Meridian World Desk
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine met President Donald Trump in New York on Monday evening, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, hours after Russian missiles and drones struck several Ukrainian regions overnight and Ukrainian forces hit an oil refinery in southern Russia.
Russian strikes overnight caused deaths in Dnipro, according to Ukrainian officials, as part of a wider barrage that reached at least four regions. Ukrainian forces separately struck the Kuibyshev oil refinery in Russia’s Samara region in the latest of a series of long-range attacks on Russian energy infrastructure.
The exchange underscored how the war has continued unabated even as diplomatic activity intensifies around the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations, which runs from 22 to 28 September.
Senators briefed before Trump meeting
Before his sit-down with Trump, Zelenskyy met a group of U.S. senators in New York, where he thanked them for bipartisan support and for the tougher sanctions bill on Russia that Trump recently signed into law. He briefed the lawmakers on proposals aimed at de-escalating the conflict, including additional Patriot air-defence systems for Ukraine and steps to halt strikes on energy infrastructure.
The meeting with Trump had been arranged after the two leaders spoke by phone on 20 September and agreed to meet during the General Assembly’s high-level week. Zelenskyy’s negotiating team spent the following day finalising details with White House envoys. The sit-down took place at 8:15 p.m. Kyiv time (17:15 UTC) on Tuesday.
During the Sunday call, Trump pressed Zelenskyy to halt Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries, citing their effect on global diesel prices. Diesel prices have risen sharply in recent months, a trend Trump has linked in part to the mutual strikes on energy infrastructure. Other factors, including disruption to oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz stemming from the war between the United States and Iran, have also weighed on global fuel markets.
Macron pledges radars, floats Black Sea truce
French President Emmanuel Macron, making his final appearance at the General Assembly before leaving office next year, said France would send Ukraine additional radars to help protect its power grid. Macron also discussed with Trump the possibility of a truce on strikes against energy infrastructure and a moratorium on attacks in the Black Sea, a step that would be aimed at protecting Ukraine’s grain export routes.
Ukraine and Russia together have long accounted for a substantial share of the world’s wheat and corn exports, and the war has repeatedly disrupted shipments from Black Sea ports. A Black Sea moratorium has been a recurring element of Zelenskyy’s proposals to allies, alongside the push for more air-defence systems and an end to strikes on energy facilities on both sides.
Fighting continues on both fronts
The overnight strikes were the latest in a pattern that has intensified in recent weeks, with Russia targeting Ukrainian cities and infrastructure and Ukraine reaching deeper into Russian territory to strike refineries and other energy assets. The attack on the Kuibyshev refinery in Samara adds to a string of Ukrainian strikes this year aimed at reducing Russia’s capacity to refine fuel for its military and export markets.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is not attending the General Assembly. His government’s forces carried out the overnight strikes on Ukraine even as Zelenskyy pursued direct talks with Trump and other Western leaders in New York.
The timing of the strikes alongside the diplomatic push in New York illustrates the gap between battlefield activity and the negotiating table. Zelenskyy has consistently paired his appeals for weapons and sanctions with proposals to freeze specific categories of strikes, particularly those affecting energy infrastructure and Black Sea shipping, arguing that even limited de-escalation steps could reduce civilian and economic harm while broader peace talks remain elusive.
No agreement on a ceasefire or a formal truce over energy strikes was announced following the Zelenskyy-Trump meeting. Discussions among Kyiv, Washington and Paris on the shape of any de-escalation arrangement, including the proposed Black Sea moratorium, were continuing as the General Assembly’s high-level week proceeded.