Zelenskyy urges Trump to seek China’s help on Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said yesterday that he had urged US President Donald Trump to press Chinese leader Xi Jinping to use Beijing’s influence over Moscow and help bring an end to Russia’s four-and-a-half-year invasion of Ukraine.

Zelenskyy told reporters he had not yet received feedback from the White House on Trump’s discussions with Xi but expected to be briefed on the outcome.

The Ukrainian leader, who has been seeking to bolster international support for his country’s defence, was in the United States this week during the UN General Assembly. He met with Trump on Tuesday.

NATO countries have described China as a “decisive enabler” of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.

In voice messages sent to a group of journalists, Zelenskyy provided additional details about his discussions in Washington. He said the US was seeking to begin negotiations through technical-level talks.

According to Zelenskyy, Washington is pushing for a three-way meeting involving delegations from the United States, Ukraine and Russia, with officials meeting before any talks involving the countries’ leaders.

Ukraine is awaiting a proposed date from the US for those discussions, he said, adding that American officials had suggested the United Arab Emirates as the venue.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin and Trump discussed the prospect of such talks during a call earlier this month.

“As of now, I can’t give you any specifics,” Peskov said.

Representatives of the three countries held three rounds of negotiations earlier this year, twice in Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s capital, and once in Geneva. The talks, however, failed to produce any significant breakthroughs.

Speaking in St Petersburg, Putin condemned recent Ukrainian strikes deep inside Russia and on Russian-held areas of Ukraine. While “proposals to resume the talks are all on the table”, Moscow “will think carefully about what we need to do in response”, he said.

The Kremlin would make decisions, “including on the possible resumption of the negotiation process, based on the interests of the Russian Federation”, Putin added.

During his US visit, Zelenskyy also met senators and members of Congress, thanking them for bipartisan support of a sanctions bill aimed at increasing pressure on Moscow.

Trump signed the legislation into law last week but has yet to implement the measures.

Zelenskyy said the sanctions were a crucial tool for pressuring Putin to negotiate.

“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,” Zelenskyy said.

The Ukrainian president also said Trump had confirmed that Kyiv would receive licences to produce Patriot air-defence systems.

Ukraine has been seeking additional Patriot systems to counter Russian ballistic missile attacks. Supplies have been constrained since the outbreak of the war involving Iran on February 28.

Trump said in July that he would allow Ukraine to manufacture its own Patriot systems but later appeared to reconsider the move.

Zelenskyy said he also held separate meetings in the United States with the leaders of India, Turkey, Egypt and several Middle Eastern countries, many of which rely on secure Black Sea trade routes.

Ukraine and Russia are among the world’s leading exporters of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other agricultural products. Attacks on cargo vessels in the Black Sea during the war have disrupted shipping and fuelled concerns about global food supplies.

Zelenskyy said the leaders he met were also expected to hold discussions with Russian officials.

Kyiv is seeking Moscow’s agreement to a Black Sea ceasefire that would allow commercial shipments to move freely and restore full deliveries, he said.