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Trump and Zelensky to Meet in Washington This Week

President Donald Trump will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Tuesday as diplomatic efforts to resolve the four-year conflict with Russia gain momentum.

Eleni Papadaki-Van Der Merwe Staff Writer

JULY 26, 2026 AT 6:42 PM

A White House official confirmed the meeting to AFP on Friday, speaking on condition of anonymity. The session comes as efforts to broker a settlement to the four-year war experience renewed attention following a period in which Middle Eastern affairs dominated the international agenda.

Volodymyr Zelensky revealed earlier this week that he had held discussions with Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner as part of ongoing attempts to restart negotiations that had previously stalled.

The relationship between Trump and Zelensky has been marked by tension, most notably during a contentious Oval Office encounter in February 2025. During that heated exchange, Trump expelled Zelensky from the White House in full view of the press and the American public.

Tuesday’s meeting will coincide with a memorial service in Washington for the late Senator Lindsey Graham, a steadfast advocate for Ukraine who passed away earlier this month at age 71. Graham died from a sudden illness on July 11 following his return from Kyiv, where he had announced reaching an agreement with the White House on a long-delayed Russia sanctions package.

The South Carolina Republican served in the U.S. Senate for more than two decades and secured Trump’s endorsement before winning his Republican primary in early June of this year.

Trump is also scheduled to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the same day as his session with Zelensky, underscoring the packed diplomatic calendar as multiple international crises compete for presidential attention.

With information from Breitbart News

Eleni Papadaki-Van Der Merwe

She was born in 1986 in Johannesburg, South Africa. She is the granddaughter of an immigrant from Crete who settled in the Greek community of Johannesburg (one of the largest in Africa). She holds a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Political Science from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in Johannesburg and a master’s degree in Journalism from Rhodes University in Grahamstown. She began her career at English-language media outlets in Johannesburg, covering politics and economics, with a focus on issues related to migration and the diaspora. She moved to Athens in 2015 to “return to her roots,” initially to pursue graduate studies, and has remained there permanently. She is married to an Afrikaner; they have two children and live in the southern suburbs of Athens.