US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping have made progress that is in the interest of the United States and China, at the conclusion of the Chinese president's state visit to Washington.
Trump announced that he discussed the war on Iran with his Chinese counterpart, and said: “We did that.” We did that,” he said in response to a question about this Iranian issue, while taking the Chinese President on a tour of the National Archives building in Washington during the last day of Xi’s visit.
In response to another question about whether he expected to make progress on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, Trump replied: “I think we will achieve excellent results.”
According to what was reported by Agence France-Presse, Trump told reporters: “I think we have made tremendous strides, and we have made great strides, which is a very positive thing for both countries,” while having tea at the White House in the presence of his wife, Melania, and President Xi and his wife.
Trump indicated that the two sides “will hold extensive talks.”
In turn, the Chinese President indicated the possibility of holding two additional meetings with Trump this year. “For the remainder of this year, there will be two more opportunities to meet: one during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in China, and the other during the G20 summit in the United States,” Xi said through a translator while drinking tea, adding: “I welcome your visit to China, Mr. President and First Lady.”
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Friday that the United States is expected to announce the details of the conclusions of the trade negotiations with China on Monday.
Trump received Xi at the White House on Thursday and said: “We are in a managed trade mode... We have made progress, and I believe that on Monday we will reveal more details about what we have accomplished over the past few weeks in negotiations with the Chinese.”
He added that the United States agreed with China to exclude some major goods from trade disputes. He pointed out that Washington will export agricultural products and medical devices, “and we will receive consumer goods and other non-sensitive items from them.”
Greer said that the current talks did not address a limited category of high-quality electronic chips that are manufactured in the United States and require special licenses.
He added: “These chips are the most valuable products produced by American technology. “It is the way by which we maintain our advantage in the super-AI race, and so these issues... are not really discussed in the framework of these negotiations.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that he asked his American counterpart, Donald Trump, to pressure the Chinese president to use Beijing's influence in Moscow in diplomatic efforts to get Russia to end its invasion of Ukraine that has been ongoing for 4 and a half years.
According to what the Associated Press reported, Zelensky told reporters that he had not received a response from the White House regarding Trump’s talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, but that he expected to know the outcome.
Zelensky, who is eager to mobilize more international support for Ukraine, was in the United States this week, on a visit that coincided with the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, and met with Trump last Tuesday.
NATO countries described China as one of the “critical facilitators” in the Russian invasion.
Zelensky shared more details about his trip to the United States in audio messages to a group of journalists.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said today (Friday) that US President Donald Trump informed him that he had decided to allow Kiev to produce Patriot air defense missiles, after a long debate and response on this issue, according to what was reported by Agence France-Presse.
Ukraine faces a shortage of these missiles that are reliably capable of confronting Russian ballistic missiles, the launch of one of which killed a 14-year-old boy in the capital, Kiev, on Friday.
During his visit to the United States this week, Zelensky renewed his calls for air support and Patriot missiles.
He said in an audio recording to reporters, days after his meeting with Trump in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly: “In our last meeting, the President assured me that he had made a final decision. “Ukraine will obtain licenses to produce Patriot missiles.”
In July, Trump said it would be "very great" to grant Ukraine such permits, before backtracking, saying the United States should be "very careful" before granting Ukraine such a permit.
Ukraine confirmed that it has suffered from a severe shortage of Patriot interceptor missiles since the United States and Israel launched a war on Iran in February, which led to the diversion of supplies of these advanced defense systems.
But even if licenses are granted, building industrial capacity will take more than a year and will not meet Kiev's immediate needs.
Kyiv renewed its calls for urgent support ahead of the winter.
Last month, Zelensky said that Kiev needs 5 percent of the United States' stock of Patriot interceptor missiles to survive the winter, and 10 percent of them to destroy all Russian ballistic missiles.
“A brutal and horrific strike”
Russia is targeting the Ukrainian capital with newly developed jet drones, and has succeeded in bypassing some Ukrainian interceptor systems.
After Moscow mainly targeted Kiev during the night hours, it now launches many attacks in broad daylight.
While people were on their way to work on Friday morning, a drone hit a residential building in the city, killing a 14-year-old boy.
Zelensky condemned the attack, describing it as a “brutal and horrific strike that has nothing to do with military logic.”
Agence France-Presse journalists at the scene saw residents gathering around a multi-storey building, with apartments on the ninth and tenth floors damaged by the attack.
Outside the damaged building where he lives, Mikita Sysoev (23 years old) said that he woke up to the sound of an explosion, but he did not realize that the strike had targeted the building until after he saw the news.
He added: “I was very surprised. It's strange. On the one hand, I have become accustomed to the strikes, but on the other hand, deaths continue to occur.”
In response to a question about the increase in drone strikes, he said: “It is a technological race and a technological war... Unfortunately, people will suffer, while solutions are sought.”
In the Odessa region (south of the country), a person was killed in a new strike targeting a postal facility that had previously been targeted, according to the authorities.
