Volodymyr Zelensky said he met privately with U.S. President Donald Trump at the United Nations this week to ask for an “additional weapons system” to force Russia to the negotiating table.

Zelensky told Barak Ravid with The Axios Show that he made the case that if Ukraine possessed weapons that could reach Moscow, that fact alone could force Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to peace talks.

The Telegraph reported Friday that Zelensky specifically asked Trump for Tomahawk missiles, which are long-range and precision-guided.

“In an interview after the meeting, Mr. Zelensky said Mr. Trump was amenable to his appeal for the long-range cruise missile, that would put Moscow in range of Kyiv’s strikes,” The Telegraph reported.

Ukraine has asked the U.S. for Tomahawks several times over the past year, but Trump has declined to sell the powerful weapons “to NATO countries on Ukraine’s behalf,” an anonymous source told Axios.

When asked what Trump could do to help Ukraine win the war, Zelensky told Ravid, “I think President Trump knows. I said to him yesterday what we need, one thing.”

Zelensky added, “By the way, we need it, but it doesn’t mean that we will use it. Because if we will have it, I think it’s additional pressure on Putin to sit and speak.”

Zelensky said Trump told him “we will work on it,” when he made the request.

According to Axios, “The Tomahawk, manufactured by RTX, has a much longer range than the missiles NATO has made available so far, flying up to 1,000 miles vs. around 190 miles for U.S.-made ATACMS.”

Radio Free Europe reported that during a phone call in July, “President Trump reportedly asked Zelensky, ‘Volodymyr, can you hit Moscow? […] Can you hit St. Petersburg too?’ The Ukrainian president is reported to have replied: ‘Absolutely. We can if you give us the weapons.’ On July 15, Trump denied he is aiming to arm Kyiv with long-range missiles, telling reporters: ‘We’re not looking to do that.'”

Read the Axios story here.

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