Zelenskyy Seeks Trump's Help to End Ukraine War Before Winter
Zelenskyy told Trump at their New York meeting he hopes the war can be ended as quickly as possible, ideally before winter sets in.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he hopes the United States will help bring the war in Ukraine to a close as quickly as possible, and preferably before winter, during a bilateral meeting with President Donald Trump in New York.
Speaking at the start of the talks, Zelenskyy thanked Trump for what he described as personal and bipartisan support, pointing to the passage of the Lindsey Graham bill in the US Congress. Trump responded by calling the timing before winter a "big thing."
The legislation, which Trump signed into law on Friday, imposes a broad sanctions package aimed at Russian officials and core sectors of the country's economy. It is intended to punish and increase pressure on Moscow over its continuing war against Ukraine.
The measure represented a final legislative priority for the late Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina and a close ally of the president, who had just returned from a visit to Ukraine when he died unexpectedly in July.
The meeting in New York took place against the backdrop of fresh Russian attacks. Missiles and drones struck at least four Ukrainian regions overnight, killing five people, according to officials.
Zelenskyy said earlier that Ukrainian forces had damaged two more Russian oil refineries in their latest long-range strikes. Kyiv began targeting Russian refineries after Moscow repeatedly attacked Ukraine's power grid, and Zelenskyy has offered to halt those strikes if Russia stops its attacks on energy infrastructure.