President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a delegation of top Ukrainian officials will visit the U.S. early next week to discuss Russian frozen assets, air defense and sanctions against Moscow as prospects for peace fade.

The team led by Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko, Zelenskyy’s Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak and his sanctions representative Vladyslav Vlasyuk will also discuss Ukraine’s energy needs, the president told reporters in Kyiv on Wednesday.

Kyiv said this week it will have to increase natural gas imports by almost a third after Russia intensified attacks against key energy infrastructure as winter approaches.

Ukraine is trying to persuade its allies to allow the use of frozen Russian assets to pay for defense needs and to ramp up sanctions on Moscow to punish President Vladimir Putin for stalling efforts to end his full-scale invasion, now well into its fourth year.

Finance ministers from the Group of Seven nations including the U.S., the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada will meet next week to consider options to impose new restrictions on key Russian economic sectors including energy, finance and military production.

Zelenskyy said discussions with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration have continued “on various levels” including with the military and special services since the two leaders met on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York last month.

“Despite the cold weather outside, our relations remain warm at various levels,” Zelenskyy said. Trump’s special envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the Department of Defense are all involved in the dialogue, he said.

U.S. military specialists regularly visit Ukraine and U.S. intelligence is making it possible for advanced air defenses such as the Patriot anti-missile system to function properly in defending the country against Russian strikes, Zelenskyy said.

“We’re working with U.S. intelligence,” the president said. “All the systems — Patriots, NASAMS and Iris-T — would have limited data without U.S. intelligence.”

Trump has sharpened his stance toward Putin after repeated attempts to convince him to engage in peace talks failed. But the U.S. administration has so far stopped short of imposing additional sanctions on Moscow, nor has it resumed financial aid for Ukraine. Instead, European allies have taken up the burden of paying for U.S. weapons that Kyiv needs.

More recently, the U.S. has floated the possibility of providing Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles, one of the most advanced weapons in its arsenal, prompting warnings from Moscow that this would further strain ties with Washington. Kyiv wants to be technically ready to receive them should the decision be positive, according to Zelenskyy.

“Now it’s an important signal – strengthening Ukraine by every available means,” he said. “And Tomahawks are one of the options I consider important.”

The conversation about the U.S. potentially supplying Ukraine with Tomahawks began more than a year ago when President Joe Biden was still in power, Zelenskyy said. It’s a “positive signal” that the current administration hasn’t outright ruled it out, he said.

Ukraine lacks sufficient air defense to protect its entire territory from Russian missile and drone barrages. Energy infrastructure has come under increasing attack in recent weeks, causing widespread power disruptions as winter approaches.

Zelenskyy also weighed in on Trump’s desire to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

“If Trump gives the world – above all, the Ukrainian people – the chance for such a ceasefire, then yes, he should be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize,” Zelenskyy said. “We will nominate him on behalf of Ukraine.”

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—With assistance from Kateryna Chursina.

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