Trump and Zelensky reveal meeting plans in big push to end Ukraine war
Washington DC - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet US President Donald Trump in Washington on Tuesday, a White House official said, amid a new push to end the war with Russia.
"President Zelensky is slated to meet with President Trump at the White House on Tuesday," the White House official told AFP on condition of anonymity on Friday.
Zelensky will meet Trump on the same day as a memorial service in Washington for US Senator Lindsey Graham, a supporter of Ukraine who died earlier this month at the age of 71.
Kyiv did not immediately confirm Zelensky's meeting with Trump or whether he would attend the service for Graham.
Zelensky said this week that he had spoken to Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner in a bid to revive the stalled talks to end the four-year-old war.
The US-led negotiations on resolving the conflict have been stuck while Washington's attention has been diverted to the Iran war. Trump is meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the same day as Zelensky.
Trump and Zelensky have meanwhile had a fraught relationship that has veered from a shouting match in the Oval Office in February 2025 to warmer ties in recent months.
The Ukrainian leader held talks with right-wing US influencer and Trump confidante Laura Loomer this week in a fresh sign of detente.
The 33-year-old arch-conservative commentator, who has millions of online followers, has recently abandoned her anti-Ukraine stance.
"This is everyday for every Ukrainian, I feel like such an a**hole for minimizing the struggle of Ukrainians for the last five years," she said of the experience.
Trump reposted one of Loomer's social media posts about her Zelensky meeting on Thursday with the caption: "Very good!!!"
Cover photo: Collage: Tetiana DZHAFAROVA / AFP & Kevin Dietsch / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP