Brandon Drenon
Reporting from Washington DC

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Over at the US Capitol, Vice-President JD Vance has just paid tribute to Graham during a ceremony in the rotunda, telling those gathered that the late senator was "a fierce defender of Ukraine".

During his remarks, Vance recalled a "tense" argument he once had with Graham about funding for Ukraine. Vance was a senator alongside Graham at the time.

Some in Washington are hoping memories of Graham's staunch support for Ukraine will help push legislation with fresh sanctions against Russia over the line.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
White House reporter

As we reported earlier, Zelensky arrived quietly to the White House, entering through a side door and avoiding the fanfare of a formal greeting at the front entrance.

Netanyahu is expected to do the same shortly.

Both meetings are considered "working visits" by the White House, meaning they are policy-oriented and business-like without much pomp and ceremony.

"Official" or "state" visits, on the other hand, are more much formal affairs. Flag-bearing troops often line the driveway to the West Wing, where President Trump greets visiting dignitaries and offers a few words to the press.

Both Zelensky and Netanyahu have received more formal receptions at the White House before. This time, they are both are coming with specific policy objectives, in addition to attending services for the late Senator Lindsey Graham.

Today, much of Washington's attention will be on Capitol Hill and the National Cathedral, where events are planned to bid farewell to Graham.

While Zelensky is meeting now with President Trump at the White House and Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with Trump afterward, we may not get much information about what was discussed.

As of now, the meetings are closed, meaning press is not allowed in the room.

Occasionally the White House will decide spontaneously to open the meetings.

We will bring you any lines as soon as we get them.

Image source, Getty Images

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was photographed arriving at the White House. He entered through a side door and was flanked by security.

Image source, Getty Images

Rebecka Pieder
US reporter

As the two world leaders huddle at the White House ahead of Graham's service at the US Capitol, here's a look back at Zelensky and Trump's previous meetings:

February 2025 A contentious Oval Office meeting turned into a shouting match as Trump and Vance berated Zelensky and told him he has "no cards" to play when the Ukrainian president visited the White House. The meeting ended without the minerals deal both sides had planned to sign or much progress on a peace deal.

April 2025 Trump and Zelensky met one-on-one in St. Peter's Basilica for about 15 minutes ahead of the funeral for Pope Francis. This is the first time they were seen meeting since February. Zelensky called it the "best" meeting he'd had with Trump, posting on X that they discussed a full ceasefire and lasting peace.

August 2025 Following Trump's summit with Putin in Alaska, Zelensky returned to the White House for a multilateral meeting. He handed Melania Trump a letter from his wife thanking her for work on returning Ukrainian children held in Russia.

October 2025 A meeting with Zelensky at the White House once again soured, and a shouting match ensued when Trump insisted on Ukrainian territorial concessions, according to media reports.

December 2025 Zelensky and Trump had a more civil meeting in Florida, with both leaders saying a deal to end the war was close to being reached.

July 2026 At the NATO summit in Ankara, Trump tells Zelensky the US will license Ukraine to produce Patriot missiles domestically, in a major milestone for Ukraine, which had been asking the US for more air defense support to combat Russian missiles for months.

The body of Senator Lindsay Graham has entered the rotunda, with a large American flag draped over the casket, which was carried by eight military service members.

Members of Congress and others look on solemnly, some with their hands over their hearts.

Zelensky, Netanyahu and Trump are expected to arrive at the Capitol after meetings at the White House.

As we wait for news out of the White House, over in the US Capitol, lawmakers and Trump administration officials are beginning to gather in the rotunda this morning to honour the memory of their former coworker, Senator Lindsey Graham.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived at the White House ahead of his next stop at Senator Lindsey Graham's funeral.

He arrives with the hope that between his meeting with Trump, and later with members of Congress, that he can reignite US support for Ukraine.

Graham was leading a charge to pass additional sanctions against Russia before his death. Zelensky will be looking to keep momentum behind the effort.

The United States has acted as a mediator in negotiations to end the war between Russia and Ukraine - but not much progress has been made over the past six months.

The latest trilateral talks, which concluded in early February in Abu Dhabi, did not result in substantial agreements beyond prisoner exchanges and a commitment to hold additional talks. US focus has since shifted to its war with Iran, which began on 28 February.

Trump and Zelensky spoke at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey on 8 July, however, and not only did the tone seem positive, but Trump also publicly committed to allowing Ukraine to build its own Patriot interceptor missiles, which could help the country defend against Russian missile attacks.

Zelensky also recently spoke with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, about “how to bring peace closer”, the Ukrainian president shared in a social post.

Paul Adams
Reporting from Kyiv

As he arrived in Washington last night, President Zelensky said his number one priority was the provision of anti-ballistic defence, to protect Ukraine’s cities from Russia’s frequent missile bombardments.

At the recent Nato summit, Donald Trump promised Zelensky that the US would grant Ukraine a licence to build much-needed Patriot anti-missile defence systems.

Patriots have been top of Ukraine’s wish list for much of the past four years. After the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, they are in very short supply.

Promising a licence is one thing. Actually building the highly sophisticated PAC2 and PAC3 interceptors on Ukrainian soil is another. It’s a lengthy political, legal and technical process and no-one expects it to happen soon.

A delegation from the manufacturer, Raytheon, was in Kyiv last week, discussing some of the details.

Any final agreement will only address Ukraine’s long term future needs. As always, Kyiv needs solutions now.

Graham's legacy on the international stagepublished at 14:16 BST

14:16 BST

Sarah Smith
North America editor

Lindsey Graham was the consummate Washington insider. He knew exactly how to navigate the corridors of power in pursuit of the causes he cared most about.

Senator Graham pivoted pretty quickly from being a vehement Trump critic – he called him a “race baiting bigot” in December 2015 – to working with him during President Trump’s first term in office. More recently he became a close friend and advisor to him because he knew that was the only way to try to influence the president. As they played golf together he could lobby Trump over issues like Iran and Ukraine.

He was a hardline hawk on Iran, determined to make sure the regime could never get close to developing nuclear weapon, and was instrumental in convincing Trump to bomb Iran – both in Operation Midnight Hammer last year and Operation Epic Fury earlier this year.

Graham was also a passionate supporter of Ukraine in its war against Russia, persuading Trump to keep supplying arms to Ukraine and keep up economic sanctions on Russia.

That is why both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are flying in to attend the funeral. They are coming to pay their respects to a man they both considered a good friend. But they will also use the opportunity to make their cases for continued US support.

This will be the first time Netanyahu has met Trump since the war in Iran began. Just as the president is at a crossroads in the conflict: having to decide whether to stall or to dramatically escalate his attacks.

Zelensky will be saying goodbye to the man who was probably the most effective advocate he had in Washington. He has to now try to hold onto Trump’s support without the late senator's help.

So the fate of two major international conflicts will be on the agenda at the funeral service for an influential Washington operator.

Trump's 'dizzying' relationship with Zelenskypublished at 14:07 BST

14:07 BST

Gary O'Donoghue
Chief North America correspondent, reporting from Washington DC

There was a time when the Trump-Zelensky relationship looked, to put it politely, totally shattered. Back in February 2025, in that now infamous Oval Office meeting, Trump told Zelensky he was "gambling with World War Three" and being "disrespectful".

At other points he variously called him a "dictator" and a "modestly successful comedian" - a reference to Zelensky's previous life.

Today's sit-down couldn't feel more different. At this month's Nato summit in Ankara, Trump was practically gushing: "We've actually developed a good relationship. It's hard to believe." He even called Ukraine's deep strikes into Russian territory "positive".

The turnaround is dizzying.

So what's changed? Ukraine's battlefield successes, with increasingly bold drone strikes deep inside Russia have clearly impressed a president who respects winners more than anything else.

Nato's fresh $80bn pledge for Kyiv hasn't hurt either. At home, there's also movement within the Maga base itself. The dramatic change in rightwing activist Laura Loomer's opinion of the war during and after her visit to Kyiv - which Trump himself praised online with a perfunctory, but positive "Very good!!" - is a sign of views on the move.

But we know Trump's attitudes can "turn on a dime" - as they say in this country - so expect the unexpected.

Paul Adams
Reporting from Kyiv

Donald Trump loves a winner, and that is how President Zelensky will aim to present himself at the Oval Office today.

The two leaders have come a long way since February 2025’s disastrous encounter in the same room, when President Trump told his visitor that he had “no cards".

Ukraine’s long-range strikes, deep inside Russia, are having a significant impact, disrupting Vladimir Putin’s wartime economy and bringing the war home to the Russian people in ways they haven’t experienced before.

On the front lines, little of any significance is changing. If anything, Ukraine has regained ground in recent months.

At the last NATO summit in Turkey, President Trump told Zelensky he had “done an amazing job".

With the US president still embroiled in the conflict with Iran, it will not have gone unnoticed in Washington that Ukraine recently struck an Iranian ship in the Caspian Sea which Kyiv said was being used to ferry military equipment between Russia and Iran.

President Zelensky will be hoping to capitalise on a possible shift in Donald Trump’s attitude towards the war in Ukraine.

Image source, Getty Images

Netanyahu and Zelensky are in Washington DC today primarily to attend the funeral of Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham.

Graham, who died on 11 July at the age of 71, was a staunch, vocal supporter of the US relationship with both Ukraine and Israel.

“America and the world have lost a determined leader,” Zelensky said in a tribute to Graham after his passing. The Republican senator died a day after returning from a trip to Kyiv.

Graham had lobbied for additional US military assistance to Ukraine and travelled to the country 10 times. He died shortly after announcing White House support for a bipartisan bill he spearheaded on Russia sanctions.

Throughout his career, Graham had also been an outspoken supporter of Israel and a close ally to Netanyahu.

He regularly advocated for more military aid for Israel, defended Israel's war in Gaza, and opposed Iran.

“I’ll stand with Israel until the day I die. It is our greatest ally,” Graham told The Jerusalem Post just a few months ago.

The main funeral service for Graham will take place at 14:00 ET (19:00 BST) at Washington National Cathedral, where President Donald Trump will deliver remarks. There will also be a tribute ceremony at 10:00 ET (15:00 BST) at the US Capitol.

Image source, Getty Images

The first of the White House meetings today is expected to be between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which is scheduled at 09:30 ET (14:30 BST).

The two leaders last met in December in Palm Beach, Florida at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort where they leaders discussed a plan to end the war in Ukraine.

Both Zelensky and Trump at the time said a deal was close to being reached, but there were still a few main sticking points, including how much territory Ukraine would hand over to Russia, and the future of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, which remains under Russian control.

Prior to their December meeting, the leaders had a more contentious meeting at the White House in October 2025.

Media reports at the time suggested the October meeting descended into a"shouting match" - with the US side urging Ukraine to accept Russia's terms to end the war. In a press briefing afterwards, Zelensky made clear that there were large areas of disagreement between Ukraine and the US.

Daniel Bush
Washington correspondent

Israel and the US have long been close allies, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington today comes amid unusually tense relations between the two countries.

Netanyahu has complicated the Trump administration’s push to end the war with Iran, including earlier this year when an Israeli attack on Lebanon upended talks between Washington and Tehran. Trump urged Netanyahu to back down, and Vice President JD Vance has also been critical of Israel’s approach to its war with Lebanon.

Trump and Netanyahu will likely present a united front - publicly, at least - during the Israeli leader’s visit to the US. But one visit won’t resolve months of tension and disagreements over how to deal with Tehran.

Both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are separately expected to meet with US President Donald Trump today in Washington DC.

The leaders are in town to attend the funeral of Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who was a strong proponent of both countries before his death earlier this month.

Ahead of the main funeral service, Zelensky and Netanyahu will each stop by the White House to meet the president. Both are fighting wars at home - and both have had their fair share of tension with Trump.

Zelensky will stop by first at 09:30 ET (14:30 BST), with Netanyahu to follow at 11:00 ET (16:00 BST).

The Senate is also expected to meet with Zelensky as it prepares to vote on a Russia sanctions bill.

We'll keep you updated on all the day's happenings here.

Image source, Getty Images