What happened
President Donald Trump held separate meetings at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which the White House described as "positive and productive." The two leaders were in Washington to attend the funeral of Senator Lindsey Graham, a staunch supporter of Israel and advocate for US aid to Ukraine who died earlier this month.
Why it matters for the market
Zelensky discussed Ukraine's need for Patriot air defense missiles to counter Russian drone and ballistic missile attacks. After the meeting, Zelensky told Fox News that Trump agreed to grant Ukraine licenses for domestic production of Patriot interceptor missiles, though the White House did not confirm this. "I hope that we will do co-production," Zelensky added, noting he also met with representatives of major US defense companies.
Earlier, Zelensky met with a bipartisan group of US lawmakers just before the Senate voted overwhelmingly to sanction buyers of Russian oil and gas. He called the sanctions "a big signal to Europe, big signal to Ukraine, big support of our people."
Netanyahu's talks with Trump focused heavily on Iran. The relationship has been frayed by diverging views on Iran, with Trump criticizing Israel for continuing strikes in Lebanon. After the meeting, Trump posted on Truth Social that it was "a very good meeting!" Netanyahu told Israeli media the two shared "an understanding of a shared goal, to ensure that Iran does not have nuclear weapons, and other goals as well."
What traders should watch
Following the meeting, the US military said Iranian forces had attempted a surprise attack on American forces in the Middle East but that all missiles were intercepted. Separately, US and Saudi forces attacked Iranian proxies in eastern Iraq that had allegedly fired drones at Saudi energy infrastructure. Tehran has not commented.
0
0
0
0