Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that he asked US President Donald Trump to press China’s leader to use Beijing’s influence over Moscow in a diplomatic effort to get Russia to end its four-and-a-half-year-long invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Zelensky told reporters he has not yet received feedback from the White House about Mr Trump’s talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping but expects to learn the outcome.
Mr Zelensky, who is keen to muster more international support for Ukraine’s defence, was in the US this week on a trip coinciding with the UN General Assembly. He met Mr Trump on Tuesday.
Nato countries have called China a “decisive enabler” of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion.
Mr Zelensky shared more details of his US trip in voice messages to a group of journalists.
He said Washington was pushing for a three-way meeting involving delegations from the US, Ukraine and Russia, with officials holding technical talks in that format without the countries’ leaders.
Ukraine is waiting for the US to propose a date for those meetings, he said, adding that American officials suggested the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the location for these talks.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Mr Putin and Mr Trump during their call earlier this month discussed holding such a meeting in the near future. “As of now, I can’t give you any specifics,” Mr Peskov said.
Representatives from the three countries held three rounds of trilateral negotiations early this year, twice in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, and once in Geneva, but the talks achieved no significant breakthroughs.
Mr Zelensky met US senators and congressmen during his trip to America and said he thanked them for their bipartisan support in passing a powerful sanctions bill aimed at Moscow last month.
Mr Trump signed the bill into law last week but has not enacted the measures yet.
Sanctions are key in forcing Mr Putin to the negotiating table, Mr Zelensky said, adding that he hoped Mr Trump would implement the measures.
“The sanctions are indeed strong… all of this is now in the hands of the president of the United States. He can use this tool to pressure the Russian Federation,” Mr Zelensky said.
The Ukrainian leader said Mr Trump confirmed he had made a final decision that Kyiv would get licences to produce Patriot air defence systems.
Ukraine is desperate for more of the American-made air defence systems that are needed to stop Russia’s ballistic missiles, but they have been in short supply since the war in Iran started on February 28.
Mr Trump had said in July that he would allow Ukraine to make its own Patriots but later appeared to be reconsidering the move.
Ukraine and Russia are both major global suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other food that developing nations rely on. But wartime attacks on cargo vessels in the Black Sea have choked that supply route, raising fears of shortages.
Mr Zelensky said he held separate talks in the US with the leaders of India, Turkey, Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries, that want unimpeded Black Sea shipping routes. He added that these leaders were also due to speak to Russian officials.
Kyiv wants Moscow to accept a Black Sea ceasefire that would allow full deliveries to resume, Mr Zelensky said.
Mr Zelensky also said he had spoken in the US with the heads of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Commission about plugging Ukraine’s budget deficit as its finances are strained by wartime expenses and drops in production. Russia’s economy is also hurting.
The European Union will extend its financial aid for Ukraine, and the IMF will continue its financial support programmes, he said.
Most of the funding gap relates specifically to weapons purchases, Mr Zelensky said, and future financing for Ukraine could come in the form of deals for sharing technology and joint drone production. Ukraine is a world leader in military drones.
Russian aerial attacks on Ukraine overnight and into Friday killed five people and wounded 11, officials said, while Russian authorities reported one dead and 21 wounded in Ukrainian long-range strikes.
Mr Zelensky said eight Ukrainian regions came under attack. Russia kept up its relentless round-the-clock attacks on the Ukrainian capital, hitting an office block where four people were killed, he said. A 14-year-old boy was also killed in a Kyiv apartment building strike and at least seven residents were injured, according to officials.
Russia’s defence ministry said its forces hit a missile engine depot near Kyiv, among other targets.
Ukraine hit two refineries as part of its sustained campaign to damage Russia’s economy, Mr Zelensky said.
Unconfirmed Russian media reports said Ukrainian drones also struck a Russian military electronics plant and a synthetic rubber producer.