Zelensky says he expects to meet Trump in late September, with missile defense set as main topic

Why it matters

An announced Zelensky–Trump meeting in the 20s of September would be the first personal encounter between the two leaders since their July 28 White House meeting and lands as Ukraine faces what Zelensky describes as an acute deficit in ballistic-missile interceptors, made visible by a massive September 7-8 strike on Kyiv in which most ballistic missiles could not be downed. The meeting also coincides with the opening of the UN General Assembly high-level week on September 22 in New York, which Ukraine has cited as a possible venue, folding the bilateral into a wider multilateral diplomatic moment. Reporting that discussions are moving toward a Ukraine–US–Russia trilateral format — with the UAE, Switzerland or Turkey floated as possible locations — points to a possible expansion of negotiation tracks alongside the missile-defense request.

What happened

On September 8, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he expects to meet US President Donald Trump in the 20s of September, with the supply of American anti-ballistic interceptor missiles to Ukraine as the main topic. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhiy Tykhyi confirmed that a preliminary agreement for the meeting has been reached for later this month; Tykhyi listed possible bilateral topics including additional air defense, a "prosperity plan," security guarantees, and a drone deal, and named the UN General Assembly high-level week, opening September 22 in New York, as one possible venue.

The announcement came in the wake of a round of shuttle diplomacy by US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on September 5 and Zelenskyy in Kyiv on September 6 — their first Kyiv visit since the start of Trump's second term. According to Zelenskyy, the Kyiv talks included two bilateral rounds with the US delegation and one multilateral round joined by national security advisors from the UK, Germany and France. Witkoff said there was "substantial progress" in the peace process after the two meetings and that the sides agreed on a schedule for additional trilateral talks; Kushner said Trump aims not only at ending the war but also at achieving long-term peace, and that ending the war by winter is not guaranteed. Connected to the envoys' visit, Ukraine and Russia agreed to a mutual moratorium on strikes on each other's capitals lasting three days.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine, the US and Russia are moving toward a trilateral negotiation format, with possible venues including the UAE, Switzerland or Turkey; he said possible trilateral topics include energy and grain exports, with the humanitarian track — first of all prisoner exchanges — as the main priority. He also confirmed that during the Kyiv visit the US envoys were briefed in detail on Ukraine's anti-ballistic missile needs and delivery timelines.

Background to the missile-defense focus: Zelenskyy said Ukraine is developing its own anti-ballistic program called "Frea" / "Freya" / "Freyja" and is counting on US and European support. Until it yields results, he said Ukraine needs US interceptor missile packages now. He added that Ukraine received three times fewer anti-ballistic missiles this year than in the previous year, with partners citing the Middle East conflict as the official reason; partners confirmed deliveries of several Crotale air-defense systems and missiles, and Ukraine received AIM missiles used in NASAMS medium-range air defense systems. The Financial Times reported that Trump refused Ukraine's request for 300 Patriot missiles in order to preserve US stockpiles amid the war against Iran; an earlier Ukrainian request for Patriot production technology was reportedly reversed.

The meeting announcement also came the morning after a large Russian strike on Kyiv on the night of September 7-8. Zelenskyy said Russia launched about 180 aerial targets, including Oniks, Iskander-M / S-400 / KN-23 ballistic missiles, 32 Kh-101 cruise missiles and 166 drones; Ukrainian air defenses destroyed roughly 90% of the targets overall and shot down more than 30 cruise missiles, but most ballistic missiles were not intercepted. Two people were killed; debris and fires were recorded in the Solomianskyi, Darnytskyi, Holosiivskyi, Shevchenkivskyi and Podilskyi districts of Kyiv.

How Ukrainian sources describe it

Ukrainian sources center the announced Zelenskyy–Trump meeting on the urgent need for American anti-ballistic interceptor missiles, framing it as a direct response to the September 7-8 attack on Kyiv — in which most ballistic missiles could not be intercepted — and to a documented year-on-year decline in deliveries. Ukrainian reporting foregrounds the Witkoff–Kushner shuttle and presents the three-day moratorium on capital strikes as a concrete outcome of their visit. Ukrainian outlets detail Ukraine's own "Frea / Freya / Freyja" anti-ballistic program and Zelenskyy's stated hope for US and European support, and they report the wide bilateral agenda outlined by the Foreign Ministry — air defense, a "prosperity plan," security guarantees, a drone deal — alongside the trilateral track. The Financial Times report on Trump's refusal of 300 Patriot missiles is framed as a constraint imposed by US stockpile concerns and the Middle East, while partial deliveries — Crotale systems and AIM missiles for NASAMS — are highlighted as what Ukraine is getting in the meantime.

How international sources describe it

The single non-Ukrainian source in the corpus — an English-language Azerbaijani agency — reports the Zelenskyy–Trump meeting in neutral terms as preparation for a personal encounter in September, without the detailed agenda or the missile-deficit framing around the September 7-8 Kyiv attack that runs through the Ukrainian coverage.

Where reporting differs

Casualty figures from the September 7-8 attack on Kyiv differ between sources: Ukrainian reporting cited in one set of facts puts the toll at 2 killed and 10 injured, while another account gives at least 2 killed and 12 injured. The headline number of injured is therefore 10 or 12 depending on source.

Background

The expected Zelenskyy–Trump meeting would be the first between the two since their July 28 White House encounter and follows shuttle diplomacy by US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who met Putin in Moscow on September 5 and Zelenskyy in Kyiv on September 6 — their first Kyiv visit since the start of Trump's second term. Witkoff said there was "substantial progress" in the peace process after the two meetings and that the sides agreed on a schedule for additional trilateral talks; Kushner said Trump aims at long-term peace and that ending the war by winter is not guaranteed. Connected to the envoys' visit, Ukraine and Russia agreed to a mutual three-day moratorium on strikes on each other's capitals. Zelenskyy said Ukraine is developing its own anti-ballistic program called "Frea" / "Freya" / "Freyja" and is counting on US and European support. The Financial Times reported that Trump refused Ukraine's request for 300 Patriot missiles in order to preserve US stockpiles amid the war against Iran; an earlier Ukrainian request for Patriot production technology was reportedly reversed. According to Zelenskyy, Ukraine received three times fewer anti-ballistic missiles this year than in the previous year, with partners citing the Middle East conflict as the official reason; partners confirmed deliveries of several Crotale air defense systems and AIM missiles for NASAMS. Possible bilateral topics listed by Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhiy Tykhyi include additional air defense, a "prosperity plan," security guarantees and a drone deal; possible trilateral topics mentioned by Zelenskyy include energy and grain exports, with the humanitarian track — first of all prisoner exchanges — as the main priority. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry has confirmed a preliminary agreement for the Zelenskyy–Trump meeting later this month, with the program of the Ukrainian delegation's participation in the UN General Assembly high-level segment still being worked out.