Ukraine’s Zelenskyy set to meet Trump as Iran and Ukraine wars converge

The US Senate will vote Tuesday on Russian sanctions, days after Ukraine attacked an Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea.Published On 28 Jul 2026Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to meet United States President Donald Trump in the White House on Tuesday, a meeting that could coincide with the introduction of tough new sanctions on Russia.Zelenskyy, who will attend the funeral of US Senator Lindsey Graham, ⁠is also scheduled to meet ‌with the Senate on ⁠Tuesday ⁠evening, the Reuters news agency reported, citing two Senate aides.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Iran accuses Ukraine of deadly attack on Caspian commercial vessellist 2 of 3Russia and Ukraine trade attacks, killing 10, including child in Chernihivlist 3 of 3Iran warns Ukraine of retaliation after deadly Caspian Sea strikeend of listThe vote on Russia sanctions, legislation that has been pending for months and was championed by Graham, could happen that same day.If enacted, the Russian sanctions bill would ratchet up pressure on Moscow by imposing 100 percent tariffs on goods from the five largest importers of Russian oil and gas, including China and India.In a last-minute intervention, Trump sought to add sanctions on Iran to the same bill. Zelenskyy told Trump ally Laura Loomer last week that he thinks the move is a “great idea”.Iran-and-Ukraine-wars" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="172879" data-entity-type="event">Iran and Ukraine wars convergeThe two wars, taking place roughly 2,500km (1,550 miles) apart, have converged in recent days.On Saturday, Ukraine attacked an Iranian tanker in the Caspian Sea that Ukraine’s ambassador to Israel, Yevgen Korniychuk, said was carrying drones and military components from Iran to Russia. Iran has promised to retaliate.By attacking Iranian ships, Kyiv is not only doing itself a favour but also attacking Washington’s “enemy number one”, which will please the US, former US ambassador to Kazakhstan and Georgia, William Courtney, told Al Jazeera.