--- title: "Zelensky and Trump Meet on the Margins of the UN General Assembly: A Chronicle of Relations Without Breakthroughs" description: "On September 22, Zelensky and Trump will meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. RBC-Ukraine recalls the history of their contacts — from the confrontation in the White House to peace negotiations, from which no breakthrough is expected." date: 2026-09-22T11:20:00.000Z lang: en url: https://xab.info/en/posts/zelensky-trump-meet-un-general-assembly tags: [ukraine-usa, zelensky, trump, un-general-assembly, peace-talks] publisher: "XAB.info" --- # Zelensky and Trump Meet on the Margins of the UN General Assembly: A Chronicle of Relations Without Breakthroughs ![Meeting between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly](https://xab.info/media/2026/09/22/vstrecha-zelenskogo-i-trampa-na-oon/vstrecha-zelenskogo-i-trampa-na-oon-1.webp) ## 🎯 Key Points - On September 22, Zelensky and Trump will meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. - The history of their contacts includes the confrontation in the White House on February 28, 2025, and a series of meetings without breakthrough decisions. - Assessments of the outcome diverge: a source at RBC-Ukraine does not expect a breakthrough, while Rubio announces Trump's "great idea." On the evening of September 22, the presidents of Ukraine and the United States, Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump, will once again come into direct contact — this time on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. For two leaders whose history of interaction has been limited to a string of phone calls, informal meetings, and one sharp confrontation in the Oval Office, this meeting becomes yet another attempt to bring the negotiation track back to a working state. As RBC-Ukraine notes, previous conversations often ended without breakthrough results, and both sides are approaching the current meeting with cautious expectations. ### Chronicle of Relations: From Impeachment to the Oval Office The first intersection of Zelensky and Trump occurred back in 2019, during the American president's first term: their phone conversation later became one of the grounds for the attempt to impeach Trump over pressure on the Ukrainian leader to facilitate the investigation into Hunter Biden. After his electoral defeat, Trump stepped away from active politics for nearly four years, and with his re-nomination, Ukrainian diplomacy began restoring contacts with his team. Thus, on September 27, 2024, in New York at the Trump Tower residence, an informal meeting took place, and on December 7, 2024, the two leaders crossed paths in Paris at the celebrations marking the reopening of the restored Notre-Dame Cathedral, where Emmanuel Macron served as the informal moderator. ### Visit to Washington and the On-Air Conflict The key and most painful episode was Zelensky's visit to Washington on February 28, 2025, dedicated to peace negotiations. Trump, who during his campaign had promised to end the war "in 24 hours," attempted on live television to push the Ukrainian president into concessions: he expressed doubt about Ukraine's ability to win, pointed to a shortage of personnel in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and called for a cessation of hostilities. Zelensky, in response, accused Moscow of ignoring previous agreements, which provoked a verbal exchange with accusations of "playing with World War III" and the involvement of Vice President JD Vance. The Ukrainian delegation was asked to leave the White House early. To this day, it remains unclear whether this exchange was a staged performance by Trump's team or an improvisation. ### Vatican, Anchorage, and the Attempt to Restore Dialogue Personal relations were partially restored on April 26 during the funeral of Pope Francis in the Vatican: breaking protocol in an unprecedented way, the Vatican seated Zelensky in the front row next to Trump, and the leaders spoke one-on-one without cameras, although this yielded no visible results. The next meeting took place on August 18 in Washington after Trump's summit with Vladimir Putin in Anchorage: Zelensky, accompanied by European leaders, discussed proposals from the Kremlin, but, according to diplomats' assessments, the meeting ended without firm decisions, and further negotiations moved to the working level and gradually fizzled out. After that, the leaders did not meet in person for nearly a year: a brief contact took place on July 8 in Ankara on the sidelines of the NATO summit, and on July 28 Zelensky crossed paths with Trump at the funeral of Senator Lindsey Graham — in a strictly protocol-driven manner. ### What to Expect from the September 22 Meeting Despite the intensification of contacts ahead of the current meeting in New York, a source at RBC-Ukraine indicates that no breakthroughs are expected for now, and attention is focused on maintaining the communication channel. At the same time, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio publicly stated that Trump would offer Zelensky a "great idea," creating a contrast between the restrained internal expectations and the more optimistic external rhetoric of Washington. ### Contradictory Data The sources contain two notable inconsistencies. First, the assessments of the expected outcome diverge: an informed source at RBC-Ukraine speaks of the absence of breakthroughs, while Rubio announces a specific proposal from Trump. Second, the chronology of some events in the primary text is given without specifying the year (the meeting in Washington on August 18, the contacts on July 8 and 28 "this year"), and when anchored to the current date of September 22, 2026, the phrasing "did not meet in person for nearly a year" does not quite match the actual interval, which requires editorial clarification of the dates of individual episodes. ## 🔍 Fact-Check Verification - [Summit No. 9. Were the meetings between Zelensky and Trump successful, and what to expect today](https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/shcho-ranishe-govorili-zelenskiy-trampom-1790075310.html) - Базовая хронология встреч и оценка отсутствия прорыва от источника РБК-Украина. - [Trump to offer Zelensky a "great idea" at the meeting in New York - Rubio](https://glavred.info/politics/tramp-predlozhit-zelenskomu-otlichnuyu-ideyu-na-vstreche-v-nyu-yorke-rubio-10798529.html) - Заявление Рубио о предложении Трампа — контрастирует со сдержанными ожиданиями источника РБК. - [Source: "The meeting between Zelensky and Trump will take place against a tense backdrop, we understand that"](https://www.dialog.ua/opinion/339825_1790084539) - Подтверждает напряженный фон переговоров. - [Today Trump and Zelensky will meet face to face: exact time and what they might agree on](https://tsn.ua/ru/politika/segodnya-tramp-i-zelenskiy-vstretyatsya-litsom-k-litsu-tochnoe-vremya-i-o-chem-mogut-dogovoritsya-3173006.html) - Подтверждает факт и время встречи 22 сентября на полях ГА ООН. ## ❓ FAQ ### Q: When and where will Zelensky and Trump meet? **A:** On the evening of September 22, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. ### Q: Is a breakthrough in peace negotiations expected? **A:** A source at RBC-Ukraine does not expect breakthroughs, and attention is focused on maintaining the communication channel; at the same time, Rubio announced a "great idea" from Trump. ### Q: Were previous meetings productive? **A:** According to diplomats' assessments, the meetings in Washington (August 18) and in Ankara (July 8) ended without specific firm decisions, and the working level of negotiations fizzled out.