Zelenskyy heads to Trump again: What to expect from New York meeting
Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Tusk (photo: Press Service of the Office of the President)
This week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will travel to New York for the UN General Assembly and will hold a series of bilateral meetings. Among other engagements, a meeting with US President Donald Trump is also planned.
RBC-Ukraine outlines what to expect from the meetings and other events involving the Ukrainian leadership.
Key questions:
- What does Zelenskyy want to hear from Trump about sanctions?
- Why will the topic of security guarantees be raised during the talks?
- What other meetings will Ukraine organize in New York?
Meeting with Trump and security guarantees
The anticipated meeting between Presidents Zelenskyy and Trump has been confirmed by both countries. On September 16, Zelenskyy noted that teams are working on the details. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also mentioned the possibility of this meeting.
"Trump has had multiple calls with Putin, multiple meetings with Zelenskyy, including probably next week again in New York," Rubio told reporters last week.
Zelenskyy and Trump last met a month ago, on August 18, immediately after the US president met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
The Ukrainian president was accompanied by a support team of several European leaders. At the impromptu summit in Washington, they discussed possible frameworks for ending the Russia-Ukraine war, including territorial issues and security guarantees for Ukraine. European leaders held a separate meeting in Paris on September 4 to discuss security guarantees in more detail. Currently, 26 countries are ready to join the project.
"First, there are positive developments, because after a long time, the security guarantees now exist on paper. They are almost ready. There are a few details that still need to be worked out. We want a clearer position from the US on the specifics. We know they support the guarantees and will participate, but we want some concrete measures," President Zelenskyy said on September 16.
Later, the Ukrainian president clarified that he would like to receive a signal regarding "How close we are to understanding that the security guarantees from all our partners will be exactly the ones we need."
Peace negotiations
Despite some progress in preparing security guarantees, talks with Russia are effectively on hold. The US president has largely stopped mentioning a possible Trump-Zelenskyy-Putin meeting or its variations, as well as the potential imposition of sanctions on the Kremlin. Moreover, the US president has shifted responsibility for sanctions to Europe, demanding that it first stop purchasing Russian oil. According to Zelenskyy, these issues will be the second topic of his discussion with Trump.
"If the war continues and there are no moves toward peace, we expect sanctions. This is the second topic I will raise in my meeting with President Trump. President Trump expects strong steps from Europe. I shared my opinion: it seems to me that we are losing a lot of time if we wait, do not impose sanctions, or do not take the actions we expect from him," Zelenskyy said during a press briefing on September 19.
According to him, Ukraine supports sanctions from Europe and strengthening tariff policies against countries buying energy resources from Russia. However, linking all of this together slows down the pressure on Putin.
Fox News reports that Trump is increasingly facing pressure both domestically and internationally over his indecision regarding Russia. However, there are currently no signs that his position is changing.
At the same time, last week, the US officially approved new arms packages for Ukraine for the first time during Trump’s second term. This concerns $500 million under the PURL program.
Engaging international support
In addition to the meeting with the US leader, a number of other events are planned. On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Ukraine and Canada will hold a summit in New York on the return of Ukrainian children, expected to include around 38 delegations.
Zelenskyy told journalists that there would also be the Crimea Platform and that they expected roughly three dozen countries to participate in a broad format. They added that there would be a large number of bilateral meetings on business, technology, defense, and mineral deals, and that this would be combined into a major economic meeting.
According to the president, a meeting between the first ladies of Ukraine and the US on humanitarian issues is also likely to take place.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine reported that an important part of the visit will include a series of bilateral and multilateral negotiations between the president and foreign ministers with colleagues from different regions of the world—from Europe and North America to Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East.
Statements from Ukrainian and American politicians, as well as reports from Fox News, Politico, and Axios, were used in the preparation of this article.
