Two high-ranking visitors on the same day: US President Trump received Ukrainian President Zelensky and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. What did these two meetings show.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Washington for the funeral of US Senator Lindsey Graham. He was a fierce supporter of both Israel and Ukraine. The two state leaders used the opportunity to meet with US President Donald Trump. According to White House press secretary Caroline Levitt, both meetings were "positive and productive".
Attitude towards Zelensky
In Zelensky's case, this sounds possible, writes ARD. Recently, Trump has been much more respectful of the Ukrainian head of state than before. In recent months, the two have spoken repeatedly on the sidelines of various international meetings. The meeting at the White House was held behind closed doors and lasted about an hour.
Every friendly conversation with Donald Trump is beneficial for Kiev, even if it does not lead to tangible results, believes Alexander Kraev, a foreign policy expert at the Ukrainian Prism analysis center. According to him, the US president is currently much more positive about Ukraine than before, as he sees it as a benefit for himself. "Russia continues to sabotage the negotiations and does everything possible not to engage in normal diplomacy. And Ukraine is doing everything possible to exhaust Russia's means and potential for war and force it to sit at the negotiating table," Kraev told DW.
License for "Patriot" and sanctions against Russia
After the conversation with Trump, Zelensky wrote on his X profile that the discussion was mostly focused on Ukrainian air defense. "With the president, we discussed a license to produce interceptor missiles for "Patriot" and other things that may be useful to us", Zelensky wrote. In addition, diplomatic ways to end the war were also discussed, ARD notes. Later, in an interview with Fox News, Zelensky said that Trump had promised him the long-awaited license for the "Patriot" missiles. This is the only effective defense for Ukraine against Russian ballistic missiles, and back in the spring, Zelensky said that Kiev had almost exhausted its reserves. In his interview with the American media, Zelensky said that Russia was suffering increasing losses in the war, but Putin nevertheless did not want to end it. "The initiative is no longer in Putin's hands", the Ukrainian president commented.
Another victory for Ukraine from the visit to the US: The US House of Representatives has long been discussing a new sanctions package against Russia - something that the late Lindsey Graham fought for until his death. Now the senators have apparently reached an agreement on the new sanctions, which will bear Graham's name in his memory, ARD writes.
These are sanctions primarily against the export of natural gas and oil - a major source of revenue for Russia's military machine. Thus, the US president will impose sanctions on the five largest buyers of Russian energy, as well as on the five countries that help Moscow most to circumvent the sanctions. This will probably strain US relations with China and India, the German public media notes. The sanctions package is expected to be adopted by the Senate by the end of this week. However, the House of Representatives is in summer recess, so the new sanctions will probably not take effect until September.
The meeting with Netanyahu may not have been that fruitful
Donald Trump's conversation with Benjamin Netanyahu was also eagerly awaited. The two met in the United States for the first time since the start of their joint war in Iran. "This was one of the best conversations I have had with the American president - our friend Donald Trump” and added that the two shared the position that Iran should never have the opportunity to develop nuclear weapons.
However, there has been talk recently of a misunderstanding between the two leaders. The main conflict is apparently related to the fact that Israel wants to continue the war against Iran, and Trump wants to find a diplomatic solution, ARD writes. Shortly before the meeting with Netanyahu, which lasted about 90 minutes, the American president confirmed his position. In an interview with Fox News, he spoke about the war in Iran and gave the impression that Netanyahu was pressuring him not to end it. Asked if they would discuss the alleged nuclear facility at the so-called Pickaxe Mountain, Trump replied: "Bibi doesn't have to tell me. Bibi is telling me about it because he wants to continue".
Netanyahu appears to be pushing for more strikes on Iran
Israeli TV channel N12 reported that the country's prime minister plans to present Donald Trump with intelligence on alleged attempts by Iran to restore its military capabilities, including plans by Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei to develop nuclear weapons. Tehran has denied these allegations for years.
Netanyahu is believed to have asked Trump for approval for Israel to resume its attacks on Iran, ARD reports. It is crucial for the Israeli prime minister to demonstrate closeness to the United States before the parliamentary elections in Israel in the fall. However, Trump said in his interview with Fox News that he prefers to reach an agreement with Iran and even said that this would have been the wish of the late Lindsey Graham.