Patriots, Sanctions and a Farewell to Graham
Zelensky leaves the White House talking Patriot production - but the real test comes tonight, as senators vote on the late Lindsey Graham's Russia sanctions super bill hours after laying him to rest
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had a good meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, and that the two discussed the importance of protecting Ukrainians and how the US can help Ukraine with missile-defence systems. “The President and I discussed licenses for Patriot interceptor production and several other ideas that could help,” he said on Telegram.
The Financial Times reported that Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner agreed to visit Kyiv as part of a renewed push to end the war (which would be their first trip to the country as part of the effort), Semafor reported.
Earlier, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described the meeting with Zelensky - and another with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - as “positive and productive!” Beyond that, very little is known about what was agreed to, or promised, with coverage of the high-profile funeral of the late Senator Lindsey Graham - which Zelensky and other dignitaries attended - overshadowing the meeting.
According to BBC reporting, all US senators have been invited to a meeting with Zelensky Tuesday evening, around the same time they are set to vote on a bill to ratchet up sanctions on Russia. The meeting will be hosted by members of both parties who lead on foreign policy and the military: Republican Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker and Democratic Senators Richard Blumenthal and Jeanne Shaheen. Graham introduced the legislation in April; the bill, with bipartisan support and over 60 cosponsors, would impose harsher sanctions on Russia and extend some sanctions on Iran.
🎬 Watch below: Recorded just moments before President Zelensky walked into the White House, my explainer video breaks down what's at stake in Washington — and the shopping list he's bringing to the table: movement on sanctions, including the Lindsey Graham super bill; potential drone deals; more Patriot missiles; and US participation in peace talks. Off the back of my live CNN interview from Odesa, I also unpack the political crisis burning at home, reports of 30,000 North Korean troops headed for the theatre, and why this war is getting wider before it gets better.
Out-of-control wildfires represent France’s greatest crisis since World War II, President Emmanuel Macron said. More than 250,000 people have been evacuated, with fires threatening the outskirts of Bordeaux and raging through popular tourist areas and wine regions. Neighboring Spain is also struggling to control major blazes, especially near Madrid: Six times as much of the country has been burnt this year than in the same period in 2025. The two governments are promising aid packages to help people who have lost homes or businesses. Europe’s wildfire season has been supercharged this year by a long, hot, dry spell, which has baked vegetation; the conflagrations are creating “fire thunderstorms” with 100 mph winds and lightning, spreading the flames further - Semafor
Relatives of Chinese passengers of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which went missing 12 years ago in one of aviation’s greatest enduring mysteries, showed up at a Beijing court on Tuesday to demand answers. The court began hearing their appeal against an earlier ruling to order compensation, which the families say disregarded crucial questions. The Boeing 777 carrying 239 people - two-thirds of them Chinese - vanished from radar screens on Mar 8, 2014, while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Despite multiple searches, including the largest in aviation history, the aircraft, passengers or black boxes have never been found. A court in Beijing ordered Malaysia Airlines in December to pay eight families of Chinese passengers 2.9 million yuan (US$410,000) each. Frustrated by what they say is a lack of substantive answers about their tragedy, two families have lodged an appeal. Experts have put forward several theories over the years to explain the mysterious disappearance, from pilot suicide or hijacking to missile fire or a technical malfunction. Nationals of 14 countries were on board the flight, including 50 passengers and crew members from Malaysia, where there were no pending cases against the airline. Malaysia announced last month that the search for flight MH370 will be extended through June 2027, an operation led by private firm Ocean Infinity - CNA
📺 Watch above: My live interview from Odesa with CNN's Polo Sandoval in New York, breaking down President Zelensky's high-stakes visit to Washington - and the burning political crisis he's left behind: an acting defense minister, no ambassador in DC, and protests continuing in Ukrainian cities, just months before what is expected to be the worst winter of the war. We also discussed Zelensky's wins in London - including a landmark weapons IP transfer deal - why Ukraine is now a contributor nation rather than a dependent one, reports of 30,000 North Korean troops headed for the theater, and Ukraine's strike on an Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea. This war is getting wider and more complex before it gets better.
Canadian travel to the U.S. fell 25% last year, according to a new Canadian government report, which says early 2026 data show the decline has persisted. The report provides some of the clearest measures yet of the economic cost to the U.S. tourism industry after trade tensions, tariffs and President Trump’s repeated “51st state“ comments led many Canadians to vacation elsewhere. “Following the change in the U.S. administration in early 2025 and the implementation of America First policies, Canadian travel sentiment shifted abruptly,” the report says. Statistics Canada says Canadians’ return trips from the U.S. declined year over year for 11 consecutive months in 2025 — the longest sustained decline outside the pandemic since digital records began in 1972. Canada has traditionally been the largest source of international visitors to the U.S. Canadians spent C$3.3 billion ($2.3 billion) less on trips to the U.S. in 2025, with lower leisure travel accounting for most of the decline, according to Statistics Canada. Travel spending on visits to the U.S. fell to C$18.8 billion, down from C$22.1 billion in 2024, per the report. Spending on overseas leisure trips, meanwhile, rose C$3.6 billion to C$22.8 billion, accounting for just under half of Canadians’ total spending on trips abroad, the report says. Canadians largely redirected their travel rather than staying home, replacing many U.S. trips with domestic vacations or overseas travel, the report says. The 7.1 million fewer trips to the U.S. in 2025 were offset by 5 million more domestic trips and 1.3 million additional overseas trips. Statistics Canada data from April through June suggest the decline in Canadian travel to the U.S. may be easing after the sharp drop in 2025. The increase has been driven by automobile travel, while travel by air continues to lag. Canada is only one piece of the U.S. tourism market. Upcoming U.S. visitor data should help show whether increased arrivals from elsewhere — including visitors drawn by the World Cup — offset some of the decline in Canadian visitors - Axios
FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s plan to create a $20 billion company running the World Cup with private investors including the Kushner family was announced Tuesday — and immediately attacked by European soccer body UEFA. “It is not FIFA’s to sell,” UEFA said in a statement. “None of us are the owners of football.” Infantino (our editorial note: who is very close to Trump and who has in turn floated his name as the next Secretary General of the UN) plans to form a commercial subsidiary, which would be called FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), running competitions like the World Cup and Club World Cup. FIFA said in a statement FFE would raise up to $4.2 billion later this year to help fund development programs “based on an initial equity valuation of $20 billion by carefully selecting long-term investors who will purchase minority, non-controlling interests.” FIFA is working with J.P. Morgan while intended investors include Thrive Eternal launched by Joshua Kushner, whose brother Jared Kushner is a son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump. “The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade — especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially,” UEFA said Tuesday, responding to the reports of selling stakes in FIFA competitions - AP
The journals…
