United States President Donald Trump is set to hold separate talks on Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as conflicts in the Middle East and Eastern Europe enter pivotal phases.
The two leaders are in Washington to attend a memorial service for late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a long-time advocate for strong U.S. support for both Israel and Ukraine.
The meetings come at a time when Trump’s relationships with the two leaders are moving in different directions.
While ties with Zelenskiy have improved following Ukraine’s recent battlefield gains against Russian forces, Trump’s relationship with Netanyahu has become increasingly strained over the lack of progress toward a broader settlement of the conflict involving Iran.
Upon arriving in Washington, Zelenskiy said strengthening Ukraine’s air defence and expanding strategic cooperation with the United States would be his top priorities.
“Peace needs to be brought closer,” he wrote on social media.
Ukraine is expected to seek additional Patriot missile interceptors, approval to purchase more air defence systems, and progress on plans to produce Patriot interceptors under licence. The two leaders are also expected to discuss efforts to revive peace negotiations with Russia.
According to U.S. officials, Trump will stress that now is the time to pursue an end to the war in Ukraine.
Netanyahu’s visit comes amid mounting domestic political pressure ahead of Israel’s October elections. Sources familiar with the discussions said the Israeli leader hopes to secure Trump’s public backing, which could strengthen his standing at home.
The White House said Trump and Netanyahu will discuss the conflict involving Iran, security tensions along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, and efforts to expand the Abraham Accords, the diplomatic agreements normalising relations between Israel and several Arab nations.
The administration is also seeking to bring Saudi Arabia into the accords, although Riyadh has maintained that normalisation with Israel depends on meaningful progress toward Palestinian statehood.
Despite reports of tensions between the two leaders in recent months, Trump struck a positive tone ahead of the meeting.
“Bibi’s been great. He was a wartime prime minister. We did very well together,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Monday.
Both meetings are taking place as Washington attempts to balance renewed diplomatic efforts with ongoing military tensions in both regions.
Although Trump has paused U.S. airstrikes against Iran to allow room for negotiations, there remains no clear path to ending either the Middle East conflict or the war between Russia and Ukraine.
