Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he will meet US President Donald Trump this week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, following a phone conversation between the two leaders.
The meeting comes as the White House seeks to broker an agreement between Russia and Ukraine on reciprocal steps to de-escalate the conflict and restart peace negotiations. It also takes place amid a recent escalation in fighting between the two countries.
According to Axios, Ukrainian chief negotiator and Foreign Intelligence Service chief Rustem Umerov said that he has been working with White House envoys in recent days to arrange the meeting, which is expected to take place on Tuesday.
The meeting is scheduled days after Trump signed a Russia sanctions bill and approved the largest US arms deal with Ukraine since taking office. Both measures had been sought by Kyiv for several months.
“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,” Zelensky wrote on X.
Zelensky said Ukraine is prepared to take “really serious steps” towards reaching a de-escalation agreement with Russia.
According to Axios, source familiar with the conversation said Trump repeatedly urged Zelensky to halt Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries, which have contributed to higher global diesel prices.
Earlier this week, the Kyiv Independent reported that the Ukrainian government was becoming “increasingly frustrated” with White House envoy Steve Witkoff.
The report emerged several days after Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s adviser and son-in-law, visited Kyiv for the first time since the war began. Umerov told Axios that the report was false.
Hostilities between Russia and Ukraine have intensified in recent days, with both sides carrying out an increasing number of long-range strikes.
On Sunday, Ukraine launched a missile attack on Moscow and struck an oil refinery. Meanwhile, Russia has carried out near-daily missile strikes on Kyiv and other major Ukrainian cities in recent weeks.
Although Russia has indicated it is open to considering de-escalation measures ahead of winter and resuming trilateral talks with the US and Ukraine, little progress has been made towards reaching an agreement.
