Zelenskyy Meets Trump at White House on Patriot, Sanctions
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- Zelenskyy met Trump in a closed Oval Office session on July 28, 2026, ahead of Sen. Lindsey Graham's funeral, and on social media called it a "good meeting," citing discussions of Patriot interceptor production licenses and reinvigorating diplomacy.
- At an earlier NATO summit in Ankara, Trump announced the U.S. will grant Ukraine a license to manufacture Patriot defense systems — a long-running Kyiv request aimed at countering Russian missile attacks — with additional "ideas that could help" discussed this week.
- Laura Loomer, a far-right activist with close influence over Trump, traveled through Ukraine, witnessed Moscow's attacks firsthand, interviewed Zelenskyy, and admitted she was "bamboozled by Russian propaganda" after speaking with Trump about her trip.
- Zelenskyy warned that Russia has been aiding Iran by capturing satellite imagery of U.S. bases in the Gulf region that later appears in Iran, asserting a "clear correlation" between Russia's images and subsequent Iranian strikes.
- Trump downplayed any Russian assistance to Iran aboard Air Force One, telling reporters "I don't think they've been doing it, certainly not at a high level," but said he would raise the issue with Vladimir Putin.
- Graham's final act as a public official was visiting Kyiv and securing agreement on sanctions legislation that imposes tariffs on goods from the world's top five purchasers of Russian oil or natural gas — including China and India — and sanctions on Putin, senior Russian leaders, financial institutions, and energy projects.
- Republican leadership is pushing to advance Graham's bipartisan sanctions bill this week before the August recess, framing it as the main policy tribute to the South Carolina senator, who died unexpectedly from a tear in his aorta.
Why it matters: Graham's sanctions bill would directly hit China and India — two of the world's largest economies — with tariffs for purchasing Russian energy, while also sanctioning Russian financial institutions and energy projects, making its Senate passage this week a concrete economic lever against Moscow. The Zelenskyy-Trump meeting layered Patriot manufacturing rights on top of that pressure campaign, signaling deeper U.S. industrial commitment to Ukraine's defense beyond the sanctions track.
