Zelensky photo credit: Beth Baisch
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that he will meet with President Donald Trump in New York this week as the White House continues its efforts to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
Zelensky held a phone call with Trump over the weekend, during which the two leaders agreed to meet this week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. The meeting is expected to take place on Tuesday.
“I just spoke with President Trump,” Zelensky wrote in a post on X. “An important conversation, and we got through a lot. We agreed to meet in New York, and this meeting could change a lot. There is diplomatic momentum.”
“I thanked the President for Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner’s visit to Kyiv. We went through the key details thoroughly, and they saw the situation in Ukraine firsthand. The peace track is our number one priority,” Zelensky continued. “There are ideas for de-escalation steps and for addressing fundamental security issues – energy security, food security, and the protection of human life. We are working together with the American team and are ready to take really serious steps.”
Zelensky also thanked Trump for signing the Lindsey Graham Bill, which allows for the expansion of sanctions on Russia.
According to a report by Axios, Zelensky’s chief negotiator and the head of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service, Rustem Umerov, said that he has been working with the White House to organize the meeting. Ukrainian news has reported that the Ukrainian government has grown “increasingly frustrated” with White House envoy Steve Witkoff. Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited the country earlier this month as part of negotiations.
However, Umerov denied these claims, saying that progress has been made in the talks. "In particular, the number of stumbling blocks reduced from dozens to essentially one or two key issues that remain subject to negotiations,” he added.
Additionally, a source familiar with the call between the two leaders told Axios that Trump has repeatedly asked Zelensky to stop attacking Russian oil refineries. The strikes have contributed to the increase in global diesel prices.
