As oil prices soar, President Trump is pressing for a solution to end the war between Ukraine and Russia.
Published September 16, 2026
Efforts are underway to hold a “meaningful” meeting between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at next week’s United Nations General Assembly.
Ukrainian and U.S. diplomatic teams are “actively” working to arrange a meeting between President Zelensky and President Trump at the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, according to a press conference by Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Heorhiy Tikihy.
Tiki said Zelenskyy’s visit will include dozens of bilateral negotiations and engagements with U.S. lawmakers, business leaders and the Ukrainian community in the United States.
Mr. Zelensky and Mr. Trump last met in the White House in July, a long-awaited meeting after a heated televised meeting in the Oval Office in 2025 ended abruptly, with Vice President J.D. Vance calling Mr. Zelensky “disrespectful” for not thanking him for U.S. aid to Ukraine.
At least five people were killed and seven others were injured in a Russian drone attack on a bus in the city of Nikopol near the southern front in Ukraine on Wednesday, as Ukrainian officials were preparing to visit the United Nations.
The number of civilians killed in Ukraine this year has soared as Russian attacks intensify, according to the United Nations. At least 1,396 civilians were killed and 7,978 injured in Ukraine in the first half of 2026, an increase of 37% from the same period last year, according to the United Nations Observatory for Human Rights in Ukraine.
In addition to the Iran conflict, the Ukraine war is also impacting diesel prices, according to the International Energy Agency.
President Trump last week urged President Zelenskiy to halt attacks on Russia’s diesel infrastructure, saying the attack was due to global fuel shortages that are driving up prices, not a war with Iran.
And on Sunday, President Trump said the diesel price hike was “not driven by the Middle East, it was driven by what’s going on in Russia and Ukraine.”
President Zelensky said Ukraine was ready to halt attacks on Russian territory if the United States could secure a commitment from Russia not to attack Ukrainian infrastructure.
