Trump to Meet Ukraine’s Zelenskyy in Bid to End War

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to meet with President Donald Trump early next week, according to a White House official, amid efforts to revive diplomatic talks to end the war with Russia. 

The two leaders are scheduled to meet Tuesday, said the official, who asked not to be identified discussing the president’s schedule. 

The session will come just days after the Ukrainian president said on social media that he had a “good, important conversation on how to reinvigorate diplomacy and bring peace closer” with Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

It also comes after a series of long-range Ukrainian drone strikes deep into Russia have put pressure on the Kremlin and amid political turmoil in the war-time Ukrainian capital. Last week, widespread protests broke out after Zelenskyy fired a popular defense minister who boosted the country’s successful use of drones against Russia amid tensions between him and the army chief, who was later also ousted.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at an ASEAN summit in Manila this week, telling reporters the US was still engaged in efforts to negotiate a peace to a conflict that Trump thinks is “a stupid war — he thinks it’s a senseless war.”

“If we can play a role in bringing it to an end, we’re going to use the power and influence of the United States to do so,” Rubio said. 

Also this week, the controversial right-wing influencer Laura Loomer, who enjoys access to Trump and has long minimized Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, made a high-profile trip to Kyiv and met with Zelenskyy for an interview — which the US president praised in a social media post. 

She posted repeatedly — and positively — about Ukraine to her millions of followers, hitting out at other right-wing critics of US support for the country’s war effort against Russia.

With assistance from Eric Martin.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

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