Zelensky and Trump met in New York: first details
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday, July 22, met with US President Donald Trump in New York. The talks are taking place on the sidelines of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, according to РБК-Україна .
Everything known about the meeting of the presidents is collected in the article.
What did Zelenskyy and Trump say
At the beginning of the meeting, Trump commented on Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries. According to him, he will discuss this issue with Zelenskyy, because it affects fuel prices.
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy expressed hope that the war could be ended before winter and that Trump would help in this.
When asked whether Putin would agree to meet in Miami at the G20 summit, Trump replied: "I don't know if he will agree, but he wants to end the war. They both (together with Zelenskyy - ed.) want to end the war."
In addition, Trump added that today there is a good opportunity to reach an agreement between Ukraine and Russia. In his opinion, it is in Russia's interest to end the war, because there are two options: one is bad, the other will lead to greatness.
What preceded the meeting
Zelenskyy arrived in New York to participate in the UN General Assembly. The President of Ukraine announced about 20 meetings with representatives of the USA, European leaders, heads of international organizations, American companies and think tanks.
The head of state also reported on a new Drone Deal ready for signing. Among the priorities of the Ukrainian side, he named bringing peace closer, protecting people's lives, strengthening air defense, and concrete proposals on security and de-escalation.
Energy issue
One of the topics of the talks should be a possible mutual cessation of strikes on energy infrastructure of Ukraine and Russia.
As a well-informed interlocutor told RBC-Ukraine, the main attention during the talks between Zelenskyy and Trump will be paid to energy de-escalation.
On the eve of the meeting, Trump said that Russia "unfortunately lost control over its diesel oil production industry" due to the war against Ukraine. According to him, a significant number of Russian refineries were hit and at least temporarily put out of operation.
Trump also said that the war against Ukraine must be stopped.
The US President previously called on Zelenskyy to stop attacks on Russian oil refineries, linking them to the situation on the global fuel market. According to Axios, during a phone conversation on September 20, the American president repeatedly raised this issue.
Zelenskyy for his part said that Ukraine is ready for de-escalation steps on condition of reciprocity - in particular, cessation of Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy and critical infrastructure.
What is known about the previous meeting
Before the current talks, Zelenskyy and Trump last met "behind closed doors" on July 28, 2026 at the White House. At that time, the conversation lasted about an hour. Among the topics were the diplomatic process and the possibility of producing interceptor missiles for Patriot systems in Ukraine.
The presidents also met on July 8, 2026 on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara.
