‘Pivotal Meeting’: Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Donald Trump Will Meet Today. Here’s What’s on the Agenda to Try and End the Ukraine War

WARSAW, POLAND – On Monday, 21 September, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrived in New York, where he is to meet with US President Donald Trump and discuss current initiatives aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine war. Many observers of the conflict say this meeting may be one of the last chances to dial back hostilities before NATO is potentially drawn into a full-scale war.

The two presidents will also attend the official opening sessions of the UN General Assembly in New York, where hundreds of diplomats and world leaders have been gathering this week.

President Donald Trump greets President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, Friday, February 28, 2025, in the West Wing Lobby. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)

Zelenskiy is also reported to have a packed schedule while in the city. In addition to the consultations he is set to have with Trump, the Ukrainian president’s office has said he is scheduled to participate in 20 other meetings with officials and organizations.

He has also announced that a new deal concerning drones was ready to be signed this week. Ukraine has succeeded in impressing governments and defense manufacturers with its proficiency in drone technology, resulting in at least five nations signing agreements with Kyiv this year. These are defense cooperation deals to assist them with protecting their territory against attacks by Iranian drones.

“Of course, Ukraine’s number one priority is bringing peace closer and protecting the lives of our [own] people,” Zelensky wrote on his X account. In the meantime, “we are working to strengthen air defense and ensure sufficient financing for Ukraine and our war effort.”

Zelensky had held a phone call with Trump on 20 September and said their upcoming “meeting could change a lot.”

The two leaders are still scheduled to meet on 22 September, a Ukrainian official told Kyiv Independent.

A Possible Energy Ceasefire

The Ukrainian leader stated that one of the agenda items for his discussions with Trump would be the possibility of a mutual Ukrainian-Russian energy ceasefire in which both sides would pledge not to target any energy infrastructure or ships transporting oil, other petroleum products, and grain in the Black Sea.

“There are also ideas on the table for bringing peace closer, starting with strong de-escalation steps. Ukraine’s energy sector, critical infrastructure, and our food exports must stop being targets for Russia, and this will lead to matching de-escalation steps on our part,” Zelensky also wrote on X in advance of his meeting with Trump.

“We are ready to work on this, and we will discuss it with our partners on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York,” he said.

Zelenskiy added that “it will no longer be the case that only the country under attack suffers. The nature of war is now such that the aggressor will suffer as well.”

Trump, in turn, commented yesterday, 21 September, that the war has caused extensive damage to the Russian oil refining industry and that he had urged an end to the fighting. The US president previously had suggested that Ukraine’s drone and cruise missile attacks on Russian refineries have been responsible for the rapid increase in global prices for diesel fuel.

This assertion has been discredited by oil industry experts who stress that “almost all” of the rapid rise in diesel prices has been because of the US-Israeli war with Iran, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and disruptions to refining capacity in the Gulf.

Refineries in the US, which is the world’s largest exporter of the fuel, are running at full capacity with winter demand just around the corner and inventories running near empty.

Stalled Peace Talks

Analysts of the conflict look at the Trump-Zelenskiy interaction as potentially pivotal.

Putin is reported not to be receiving accurate reports from his commanders about the real situation in the field and thus still believes his chances of winning the “three-day Special Military Operation” remain high.

Predictably, with Putin convinced he is winning, the most recent push by the US to restart stalled peace negotiations, which saw the 8th visit to Moscow by US special envoy Steve Witkoff – and on this occasion accompanied by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner – produced no meaningful progress towards an agreement.

Zelenskiy’s visit is also taking place only two days after Trump signed a comprehensive sanctions bill that gives him the authority to impose 100 percent tariffs on the major buyers of Russian oil and gas.

At the same time, the US State Department has approved a much-needed and major $2.7 billion sale of air defense systems to Ukraine.

About the Author: Reuben F. Johnson 

Reuben F. Johnson has thirty-six years of experience analyzing and reporting on foreign weapons systems, defense technologies, and international arms export policy. Johnson is the Korea Fellow at the Casimir Pulaski Foundation. He is also a survivor of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. He worked for years in the American defense industry as a foreign technology analyst and later as a consultant for the U.S. Department of Defense, the Departments of the Navy and Air Force, and the governments of the United Kingdom and Australia. In 2022-2023, he won two awards in a row for his defense reporting. He holds a bachelor’s degree from DePauw University and a master’s degree from Miami University in Ohio, specializing in Soviet and Russian studies. He lives in Warsaw.