US President Donald Trump hosts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday, with wars in Iran and Ukraine at critical stages and his ties with both leaders markedly different. Relations with Zelensky have warmed as Ukraine has blunted Russian advances, while Netanyahu arrives amid growing White House frustration over the lack of progress toward a broader settlement in the Iran conflict and criticism from some of Trump’s supporters who oppose deeper US involvement in the Middle East. The two men are in Washington to attend a memorial service for Senator Lindsey Graham, a hawkish Republican who was one of Trump’s closest allies and who frequently tried to coax Trump into providing more support for Ukraine’s war. Both the Ukraine war and widening Middle East conflict are at critical junctures. After the collapse of a ceasefire in the Iran war, Trump says he has paused US airstrikes to give diplomacy another chance. Zelensky, meanwhile, has been buoyed by Ukraine’s recent successes. Still, there is no end in sight for either conflict. Netanyahu seeks Trump’s support for re-election Netanyahu has run hot and cold with Trump, who at times has had to rein in the Israeli leader [...]
