Trump Says Putin Is Willing to Meet as Diplomatic Momentum Continues

Speaking during a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky at the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), US President Donald Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin is willing to meet and would like to see the war in Ukraine end. Asked whether Putin would attend a proposed meeting with Zelensky at the upcoming G20 summit in December, Trump said he was unsure of the location but expected the Russian leader to engage.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. “He’ll meet. He’s willing to meet. He’d like to see the war end,” the US president said during a live broadcast of the meeting. The meeting between the two leaders was on the horizon since early September. Zelensky previously expressed hope for using the venue to meet with Trump to restore the diplomatic momentum gained by the visits from senior US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Moscow then Kyiv earlier this month. All three sides – Ukraine, the US and Russia – described the engagements as productive, through no breakthrough was announced. Until shortly before Tuesday’s meeting, it had remained uncertain whether Trump and Zelensky would meet during the UNGA. As of Sept. 19, Zelensky was absent from the list of bilateral meetings publicly outlined by US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz. On Sunday, Sept. 20, the two leaders held a telephone discussion and agreed to meet. By Tuesday, the bilateral talks had been added to Trump’s schedule, according to Reuters. Other Topics of Interest Russia Attempts to Infiltrate Ukraine Through Pipeline from Kursk Russian forces twice attempted to infiltrate Ukraine’s northern Sumy region from Kursk through the cross-border gas pipeline, but as with earlier attempts, the tactic failed. “Certainly, it’s to their [Russia’s and Ukraine’s] advantage to make a deal. And, we could do that,” Trump said. While the outcome of the revived diplomatic momentum still remains uncertain, Trump added that he felt “very good” about the productive diplomatic visits. Trump’s message to Putin: ‘Settle the war’ On the opening of the first day of the high-level general debate of UNGA on Tuesday, Trump urged Putin to end the war against Ukraine and said he was prepared to use newly granted legislative powers to impose tariffs of up to 100% on Russian energy buyers. “Last week, in honor of Senator Lindsey Graham, I signed a powerful new law passed by Congress, providing me with enormous new tariff authorities,” Trump said. “And, if necessary, I will have to use them. It’s time to stop the killing,” he continued. During his UN address, Trump again expressed confidence that Washington could help broker an end to the war, saying that the ceasefire is going to happen “more quickly than people understand.” On Monday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that there had been no progress in negotiations, although Moscow hoped trilateral talks would eventually resume. In July, Bloomberg reported that the Kremlin no longer planned to return any occupied Ukrainian territory as part of a future peace deal. Instead, Putin reportedly intended to keep occupied areas of the Sumy and Kharkiv regions as permanent buffer zones, while continuing his push to seize all of the Donetsk region. Kyiv categorically rejects any settlement requiring it to surrender territory and maintains that a peace agreement must respect Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders and sovereignty. Zelensky, Von der Leyen discuss Western sanctions, backing for Ukraine Around the same time on Tuesday, Zelensky met with European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen. He condemned the delistment of Russian oligarchs in the Western sanctions, arguing that such move would undermine pressure on Moscow while Russian missile and drone barrage continues across Ukraine. “At a time when Russia is carrying out brutal attacks against our people – and even now, during the General Assembly, air-raid alerts are sounding in many regions because of drones and ballistic missiles,” Zelensky said, “signals about lifting sanctions on certain Russian oligarchs appear suicidal and counterproductive.” Earlier Tuesday, the EU agreed to extend its Russian sanctions after Latvia dropped its opposition to the new version that would delist two Russian oligarchs – Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman, both closely connected to Putin and Moscow’s wartime effort. Latvia dropped its veto only hours before the current sanctions expire on Tuesday night. Kyiv Post is Ukraine’s first and oldest English news organization, reporting since 1995. Its international reach – 97% of readers are outside of Ukraine – make it truly Ukraine’s global voice.