Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump have renewed efforts to find a route toward negotiations with Russia, as winter approaches and fears grow that attacks on energy infrastructure could leave millions of Ukrainians without heat and electricity.
The leaders met Tuesday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. Afterward, Zelenskyy said both countries wanted the war to end before winter and had discussed steps to reduce tensions and open the way to diplomacy. Trump, speaking at the U.N. earlier in the day, said he believed the war could be resolved sooner than many expected.
One possible first step is an agreement to stop attacks on energy facilities. Zelenskyy said Kyiv was ready for an energy ceasefire if Russia also stopped strikes on Ukraine’s electricity, heating and water systems. The proposal would give both sides a limited area for de-escalation while wider negotiations remain out of reach.
Such an agreement would be significant, but it is not yet in place. Zelenskyy’s offer depends on Moscow’s cooperation, and earlier efforts to pause attacks on energy infrastructure have faltered. The two sides have continued long-range strikes, with each accusing the other of targeting important infrastructure.
Winter preparations were also central to the meeting. Zelenskyy said the leaders discussed an air-defence package and continued work on possible Patriot interceptor production in Ukraine. Kyiv has sought more Patriot missiles, which can intercept some of Russia’s ballistic missiles, but Zelenskyy said Washington had not yet given a firm answer on additional supplies. A separate plan for Ukraine to produce Patriots under licence is still being discussed.
The urgency is heightened by continued attacks and concerns about the condition of Ukraine’s energy system as temperatures fall. For Kyiv, protecting power and heating infrastructure is both a humanitarian priority and a way to prevent the coming winter from increasing pressure on the country to accept unfavorable terms.
Earlier this month, Zelenskyy told Axios that U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had discussed possible winter de-escalation steps in meetings in Moscow and Kyiv. Those discussions included energy facilities, electricity, grain shipments and oil and gas exports. But officials have cautioned that the two sides’ competing interests may prove difficult to reconcile.
The New York meeting has therefore produced a renewed diplomatic opening, rather than a breakthrough. Washington is trying to bring the parties toward talks; Kyiv is signaling readiness for a limited energy truce while pressing for stronger defences. Any durable agreement will still require Russia to accept the terms and both sides to follow through.
For now, the test will be whether discussion turns into a verifiable halt to attacks. With winter approaching, even a narrow agreement could protect civilians and create space for broader negotiations. Without Russian participation, however, the search for a path to peace remains a proposal under pressure from events on the ground.