President Donald Trump met separately with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of the three leaders’ expected attendance at late Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) funeral on Wednesday.
Trump first met with Zelensky in the Oval Office away from reporters and cameras beginning at 9:47 a.m., per the White House press pool.
“A good meeting with President Trump in the Oval Office. Thank you for everything we are doing together to protect the lives of Ukrainians and achieve peace,” Zelensky said after the meeting concluded.
“First and foremost, I expressed to President Trump our condolences regarding the death of Lindsey Graham. He was a true friend of Ukraine,” he added.
The Ukrainian president said he and Trump discussed “licenses for the production of interceptors for ‘Patriots’ and some other ideas that could help.”
“We also talked about diplomacy — it is important to activate the diplomatic process. Our teams will coordinate the details of their further communication. Grateful to the United States for their strong support,” he concluded.
Netanyahu arrived in the West Wing at 10:57 a.m. and his meeting with Trump began at 11:03 a.m, according to the pool.
As of this writing, a readout was not available from the White House or Netanyahu’s camp. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said as of 12:24 p.m. that both meetings had concluded.
“Both meetings were positive and productive!” she wrote.
Graham was a staunch advocate for both Israel and Ukraine, and the leaders of both countries spoke highly of the late senator after learning of his death.
“Frankly, I’m in a state of shock, because as President Trump said, Lindsey was so vibrant, he was so full of life, he was so full of energy and dedication that it’s hard to accept the fact that he is no more,” Netanyahu told NBC News’s Meet the Press on July 12, the day after Graham died.
“I think America has lost a great patriot. Israel has lost one of the great champions of the American-Israeli alliance, and frankly, I’ve lost a beloved friend who I’ve had for many decades,” he added. “There’s just no one like him.”
Zelensky said on July 12 that he was “deeply saddened” to learn of Graham’s passing.
“Lindsey was a true defender of freedom and the values that make our world safer,” the Ukrainian president wrote.
“He visited Ukraine ten times during the years of Russia’s full-scale invasion and was here with our people when it was most needed,” he added. “We remained in constant dialogue, and I will miss our conversations. We met twice in just the past week.”
Graham had just returned from a visit to Kyiv before his sudden death. Trump, Zelensky, and Netanyahu are set to attend Graham’s funeral at the Washington National Cathedral.
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