Netanyahu and Zelensky Both Set for Washington Next Week, With Trump Meetings and Graham's Funeral on the Same Calendar

Since Lindsey Graham died on July 11, days after his final trip to Kyiv, his push for a Russia sanctions bill has stalled repeatedly in the Senate, most recently over Democrats objecting to Trump-backed Iran provisions being bolted onto it. That fight isn't resolved. But the funeral itself, scheduled for Tuesday, July 28 at Washington National Cathedral, has turned into a magnet for exactly the kind of diplomacy Graham spent his career chasing.

Benjamin Netanyahu's office confirmed the Israeli prime minister will fly to Washington on Monday, July 27, meet Trump at the White House on Tuesday, and attend the funeral, according to a statement from the Prime Minister's Office. The visit follows what Türkiye Today described as days of uncertainty over whether the meeting would even happen.

That outlet reported Israeli site Ynet's account that aides to Vice President JD Vance tried to block the Netanyahu meeting, worried Netanyahu would push Trump toward a harder Iran line while Vance has favored diplomacy with Tehran. Vance's communications director, Taylor Van Kirk, called the report "100% fake news," and a senior White House official told Türkiye Today the idea that Vance's staff could interfere with a foreign leader's meeting request was "completely false." No independent confirmation of the alleged blocking effort has surfaced beyond the Ynet report, and both the substance of the dispute and its resolution remain unverified by other sources.

Zelensky's plans are less locked down. The Kyiv Independent, citing Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne and diplomatic sources, reported on July 22 that Zelensky was considering the Washington trip but that his office had not yet confirmed his availability, and was weighing sending a senior official in his place instead. Reuters, per Mint's reporting, could not get direct comment from Zelensky on a planned Trump meeting as of Friday.

Then came confirmation from an unlikely source. Laura Loomer, the right-wing activist and Trump ally, posted on X Friday that Zelensky told her he'd likely be in the U.S. next week, including a Trump meeting, specifically to attend Graham's funeral. The White House itself said Friday that Trump and Zelensky are scheduled to meet Tuesday, July 28, according to a White House official cited by Mint.

Graham traveled to Ukraine 10 times since Russia's 2022 invasion and spent his final days in office pressing for expanded sanctions targeting Russian oil and gas buyers. That bill, now working through a revised bipartisan version, would impose tariffs up to 100% on the top five buyers of Russian energy and has reportedly cleared the threshold needed to beat a Senate filibuster, according to the Kyiv Independent. Whether the Iran add-ons Democrats have objected to survive in the final text is still an open question as of this week.

Behind the funeral logistics, actual peace-process groundwork is happening. Zelensky spoke Wednesday with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner about reviving talks with Russia, according to Reuters reporting relayed by Mint, and Ukrainian and U.S. officials have been discussing a proposed air ceasefire to present to Moscow. The Kyiv Independent also reported that NATO envoy Matt Whitaker visited Kyiv on July 22 to discuss Patriot missile deliveries and a pending U.S.-Ukraine drone production deal, and that Trump said at the NATO summit in Turkey earlier this month that Washington would license Ukraine to produce its own Patriot interceptors.

Some U.S. officials believe pressure from Ukrainian drone and missile strikes on Russia's economy could eventually soften Vladimir Putin's negotiating posture, sources told Reuters. Ukraine has previously offered Putin ceasefire terms that were rejected, according to that same reporting. Anyone skeptical that a single funeral-week visit produces real movement on a six-month-frozen peace process has a fair point. Diplomacy this stalled doesn't usually get fixed by proximity alone, and neither the ceasefire proposal nor the sanctions bill's final language is settled.

What is settled: Netanyahu meets Trump Tuesday at the White House, both he and Zelensky are expected at Washington National Cathedral that same day, and the sanctions bill Graham died fighting for is still sitting in the Senate without a final vote. Whether Zelensky's office confirms his attendance before Tuesday, and whether the Iran provisions survive in the bill Graham's name is now attached to, are the two loose threads worth watching next.