Reuters: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met Donald Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, calling for pressure to be ramped up on Russia as he tries to persuade the US president to swing more firmly behind Kyiv’s war effort.
The Ukrainian leader told reporters as he sat beside Trump at the start of the meeting that he had “good news” to share from the battlefield where Kyiv’s forces have been locked in fierce fighting with Russia for over three and a half years.
“We need more pressure, more sanctions now with (the) United States, first of all (and) Europe,” he said in opening remarks, adding that he wanted to discuss Trump’s call for all remaining European powers to stop buying Russian energy altogether.
Trump threatened economic measures against Russia in his address to the UN General Assembly earlier, but said he wanted US allies to take the same steps and derided some European powers for continuing to buy Russian energy despite the war.
Trump described his meeting with Zelensky as an “important” one on a busy day of talks.
The Ukrainian leader told reporters he wanted to discuss US involvement in Western security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a future post-war settlement during their talks.
He was also expected to raise how to improve Ukraine’s air defences and to set up a meeting between the leaders of Russia and Ukraine as part of Trump’s peace effort, a source in Ukraine’s delegation told Reuters ahead of the talks.
