Laura Loomer visit to Kyiv signals possible Trump talks with Zelenskyy next week

Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he expects to meet Donald Trump in Washington next week, according to remarks relayed after an interview in Kyiv with US influencer Laura Loomer. The meeting took place in the garden of the presidential palace in the Ukrainian capital, where Loomer also spoke publicly about changing her view of the war after experiencing her first air raid in Ukraine. The development comes as the latest version of a Russian sanctions bill moves through Congress.

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In the interview, Zelenskyy said he will probably attend Senator Lindsey Graham's funeral and hold talks with Trump next week. He also said his relationship with Trump had significantly improved, describing a brief conversation in the Vatican in April 2025 as a historic moment. Loomer posted a photo of her one-on-one meeting with Zelenskyy and a clip from the exchange, in which she asked about his confrontation last year with Trump and US Vice-President JD Vance in the Oval Office.

Loomer said no questions were off limits during the interview. She wrote that her first air raid in Ukraine had changed her perspective, adding that she now wanted moral clarity. Her comments marked a sharp reversal from her previous public stance, in which she had minimised Russia's invasion and amplified Kremlin propaganda to her large online following.

She also expressed support for US sanctions on Russia, saying the Kremlin was a close ally of the Iranian government. The reported prospect of talks between Zelenskyy and Trump matters because it comes at a sensitive moment in US-Ukraine relations. Commentators in Kyiv said Trump's praise of Loomer's interview suggested the White House's earlier negative view of Kyiv was shifting.

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That reading is taking place alongside continued Russian attacks on Ukraine, including a daytime ballistic missile strike on Friday that killed six people in the Kyiv region and injured dozens more, and an air bomb attack on Sloviansk that killed five people. The visit also highlights the unusual role of political influencers in shaping debate around Ukraine in the United States. Loomer, who has nearly 2 million followers on social media, has previously been associated with pro-Kremlin narratives, making her interview with Zelenskyy notable in itself.

Zelenskyy's comments about improved ties with Trump, and his reference to the Vatican encounter in April 2025, suggest that diplomatic contact between Kyiv and Trump's circle remains active even as the war continues. What remains unclear is whether the Washington meeting will go ahead as described, and what concrete outcomes it might produce. It is also not clear how far the sanctions bill moving through Congress will advance, or whether it will affect the wider political atmosphere around Ukraine policy.

For now, the episode points to a possible thaw in one of the most consequential relationships in the war, while fighting and Russian strikes continue.

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