Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on his US counterpart Donald Trump to use the moment of the ceasefire in Gaza to broker peace in Ukraine, during a phone call they held on Saturday.
According to Axios, the two leaders discussed Ukraine's request to the United States for Tomahawk missiles to bolster Kiev's long-range strike capability inside Russian territory, as well as other issues. This follows Trump's statement that he was "almost done" with selling Tomahawk missiles to NATO members so they could provide them to Ukraine.
"If a war can be stopped in one region, then obviously other wars can be stopped - including the Russian war," Zelensky wrote on social media, a day after Moscow launched a massive drone and missile attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, causing widespread power outages in Kiev and other cities.
"I informed President Trump about Russia's attacks on our energy system - and I appreciate his willingness to support us," Zelensky wrote on "X", adding that they had a "very positive and productive" conversation with "concrete agreements" on strengthening Ukraine's air defense.
The call came at a time of growing concern in Kiev about the intensification of Russian air strikes and Ukraine's ability to counter them, as Russia is using more sophisticated means and developing more effective countermeasures against Kiev's air defenses.
The commander-in-chief of Ukraine's armed forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, warned that Russia is significantly increasing the number of air strikes.
"New challenges await us. Over the past month, the enemy has increased the number of attack aircraft and although our air defense is about 74% effective, we must make additional efforts to protect the energy sector, critical infrastructure and logistics," he said.
This week alone, Russia has launched 465 Shahed attack drones and decoy drones, as well as 32 cruise and ballistic missiles against Ukraine.
The latest talks between Trump and Zelensky come as debate continues in Washington over whether the US should approve sending Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine - a move that Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned of as "a completely new and qualitatively more dangerous stage of escalation."
The call also marks an improvement in relations between the US and Ukrainian presidents. Zelensky said in a speech Friday evening that Russia is taking advantage of “the fact that the world is almost entirely focused on peace efforts in the Middle East” and called for strengthened air defenses and tougher sanctions against Russia.
"Russian assets must be fully utilized to strengthen our defense and ensure reconstruction," he declared.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, in a joint statement on Friday, expressed their readiness to coordinate actions with the US so that "the value of Russia's frozen assets can be used to support the Ukrainian armed forces and bring Russia to the negotiating table."