Overview

• President Donald Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky met on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, with Trump praising Ukraine’s resistance and Zelensky citing “good news” from the battlefield.
• Ukraine used the meeting to push for tougher U.S. sanctions on Russia and to discuss strengthening air defenses, according to a source in Kyiv’s delegation.
• Trump has promoted the idea of a Zelensky–Putin meeting as part of his peace push, while Moscow says no such talks are planned and Switzerland has signaled readiness to host leaders if they occur.
• First lady Melania Trump was set to exchange a brief greeting with Olena Zelenska at UNGA, which her adviser Marc Beckman stressed was not a formal sit-down, and she is scheduled to address her child-focused initiative later in the day.
• Melania previously sent a letter to Vladimir Putin urging protection of children affected by the war, a move Zelensky publicly thanked her for as Ukraine cites about 20,000 children allegedly taken to Russia.