Zelenskyy says Ukraine ready for ‘any kind of format’ of energy ceasefire
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to take the General Assembly podium late afternoon Wednesday, on the second day of the UN’s 81st session in New York, according to the Guardian’s live blog of the proceedings.
Before his address, Zelenskyy and other European leaders are expected to participate in a UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine. The General Assembly appearance gives Zelenskyy a key opportunity to rally international support behind Kyiv and bolster Ukraine’s position ahead of any potential peace talks with Moscow, the Guardian wrote.
European leaders from Latvia, Romania, the Czech Republic, Estonia, and Cyprus are also scheduled to address the assembly before Zelenskyy’s late-afternoon remarks, the Guardian’s Europe Live blog reported. The blog is written by correspondent Jakub Krupa.
The assembly address follows a Tuesday evening meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump on the sidelines of the General Assembly session. Zelenskyy spoke briefly with reporters at the start of that meeting before Trump dominated the question-and-answer session that followed.
“I hope we will end this war, and president Trump will help us end this war. We need to do it as quick as possible, before winter,” Zelenskyy said at the opening of the meeting. The Guardian reported that “Zelenskyy did not get a chance to say much during” the meeting.
Afterward, Zelenskyy wrote on social media that the pair discussed ending “the senseless war” before winter, with “potential de-escalatory steps that can open up the way to diplomacy.” He also wrote that Ukraine was “ready for any kind of format of energy ceasefire” if Russia agrees to halt its attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
The General Assembly’s 81st session opened this week in New York.