Zelenskyy Says He Asked Trump to Enlist China's Help in Ending Ukraine War

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he asked U.S. President Donald Trump to urge China's leader to use Beijing's leverage over Moscow in a diplomatic push to end Russia's invasion of Ukraine, now in its fifth year.

Speaking to reporters, Zelenskyy said he had not yet received any feedback from the White House on Trump's discussions with Chinese President Xi Jinping, but expected to be told the outcome. NATO member states have described China as a "decisive enabler" of Russian President Vladimir Putin's war.

Zelenskyy's comments followed a week-long visit to the United States that overlapped with the U.N. General Assembly, during which he met Trump on Tuesday. He shared further details of the trip in voice messages sent to a group of journalists.

Three-way talks in the works

Washington is pressing for a meeting involving delegations from the United States, Ukraine and Russia, with officials holding technical-level talks rather than a leaders' summit, Zelenskyy said. Kyiv is waiting for Washington to propose a date, and American officials have suggested the United Arab Emirates as a venue, he added.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin and Trump had discussed holding such a meeting soon during a call earlier this month, but declined to give specifics. Representatives of the three countries held three rounds of trilateral negotiations earlier this year — twice in Abu Dhabi and once in Geneva — without achieving any significant breakthrough.

Sanctions and Patriots

Zelenskyy said he thanked U.S. senators and congressmen for their bipartisan support in passing a sweeping sanctions bill targeting Moscow last month. Trump signed the legislation last week but has not yet put the measures into effect. Zelenskyy described sanctions as central to forcing Putin to the negotiating table and said he hoped the U.S. president would implement them.

"The sanctions are indeed strong ... all of this is now in the hands of the president of the United States. He can use this tool to pressure the Russian Federation," he said.

The Ukrainian leader also said Trump had confirmed a final decision to grant Kyiv licences to produce Patriot air defence systems. Ukraine has been seeking more of the American-made interceptors to counter Russian ballistic missiles, with supplies stretched since the war in Iran began on Feb. 28. Trump had said in July he would allow Ukraine to manufacture its own Patriots, but later appeared to be reconsidering.

Black Sea shipping and budget support

Ukraine and Russia are major global suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other food staples relied on by developing nations, but wartime attacks on cargo vessels in the Black Sea have disrupted that route and raised fears of shortages. Zelenskyy said he held separate talks in the U.S. with the leaders of India, Turkey, Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries that want unimpeded Black Sea shipping, and that those leaders were also due to speak with Russian officials. Kyiv wants Moscow to accept a Black Sea ceasefire that would allow full deliveries to resume.

On the financial front, Zelenskyy said he discussed Ukraine's budget deficit with the heads of the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission, as wartime spending and falling production strain Kyiv's finances. The European Union will extend its financial aid and the IMF will continue its support programmes, he said. Most of the funding gap relates to weapons purchases, and future financing could take the form of technology-sharing deals and joint drone production — an area where Ukraine is a global leader.

Fighting continues

Russian aerial attacks overnight and into Friday killed four people and wounded 11, officials said, while Russian authorities reported one dead and 21 wounded in Ukrainian long-range strikes. Zelenskyy said eight Ukrainian regions came under attack, with Russia maintaining round-the-clock strikes on the capital, where a 14-year-old boy was killed and at least seven residents were injured. Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces struck a missile engine depot near Kyiv, among other targets. Ukraine hit two refineries as part of its campaign to damage Russia's economy, Zelenskyy said, while unconfirmed Russian media reports said Ukrainian drones also struck a military electronics plant and a synthetic rubber producer.