Volodymyr Zelensky has urged Donald Trump to enlist China’s help in using Beijing’s influence over Moscow to bring Russia’s four-and-a-half-year invasion of Ukraine to an end.
The Ukrainian president said he had not yet received details from the White House about Mr Trump’s talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, but expected to learn what had been discussed. He made the appeal during a visit to the United States that coincided with the UN General Assembly.
Zelensky met Mr Trump on Tuesday and later told journalists that Washington was pressing for technical talks involving US, Ukrainian and Russian delegations. Ukraine is waiting for Washington to suggest a date, with American officials having proposed the United Arab Emirates as the venue.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Mr Putin and Mr Trump had discussed holding such a meeting soon. “As of now, I can’t give you any specifics,” Mr Peskov said.
Representatives from the three countries held three rounds of negotiations early in 2026, including two meetings in Abu Dhabi and one in Geneva, but the discussions produced no significant breakthrough.
Nato countries have described China as a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s invasion. Zelensky is seeking greater international support for Ukraine’s defence, and said he had thanked US senators and congressmen for backing a sanctions bill targeting Moscow.
Mr Trump signed the legislation into law last week but has not yet enacted the measures. Zelensky said sanctions were important in forcing Vladimir Putin towards negotiations and called on the US president to use them as leverage.
“The sanctions are indeed strong … all of this is now in the hands of the president of the United States. He can use this tool to pressure the Russian Federation,” he said.
Zelensky also said Mr Trump had confirmed a final decision to grant Kyiv licences to produce Patriot air defence systems. Ukraine has been seeking more of the American-made systems to counter Russian ballistic missiles, although supplies have been limited since the war in Iran began on February 28.
Mr Trump said in July that Ukraine would be allowed to manufacture its own Patriots, but later appeared to reconsider the proposal.
The latest Russian attacks killed four people and injured 11 in Ukraine, officials said, with eight regions coming under attack. A 14-year-old boy was among those killed in strikes on Kyiv, where at least seven residents were injured.
Russian authorities said one person had died and 21 had been wounded in Ukrainian long-range strikes. Zelensky said Ukraine had hit two Russian refineries, while unconfirmed Russian media reports said drones also struck a military electronics plant and a synthetic rubber producer.
