President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy are set to meet in New York after speaking by phone Sunday about efforts to advance a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine. Zelenskyy said the conversation was important and that the meeting “could change a lot.”
Zelenskyy said the two discussed diplomatic efforts and that “there is diplomatic momentum.” He also said the peace process remains Ukraine’s top priority and pointed to ideas for de-escalation and addressing energy security, food security and the protection of human life.
The planned meeting comes after Zelenskyy met with CIA Director John Ratcliffe at Shannon Airport in Ireland on Monday, according to two people familiar with the matter. The sources differed on whether the encounter was a planned meeting or an informal conversation as their planes were refueled, and neither disclosed what was discussed.
Zelenskyy was traveling to New York for the annual United Nations gathering, while Ratcliffe was returning from a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, according to one of the sources. The encounter also came less than a month after Ratcliffe traveled to Moscow to meet with senior Russian intelligence officials.
