--- title: "Zelensky Asked Trump to Use Xi Jinping to Pressure Putin Ahead of Washington Meeting" description: "At a briefing after his meeting with Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Zelensky said he asked the American leader to encourage Xi Jinping to reach out to Putin. The Chinese president's visit to the US is scheduled for 23–25 September, with the meeting with Trump on 24 September." date: 2026-09-22T20:10:00.000Z lang: en url: https://xab.info/en/posts/zelensky-asked-trump-to-use-xi-jinping-to-pressure-putin tags: [ukraine, china, russia, trump, zelensky, si-jinping, diplomacy] publisher: "XAB.info" --- # Zelensky Asked Trump to Use Xi Jinping to Pressure Putin Ahead of Washington Meeting ![Trump and Xi Jinping against US and Chinese flags: Zelensky urged Trump to use China to pressure Putin ahead of Washington meeting](https://xab.info/media/2026/09/23/zelenskyi-poprosil-trampa-privlech-si-tsinpin/zelenskyi-poprosil-trampa-privlech-si-tsinpin-1.webp) ## 🎯 Key Points - Zelensky said he asked Trump to encourage Xi Jinping to reach out to Putin. - Xi Jinping will visit the US on 23–25 September, with the meeting with Trump in Washington scheduled for 24 September. - Trump spoke of an imminent end to the war and allowed for new talks with Putin; Zelensky hopes to end the conflict by winter. - The sources record two different channels of Kyiv's appeal to Beijing: an oral request through Trump and a written reply to Xi Jinping's letter. On the sidelines of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held a meeting with US leader Donald Trump and, in his own words, voiced a diplomatic request. According to RBC-Ukraine, Zelensky told a briefing that on the eve of Trump's talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, he had suggested to his American counterpart to "encourage" the Chinese leader to reach out to the Russian leadership. Thus Kyiv is trying to widen the circle of players capable of influencing Moscow's position within the framework of diplomatic efforts to end the war. ### Request to Washington: Involve Beijing "Tomorrow Trump will meet with the head of China. I told the president very frankly that he could also encourage Xi somehow to reach out to Putin," Zelensky said, referring to his conversation with the American leader. The Ukrainian president did not specify what exactly the Chinese leader's appeal to the Russian side should be, but his words suggest that Kyiv expects a more active role for Beijing, which, in the Ukrainian side's view, has sufficient contacts with Moscow to use them to influence the Kremlin's course. ### Xi Jinping's Visit and the Timeline of Negotiations Chinese President Xi Jinping is reportedly set to visit the US on 23–25 September at the invitation of Donald Trump, and this trip will be the first in over ten years. Their personal meeting in Washington is scheduled for 24 September. It is on the eve of this summit that Zelensky attempted to "integrate" the Chinese side into the negotiation process by asking Trump to use the format of bilateral talks to send a signal to Beijing. ### Contradictory Data When comparing materials from different publications, a discrepancy is noted in the format of Kyiv's appeal to Beijing. In the RBC-Ukraine publication, the reference is to Zelensky's oral request, conveyed to Trump at a briefing after the meeting in New York. At the same time, in materials citing correspondence, a separate episode is recorded: Zelensky's written reply to a letter from Xi Jinping, in which the Ukrainian leader reportedly asked China to intervene more actively in the negotiation process. These two channels — the oral appeal through Washington and the direct written appeal to Beijing — are not identical and should not be mixed into a single chronology; details and exact wording in the sources differ. ### Kyiv's Expectations and Trump's Signals Before the meeting with Zelensky, Donald Trump stated that the war in Ukraine would end "sooner than people imagine." In response, Zelensky expressed hope to end the conflict by winter with US help. During the same meeting, the American leader also allowed for new talks with Vladimir Putin. The totality of these statements forms the context in which Kyiv is trying to maximally involve all major players — from Washington to Beijing — to accelerate the diplomatic process. ## 🔍 Fact-Check Verification - [Zelensky Asked Trump to Involve Xi Jinping in Pressuring Putin](https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/zelenskiy-poprosiv-trampa-zaluchiti-si-tszinpina-1790107690.html) - Основной источник: цитата Зеленского с брифинга, просьба поощрить Си обратиться к Путину. - [Xi Jinping to Visit the US for the First Time in Over 10 Years on 23–25 September](https://gazeta.ua/ru/articles/world-life/_si-czinpin-2325-sentyabrya-vpervye-za-bolee-chem-10-let-posetit-ssa/1259093) - Подтверждает даты визита 23–25 сентября и статус поездки как первой за более чем 10 лет. - [Zelensky Snapped Back at Xi Jinping's Letter: What Caused It](https://news.mail.ru/society/72120179/) - Описывает отдельный эпизод письменного ответа на письмо Си Цзиньпина; не тождествен устной просьбе Трампу, вынесено в блок противоречий. - [Zelensky Replied to Xi Jinping in English and Asked China to Intervene More Actively in the Talks](https://news.mail.ru/politics/72121310/) - Описывает отдельный эпизод письменного ответа на письмо Си Цзиньпина; не тождествен устной просьбе Трампу, вынесено в блок противоречий. ## ❓ FAQ ### Q: What exactly did Zelensky ask Trump to do? **A:** According to Zelensky, he suggested to Trump that he "encourage" Xi Jinping so that the Chinese leader would reach out to Vladimir Putin, thereby using Beijing's contacts with Moscow to influence the Kremlin's position. ### Q: When will the meeting between Trump and Xi Jinping take place? **A:** Xi Jinping will visit the US on 23–25 September, with the personal meeting with Donald Trump in Washington scheduled for 24 September. ### Q: What signals about ending the war did Trump and Zelensky send? **A:** Trump stated that the war would end "sooner than people imagine" and allowed for new talks with Putin. Zelensky expressed hope to end the conflict by winter with US help.