Zelenskiy to Meet Trump at UN in Push for Energy Truce With Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is due to meet U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday on the sidelines of the United Nations gathering in New York, where Kyiv plans to push for an energy truce with Russia as winter approaches. Reuters reported that the talks come amid an intensifying aerial war that has battered ports, warehouses, ships, and energy infrastructure on both sides, raising Ukrainian fears that Moscow is preparing another season of strikes on heating and power facilities.

After a Sunday phone call with Trump, Zelenskiy described "diplomatic momentum" and "ideas for de-escalation steps," even as Russia - holding greater missile firepower - has not signaled readiness to pause the air campaign. In a Monday post on X, the Ukrainian leader said Ukraine's energy sector, critical infrastructure, and food exports "must stop being targets for Russia," arguing that such restraint "will lead to matching de-escalation steps on our part."

The Kyiv Independent reported that Zelenskiy and First Lady Olena Zelenska arrived in New York on Sept. 21 for the 81st U.N. General Assembly, with roughly 20 additional meetings planned beyond the Trump session. Zelenskiy said a new drones-related deal was ready to be signed and framed peace and civilian protection as Ukraine's top priority, while reiterating that de-escalation ideas - including a mutual pause on energy and Black Sea targets - would be discussed with partners on the U.N. sidelines.

Trump has grown increasingly focused on damage to Russia's oil refining network after Ukrainian drone attacks. Reuters noted that his approval ratings have slumped amid high gas prices ahead of November midterms, and that he announced last week that Ukraine and Russia had agreed not to strike energy targets - only for any semblance of a truce to collapse when Russia hit petrol stations in Kyiv the next day and Ukraine struck a Russian oil refinery. On Monday, Trump wrote on Truth Social that Russia had "lost control of its Diesel Oil industry" because of the war and that "the whole World suffers."

A person familiar with the matter told Reuters an energy ceasefire is among the topics under discussion and that Trump has asked Zelenskiy to halt attacks on Russian oil refineries as part of a broader de-escalation effort. Kyiv remains reluctant to act alone, viewing pressure on Russia's oil industry as leverage to force Moscow toward negotiations. On Sunday, a Ukrainian drone attack killed three people and hit a Moscow oil refinery during tightly controlled Russian parliamentary voting that consolidated United Russia's grip, according to Reuters.

The chemistry between Zelenskiy and Trump has swung sharply since Trump took office and ended predecessor-era U.S. military aid packages for Ukraine. A February 2025 Oval Office meeting descended into a shouting match, while a U.N. encounter last year produced a rhetorical shift in which Trump said Ukraine could expel Russia from all Ukrainian territory. Tuesday's meeting is therefore hard to predict even as both capitals talk up diplomatic movement.

If Russia refuses to de-escalate, Zelenskiy also intends to discuss how Ukraine can obtain U.S.-made Patriot air-defense missiles for the winter, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. Russia has ramped up jet-powered drone attacks in recent months and in July fired the largest monthly tally of ballistic missiles since the full-scale invasion began - systems Ukraine can intercept only with scarce Patriot interceptors. The Kyiv Independent separately noted Washington's recent green light for a possible $2.7 billion air-defense sale and Trump's signing of a sanctions bill authorizing tariffs on leading buyers of Russian oil and gas.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is also expected in New York and is due to meet U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday, Reuters reported. On Kyiv's streets, residents expressed little confidence that Tuesday's talks would deliver relief. Business owner Mykola Sydorenko, 57, told Reuters he doubted Putin would stop attacking residential areas and questioned why Ukraine should agree to constraints first. For now, the UN sidelines meeting remains Zelenskiy's clearest near-term chance to lock in an energy pause - or, failing that, the air defenses Ukraine says it needs before winter.