As Russian 141 drones slammed into the Ukrainian cities of Dontesk, Dnipro, Sumy, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is preparing for a productive and “intense week of diplomacy” at the annual UN General Assembly in New York so that “killings and war do not become routine.”
The Ukrainian President has a packed schedule consisting of nearly two dozen meetings with loyal allies and new partners and co-convening a summit with Canadian and Qatari counterparts on returning Ukrainian children kidnapped by Russia.
Zelenskyy is also expected to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump later in the week to discuss stronger sanctions against the Kremlin.
On September 13, Trump took to his social media platform Truth Social and announced he is ready to sanction Russia so long as all NATO countries stop buying Russian oil and impose their own sanctions, arguing the transatlantic alliance’s wavering approach is “greatly weakening their negotiating position, and bargaining power over Russia.”
Turkey, a member of the historic security alliance, is the third-largest buyer of Russian oil after China and India, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
Hungary and Slovakia also continue to consume Russian oil, with Eammon Drumm, a Research Analyst at the German Marshall Fund, positing the two countries “will be squeezed” at the UN this week for their geostrategic choices.
Zelenskyy has said sanctions are the “instrument that will stop” Russia becoming a threat to EU countries via X.
Moscow has tested the bounds of NATO in recent weeks, with Russian drone and aircraft violations taking place in Poland, Romania, and Estonia, highlighting the spillover effects of the war in Ukraine and reigniting tensions between Moscow and its Western adversaries.
Read more: NATO ramps up defences after Russian drones descend in Poland
Mike Waltz, the new U.S. Ambassador to the UN, vowed to “defend every inch of NATO territory” as he addressed an emergency Security Council meeting on Monday, September 22, in response to Russia’s incursion into Estonia.
In addition to sanctions, Zelenskyy will also capitalize on his one-on-one time with the American President to better understand where the U.S. stands on the provision of security guarantees for Ukraine.
On Friday, Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv that he would like to “understand how close we are to understanding that the security guarantees from all partners are those that we need.”
This week’s general assembly presents another attempt to “make international law work again” at the annual high-level gathering with representatives from 150 of the UN’s 193 member states in tow.
Featured image credit:
Image: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and First Lady Olena Zelenska arrive in New York for the UN General Assembly on Monday, September 22, 2025.
Source: UATV_en/X
