Zelenskyy to meet Trump at White House next week to renew efforts to negotiate with Russia as conflict escalates | Today’s news
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet with US President Donald Trump on July 28 (local time) at the White House, according to the official.
Citing White House officials, Bloomberg reported Saturday that Zelenskyy will be in Washington, DC next week to attend the funeral of Sen. Lindsey Graham.
Zelenskyi was said to have been close to the Republican senator from South Carolina, who died on July 11, and visited Kyiv in the days before his death two weeks ago.
The meeting between the two leaders comes days after Zelenskyy said on social media that he had “a good and important conversation about how to revive diplomacy and bring peace closer” with Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
Read also | Russia accuses Ukraine of killing at least 12 civilians in occupied Zaporozhye
It further comes as a series of long-range Ukrainian drone strikes deep inside Russia continue to increase pressure on the Kremlin, while political tensions have escalated in war-torn Kiev. Last week, widespread protests erupted after Zelenskyi fired a widely respected defense minister who was credited with expanding Ukraine’s successful drone campaign against Russia. The move followed growing tension between the minister and the army chief, who was also later removed from office.
Zelenskyy claims that Russia is supporting Iran amid conflict with the US
The report of his visit coincides with Zelensky’s announcement on social media on Saturday that he had ordered the country’s intelligence agencies to share information about Russian support for Iran during the ongoing conflict with the United States, ABC News reported.
In a post on X, the Ukrainian president noted that since the beginning of July, Kiev had noticed Russian satellite surveillance of Arab countries in the Middle East and US military facilities in the region. He further claimed that “there is a clear correlation between Russian satellite images of these sites and Iranian strikes – both before, in preparation for, and after the attacks to assess the damage caused”.
His claims came after the US president said on Friday (local time) that he trusted his Russian and Chinese counterparts, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, not to help Tehran in any “major” way.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said, “Well, I don’t know that they’re allowing it. I mean, I’ll tell you, President XI said he’s not going to attend. And President Putin said the same thing.”
Marco Rubio meets with Sergey Lavrov
Earlier this week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the ASEAN summit in Manila, where he told reporters that Washington was still engaged in efforts to end the conflict, which the US president thinks is a “stupid war – he thinks it’s a senseless war”.
He added: “If we can play a role in ending it, we will use the power and influence of the United States to do so.”
Russo-Ukrainian War
The meeting between the two leaders comes amid renewed efforts to revive diplomatic talks aimed at ending the more than 4.5-year war with Russia, with no breakthrough in sight. Kiev came under overnight attacks on Sunday (local time), a day after at least 12 people, including five children, were killed and 19 others injured in a drone strike on a holiday camp in the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine’s Zaporozhye region. Moscow-appointed authorities have accused Kyiv of deliberately targeting civilians.
Read also | Russia accuses Ukraine of killing at least 12 civilians in occupied Zaporozhye
Earlier this week, Russia launched a large-scale attack on Friday near the Ukrainian capital, killing at least 10 people and injuring around 100 others.
International calls for an end to the conflict continue to grow after the United Nations (UN) warned that civilians have been dying in high numbers since the war began in February 2022.
