By The Epoch Times | Created at 2026-09-21 13:12:12 | Updated at 2026-09-21 13:54:26
54 minutes ago
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on July 28, 2026. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had spoken with U.S. President Donald Trump and that the pair had agreed to a meeting in New York that “could change a lot.”
The Ukrainian leader announced the Sept. 21 meeting in an X post on Sunday evening, saying that he and Trump had held “an important conversation,” during which they “got through a lot.”
“There is diplomatic momentum,” Zelenskyy said, adding that he had also thanked his American counterpart for the visit of U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Kyiv earlier this month.
“There are ideas for de-escalation steps and for addressing fundamental security issues— energy security, food security, and the protection of human life.”
He said Ukraine is “ready to take really serious steps” toward achieving peace.
Zelenskyy also thanked Trump for signing the Lindsey Graham bill into law on Sept. 18.
The legislation, now known as the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, in honor of the recently deceased Republican senator from South Carolina, included additional sanctions intended to prevent Russia from continuing to fund its war against Ukraine with oil and gas sales to other countries, as well as extending sanctions on Iran.
Graham, who died aged 71 on July 11, was a stalwart supporter of Ukraine and had visited the country multiple times.
Trump and Zelenskyy last met face to face at the White House in July, when the Ukrainian leader visited Washington to attend a memorial for Graham.
The pair will both be in New York for the U.N. General Assembly this week; however, the Ukrainian leader did not give a precise date for their meeting.
The White House has not yet publicly responded to Zelenskyy’s X post. The Epoch Times contacted the White House for comment but did not receive a response before publication.
Russia has not commented directly on Zelenskyy’s comments either, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sept. 21 that “no progress” had been made toward reaching a settlement in Ukraine, and that Moscow hopes “that we will eventually resume trilateral negotiations,” according to Russian state news agency TASS.
Trilateral talks were held out as a possibility by Witkoff after he and Kushner met separately with both Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Kyiv and Moscow, respectively, earlier this month.
“Substantive progress was made, including movement on scheduling additional trilateral talks,” Witkoff said in a Sept. 7 post on X, summarizing the fruits of his trip to both capitals.
Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, explained at the time that he prefers the trilateral format because it allows direct communication between all parties, rather than forcing Washington to act as Moscow and Kyiv’s middleman.
