiv as the most effective systems to stop Russian ballistic missiles, which travel several times faster than the speed of sound.
President Zelensky also said that he would be willing to travel to the Hungarian capital Budapest, where Russian President Vladimir Putin and US counterpart Donald Trump are due to hold talks, if a trilateral meeting or a "shuttle diplomacy" format was proposed.
The Ukrainian leader was speaking before media reports, citing sources, that Mr Trump had pushed him to make concessions in a tense White House meeting on Friday.
"After many rounds of discussion over more than two hours with (Trump) and his team, his message, in my view, is positive - that we stand where we stand on the front line," President Zelensky said.
After the meeting, Mr Trump publicly called for a ceasefire on the current frontlines, a position that the Ukrainian leader embraced in comments to reporters.
Russia has said that it is engaged in serious work with the United States to seek a peace deal in Ukraine, but accused Kyiv of sending contradictory signals that made the process harder.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, when asked what President Putin had proposed to President Trump regarding territorial issues, declined to give any further information about the most recent phone call between the two leaders last week.
Mr Peskov said that Russia's position on peace is "consistent" and Moscow would continue its communication with the US, saying "serious work" is ongoing.
Meanwhile, EU countries have agreed to phase out their remaining gas imports from Russia by the end of 2027.
