US President Joe Biden plans to meet with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, next week in the context of the United Nations General Assembly meetings, according to several officials familiar with the meeting.
It is unclear whether the meeting will be in New York or later in the week at the White House. A source familiar with the matter told CNN that Zelensky is expected to travel to Washington after his stop in New York.
Biden and Zelensky are scheduled to address the assembly next Tuesday.
Zelensky sought to use his presence at the annual meeting to call for more support for Ukraine as it continues to launch a counter-offensive against Russia. In addition to an assembly speech, he has several meetings planned with other world leaders in New York, according to people familiar with his plans.
Zelensky ruled out any compromise with Putin and pointed to Prigozhin’s death
Among its goals is to try to persuade countries that have not yet adopted a strong anti-war stance to be more forceful in their condemnation of Russia.
Among the planned meetings is one with the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, announced this Thursday by the Government of Israel.
Biden last met with Zelensky on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Lithuania in July. Before that, the leaders participated in talks in May during the G7 summit in Japan. Despite US support for attending last week’s G20 summit in India, the hosts did not extend the invitation to Zelensky.
Zelensky last traveled to the United States in December – his first time leaving Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion.
A spokesman for the US National Security Council declined to comment.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Zelensky in Kyiv last week as part of a trip aimed in part at aligning the United States and Ukraine ahead of the diplomatic meeting. America’s top diplomat told Ukraine’s president that the United States is “determined to continue walking with” that country.
