Trump and Zelensky set for fifth meeting since White House return at UN General Assembly in New York

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump are due to meet later today on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. It will be their fifth meeting since Mr Trump returned to the White House almost two years ago. The encounter comes after a relationship that has moved from open tension to a more measured working tone.

Sponsored

The two leaders first met in a disastrous Oval Office encounter in February 2025, when Mr Trump had recently echoed Russian claims and described Mr Zelensky as "a dictator without elections". In the weeks that followed, Mr Trump used angry social media posts to pressure the Ukrainian leader to accept a peace deal. He later shifted to praising Mr Zelensky on several occasions last year, marking a notable change in tone.

Their later meetings appeared more cordial. A photograph of the two men in St Peter's Basilica on the day of Pope Francis's funeral was seen as a sign of mutual respect. When Mr Zelensky returned to the Oval Office in October 2025, the meeting was described as all smiles, with the Ukrainian president wearing a smarter suit and handling a pointed question about his clothing more confidently than before.

The change in body language has not, however, altered the wider war. The meeting matters because the conflict in Ukraine remains unresolved and key issues are still unsettled. Russian President Vladimir Putin is still demanding a Ukrainian withdrawal from Donbas, as well as the regions of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, conditions he has maintained since June 2024.

Sponsored

At the same time, US security guarantees for Ukraine remain undefined, and US military aid has fallen to a trickle compared with 2024. That reduction has been especially significant for Ukraine's air defences. Supplies of US Patriot systems have been cut back, affecting Ukraine's ability to respond to increasing Russian ballistic missile strikes.

The article also says that while the US focused on its war with Iran, the air war between Russia and Ukraine escalated over the summer months. Both sides have continued to inflict significant damage, underlining how far the conflict remains from a settlement. The New York meeting is therefore being watched less for a breakthrough than for signs of whether the warmer tone between the two presidents can translate into practical progress.

The history of their exchanges suggests that personal chemistry has improved, but the main political questions remain unresolved. Those include the shape of any peace deal, the scale of future US support and the terms of any security guarantees for Kyiv. What remains unclear is whether the UNGA encounter will produce any new commitments or simply confirm the current stalemate.

#DonaldTrump #VolodymyrZelensky #UnitedNationsGeneralAssembly #NewYork #Ukrainewar

Sponsored