Trump on meeting with Zelensky in New York: Ukrainians are excellent fighters

The ninth meeting between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky took place in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Unlike the notorious February 2025 encounter in the White House, when Zelensky left the talks before lunch following a public row, this time there was no drama — Trump instead offered unexpectedly warm words about Ukrainians.

"They're certainly very good fighters, really. They should be proud of themselves — these are very, very capable people with very capable leadership," the American president said. According to him, the two sides discussed the so-called energy truce between Russia and Ukraine, as well as a license to produce American Patriot air defense systems. Trump urged both Zelensky and Putin to stop striking infrastructure, and once again noted that Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil refineries are pushing up global fuel prices.

Asked by a reporter on the sidelines of the UN what message he would deliver to Putin, Trump replied curtly: "To end the war." When a British journalist asked about the risk of a military conflict between the UK and Russia, his answer was equally brief: "I think it'll be fine."

Sanctions and hopes for peace

"I believe we will end this war, and that President Trump will help us do it," said Zelensky, who thanked the Americans for their support to Ukraine and for anti-Russian sanctions. Last week, Trump signed a new sanctions package named after Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who died in July shortly after his last visit to Ukraine. The law provides for tariffs of up to 100% on the five largest buyers of Russian oil and gas, including China and India, as well as sanctions against senior Russian officials, financial institutions and tankers of the "shadow fleet" that Moscow uses to circumvent Western restrictions.

Pressure on Kyiv over fuel prices

In recent days, Trump has repeatedly said that Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries are hurting the oil market — in his view, more than the Middle East conflict involving Iran. According to Axios, the American president has even called Zelensky asking him to halt the strikes on Russian energy infrastructure, though so far without success. High prices at US gas pumps are dimming the prospects of Trump's Republican Party ahead of November's congressional elections.

"Russia mostly exports diesel fuel, while keeping gasoline production for the domestic market. For the European Union, Russia is no longer a major oil supplier — the main buyers now are China, Turkey, India and Brazil. But the shortage on the global market and heightened demand are pushing fuel prices up everywhere. Russia's oil export revenues are falling, but global prices are rising at the same time," explained Jiří Gavor, executive director of the Czech Association of Independent Energy Suppliers.

Shortly before the presidents' meeting, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Fox News that in recent months the Ukrainian military had attacked tankers carrying oil belonging to American companies in the Black Sea. "They probably didn't do it intentionally, but we want it to stop," Rubio said.

Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz