All senators invited to Zelensky meeting as Congress weighs Russia sanctions

 All 100 senators have been invited to a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. in the U.S. Capitol, multiple sources confirmed to The Hill. The meeting was originally reported by Punchbowl News.

The gathering comes as the Senate considers a bill that would impose harsher sanctions on Russia and its trading partners in response to Moscow’s continued aggression against Ukraine. 

Zelensky is visiting Washington to attend the memorial service for late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), an author of the sanctions bill and a key driver of support for Ukraine in Congress. One of Graham’s final meetings was with Zelensky in Kyiv on July 10.

That bill, which has broad bipartisan support, is likely to be a subject of discussion at the meeting. President Trump has also given his blessing to the sanctions bill and requested that it include expanding sanctions on Iran and Hezbollah in the Middle East. 

Smaller groups of senators have met with the Ukrainian president for months about aiding Kyiv and imposing more sanctions on Russia. A large bipartisan cohort met with Zelensky in Munich in February, and some senators have met with him on his previous visits to Washington. 

Zelensky is also scheduled to meet with Trump on Tuesday.

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5992588-all-senators-to-meet-with-zelensky-as-congress-weighs-russia-sanctions-bill/