Zelenskyy Trump meeting set as Russia sanctions vote looms
Zelenskyy is expected at the White House as the Senate weighs Russia sanctions and Trump seeks to add measures against Iran.
By Daniel Okafor · Business Editor
3 min read
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday, putting the Zelenskyy Trump meeting alongside a possible Senate vote on tougher Russia sanctions. Reuters reported, citing two Senate aides, that Zelenskyy is also due to meet senators Tuesday evening after attending the funeral of US Senator Lindsey Graham.
The sanctions legislation, which Reuters said has been pending for months and was championed by Graham, could come up for a vote the same day. If passed, it would place 100 percent tariffs on goods from the five biggest buyers of Russian oil and gas, including China and India.
Trump has sought to add Iran sanctions to the same measure, Al Jazeera reported. Zelenskyy told Trump ally Laura Loomer last week that he considered that move a “great idea”.
What could the Zelenskyy Trump meeting cover?
The meeting is expected to take place as Ukraine presses for continued US support against Russia and as Washington weighs new economic pressure on Moscow. The possible addition of Iran sanctions has linked the debate more closely to Tehran’s role in the war and to tensions between Iran and Ukraine.
Al Jazeera reported that the wars involving Ukraine and Iran have drawn closer together in recent days despite taking place about 2,500km, or 1,550 miles, apart. On Saturday, Ukraine attacked an Iranian tanker in the Caspian Sea, according to the report.
Yevgen Korniychuk, Ukraine’s ambassador to Israel, said the tanker had been carrying drones and military components from Iran to Russia. Iran has promised to retaliate, Al Jazeera reported.
William Courtney, a former US ambassador to Kazakhstan and Georgia, told Al Jazeera that Ukrainian strikes on Iranian ships serve Kyiv’s interests while also targeting what he described as Washington’s “enemy number one”. Courtney also said Ukraine is unlikely to want to be too closely tied to the US war on Iran, which he called unpopular.
How have Trump and Zelenskyy relations changed?
Relations between Trump and Zelenskyy appeared strained after a tense White House exchange in February 2025, but Al Jazeera reported that their ties have improved in recent months. Earlier this month, the two leaders agreed to allow Ukraine to jointly produce Patriot air defence interceptors, according to the report.
Ukraine and the United States are also moving toward an agreement on joint drone production, Al Jazeera reported. The arrangement could aid the United States in a field where Ukraine has scaled production during the war.
Ukraine is on course to produce 6 million to 7 million short-range attack drones this year, according to Al Jazeera. By comparison, the Pentagon’s $1.1bn drone production programme will have ordered just under 200,000 drones in total by February 2027, the report said.
The United States no longer provides direct financial aid to Ukraine for the war, Al Jazeera reported, but it still supplies intelligence used for long-range strikes and sells weapons to European countries that are then transferred to Ukraine.
Fighting continues in Ukraine and Russia
Officials said Russian strikes on eastern Ukraine killed seven people and injured more than 20 on Monday. Al Jazeera reported that heavy fighting continues along Ukraine’s front lines and that long-range strikes are occurring almost daily.
In Russia’s Belgorod region, a Ukrainian drone hit a commercial building, killing one person and injuring two, according to the report. The heaviest fighting is in the Konstantinyvka and Pokrovsk directions of Ukraine’s Donetsk region, Al Jazeera reported.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.