Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday (September 23, 2025), calling for pressure to be ramped up on Russia as he tries to persuade the U.S. President to swing more firmly behind Kyiv's war effort.
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The Ukrainian leader told reporters as he sat beside Mr. Trump at the start of the meeting that he had "good news" to share from the battlefield where Kyiv's forces have been locked in fierce fighting with Russia for over three and a half years.
"We need more pressure, more sanctions now with (the) United States, first of all (and) Europe," he said in opening remarks, adding that he wanted to discuss Trump's call for all remaining European powers to stop buying Russian energy altogether.
Mr. Trump threatened economic measures against Russia in his address to the U.N. General Assembly earlier, but said he wanted U.S. allies to take the same steps and derided some European powers for continuing to buy Russian energy despite the war.
