Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed on July 22 that he has signed initial documents for an agreement to begin testing drones in the United States.
“It is important that Ukraine is now able to send its drones to the United States for testing,” Zelenskyy’s office stated in a news release.
Zelenskyy met with U.S. NATO Ambassador Matthew Whitaker at the president’s office in Kyiv to discuss defense partnerships and outcomes of the NATO summit in Ankara.
Despite a military leadership shakeup and political turmoil, Ukraine has made significant progress in the four-year war since the Russian invasion.
Both sides intensified drone attacks this week, striking retail warehouses and facilities in Ukraine and Russia, and an apartment building in Odesa.
The two countries remain far apart on a peace agreement, but both sides have taken steps to restart negotiations.
Zelenskyy’s meeting with Whitaker included a future drone deal between Ukraine and the United States, although details about the agreement for testing drones in the United States were not released.
The U.S. Department of War announced a $1 billion Drone Dominance program in December 2025, outlining a plan to purchase small, lethal drones over the next two years.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said his intent is to accelerate growth of the U.S. industrial base and rapidly arm combat units with low-cost, consumable drones at scale. The intent is to buy over 200,000 drones that can be used for lethal force in the “toughest battlefield environments,” the Pentagon said.
Zelenskyy’s government has made strides in recent months in developing agreements with countries in Europe and elsewhere on a plan to seek partners for Ukraine’s drone program since developing production.
The European Union (EU) signed a joint weapons production deal with Ukraine on July 15 to combine drone technology developed in Europe and Ukraine. The EU’s letter of intent will establish joint drone and anti-drone production by the end of 2026 and joint anti-ballistic missile production by 2028.
Like the U.S. deal, the EU has also given support to Ukraine for defense manufacturing.
Zelenskyy said he discussed agreements about licenses to produce missiles for the Patriot systems with the U.S. ambassador on July 22.
President Donald Trump announced earlier this month that the United States would grant Ukraine a license to produce its own supply of Patriot air defense systems, which have been in demand around the world.
Zelenskyy also met with Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to discuss the peace agreement.
“It was a good, important conversation on how to reinvigorate diplomacy and bring peace closer,” Zelenskyy said in a post on X. “Peace is needed—peace with dignity, and Ukraine has long been ready for it.”
Zelenskyy said he planned to follow up on the discussion with the envoys.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters during a press conference on July 22 in Manila, Philippines, that Russia planned to resume discussions about a peace agreement with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“The [Rubio] meeting has already been agreed upon,” Lavrov said.
Rubio confirmed he planned to meet with Lavrov on July 23 at the ASEAN Summit in the Philippines to discuss a number of issues, including the Ukraine war.
“We’d like to see that war come to an end,” Rubio said during a July 22 press briefing. “The U.S. remains open and willing to play a constructive role in bringing that war to an end, if that opportunity presents itself. And it might. We’re open to it—to playing that role—because we think, right now … we’re probably the only country in the world that can play that role.”
Peace negotiations have fallen off in the past few months, but conditions in place now could allow conversations to move forward, Rubio said.
On July 16, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia had no immediate prospects to resume the negotiating process with Ukraine.
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