Zelenskyy to Press Trump on US Security Guarantees and Sanctions

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump next week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York to press Washington to join a European-backed security guarantees framework and to urge new sanctions against Russia if talks or a ceasefire do not materialize, Zelenskyy said on Saturday.

Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv that he wants clarity on what guarantees the United States would provide and how close partners are to agreeing on terms. Trump is scheduled to address the UN on Tuesday and Zelenskyy on Wednesday, but it was not clear which day the two leaders will meet. A separate meeting between the two countries first ladies is also anticipated. Zelenskyy said on social media that Europe had adopted a new sanctions package and that he expected "strong sanctions steps from the United States as well."

The meeting comes amid an intensification of attacks on Ukraine. Ukrainian authorities said one recent barrage involved about 40 cruise and ballistic missiles and some 580 drones, and that at least three civilians were killed and dozens injured in strikes that hit municipal infrastructure across the south and centre of...