France, July 29 -- Zelensky spent just over an hour with Trump on Tuesday, as Ukraine pressed Washington for stronger protection against Russian missile attacks and fresh diplomatic efforts to end the war.

"Thank you for everything we do together to protect the lives of Ukrainians and advance peace," Zelensky said in a statement after the meeting.

"The President and I discussed licences for Patriot interceptor production and several other ideas that could help," he added. "We also spoke about diplomacy - it's important that the diplomatic process be reinvigorated."

The meeting came as Kyiv and Moscow intensified long-range strikes and US-led attempts to negotiate an end to the conflict remained at an impasse.

Ukraine has repeatedly ca...