On July 28, Zelensky will fly to Washington with two items on his schedule: to say goodbye to Senator Lindsey Graham and to meet with Trump at the White House. The date is not coincidental — and not just because of the funeral ceremony.
Context: diplomacy stalled after Manila
On July 23, Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a 35-minute meeting in Manila with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. According to Rubio himself, the negotiations were "candid," but there was no breakthrough — neither on a ceasefire formula nor on security guarantees. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had already set low expectations in advance.
"This will not happen at a press conference. This will not happen in one meeting in the Philippines"
— U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio after negotiations with Lavrov
It is in this vacuum that the Washington meeting appears. On July 22, Zelensky spoke with Trump's special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner — the sides, according to Axios, discussed how to "restart diplomatic efforts." Two days later, the White House confirmed the meeting to Reuters.
Graham as a reason and as a symbol
Senator Lindsey Graham — a Republican from South Carolina — visited Ukraine ten times after the full-scale invasion. On July 10, he was in Kyiv, where he met with Zelensky and assured him of Congressional support. The next day, Graham passed away — an aortic dissection, at 71 years old. Now Zelensky is traveling to his funeral.
For Zelensky, attending the funeral ceremony is not only a gesture of gratitude. Graham was one of the few Republicans who publicly pressured Trump on the issue of supporting Ukraine. His death leaves the pro-Ukraine lobby in the Senate weaker, and the meeting with Trump the same day takes on additional symbolic weight.
What's on the table
The White House did not announce a specific agenda. But the context paints it quite clearly:
- A formula for ending the war. Rubio acknowledged that the central problem is finding conditions that Kyiv will accept and Moscow will not reject. Zelensky previously said that a trilateral meeting should be held "before fall."
- Weapons and sanctions. Moscow demanded that Washington stop deliveries through NATO mechanisms — Rubio publicly refused, but pressure continues.
- Mineral deal. After the scandalous February collapse in the Oval Office, the issue has not disappeared: Washington continues to consider economic partnership as part of the peacebuilding architecture.
According to Zelensky, if it were up to Ukraine — a trilateral meeting would have already taken place in July. Now there is a chance to at least accelerate its preparation.
If after July 28 the White House does not announce a concrete negotiation mechanism — a next round or new conditions for Moscow — the meeting will remain yet another "productive dialogue" without consequences: that is exactly how Washington described Manila.
