Zelenskyy to meet Trump at UN in push for energy truce with Russia

UNITED NATIONS — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is due to meet President Donald Trump at the United Nations in New York on Tuesday, where he will push for an energy truce with ​Russia.

Ukrainians fear Russia is gearing up to pound heating and power facilities this winter, following intensifying aerial attacks by both sides that have battered ports, warehouses, ships and energy infrastructure, as well as crippling Black Sea exports.

After speaking to Trump by phone on Sunday, Zelenskyy noted what he described as "diplomatic momentum" and "ideas for ‌de-escalation steps," although Russia, which has more missile firepower, has not signaled it is seeking to pause the air war.

"Ukraine's energy sector, critical infrastructure, and our food exports must stop being targets for Russia, and this will lead ⁠to matching de-escalation steps on our part. Solutions are possible," Zelenskyy wrote on X ​on Monday.

Trump, whose approval ratings have slumped to a record low amid high gas prices ahead ⁠of the midterm elections in November, has expressed concern over the extensive damage done to Russian oil refineries that have been pummeled by Ukrainian drone attacks.

Trump announced last week ‌that Ukraine and Russia had agreed not to ‌strike energy targets, but any semblance of a truce disappeared when Russia hit petrol stations in Kyiv the following day and Ukraine bombed ⁠a Russian oil refinery.

Some critics see Trump's focus on the Ukraine conflict as a deflection from his war on ⁠Iran, which has led to a significant spike in global energy prices.

Zelenskyy's meeting with Trump will take place at the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is also expected in New York and due to meet Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday.

Russia 'has lost control'

Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday that "Russia has unfortunately lost control of its Diesel Oil industry due to its War with Ukraine" and "the whole World suffers."

"This ridiculous and never ending War with Ukraine must be ended," Trump wrote.

A person familiar with the matter said an energy ceasefire was one of the topics under discussion and that Trump had ‌asked Zelenskyy to stop attacks on Russian oil refineries as part of a broader effort to deescalate the conflict.

Kyiv is ​loath to act alone, however, seeing the extensive damage it is inflicting on Russia's vital oil industry as its best way of forcing Moscow to the negotiating table.

On Sunday, a Ukrainian drone attack killed three people and pounded a Moscow oil refinery during a tightly controlled Russian election that consolidated the ruling United Russia party's grip on parliament.

The Kremlin is widely expected to present the results of that vote as evidence of public backing for Russian President Vladimir Putin's policies and for the war.

On the streets of Kyiv, there was scant hope that Tuesday's talks in New York would lead to any respite in the conflict.

"Will Putin agree to stop attacking residential areas and killing civilians? He won't. So why are we supposed to agree to anything," asked Mykola Sydorenko, 57, a business owner. "I think that the fact that ​oil refineries are on fire in Russia doesn't impact the fuel prices in the United States at all."

Meeting hard to predict

The volatile chemistry between Zelenskyy and Trump has seen their relations seesaw since the president took ‌office last year ‌and ended his predecessor's huge U.S.-funded ⁠military aid for Ukraine.

In February 2025, a meeting between the two leaders descended into a shouting match in the Oval Office, while their meeting at the United Nations last year triggered an abrupt rhetorical shift by Trump in Zelenskyy's favor in which he said Ukraine could expel Russia from all Ukrainian territory.

On Tuesday, Zelenskyy will also discuss with Trump how Ukraine can source U.S.-made Patriot air defense missiles for the winter if Russia is not prepared to deescalate, a source familiar with the matter said.

Russia has significantly ramped up the use of ‌jet-powered drones to attack Ukraine in recent months, ​and in July fired the largest number of ballistic missiles at Ukraine in a single month since ‌the start of the war.

The latter is a ⁠huge problem for Ukraine as they ​can only be intercepted by Patriot air defense missiles that are in short supply.

Contributing: John Irish, Daniel Flynn and Anna Voitenko

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