Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced plans to meet U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly next week, as the war in Ukraine entered another violent chapter marked by one of the largest Russian aerial assaults since the conflict began. The meeting, scheduled amid renewed hostilities and failed peace efforts, highlights the ongoing diplomatic maneuvering as Kyiv seeks security guarantees from the West and Moscow intensifies its military campaign.
According to reporting from The Hindu, Russia unleashed a devastating barrage overnight before September 20, 2025, firing 40 missiles and nearly 580 drones at Ukrainian targets. The attacks killed at least three people and wounded dozens more. In a particularly harrowing incident, a missile loaded with cluster munitions struck an apartment building in the central city of Dnipro. Images shared by President Zelenskyy on social media showed cars and buildings engulfed in flames, with emergency workers carrying a wounded person to safety amid the debris.
Regional officials confirmed the grim toll. Sergiy Lysak, head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration, reported that in his region alone, the strikes killed one person and injured 26 others, with one man in serious condition. The violence did not stop there: Russia also announced the capture of the village of Berezove in Dnipropetrovsk, a further sign of Moscow’s incremental territorial gains.
Fighting remains fierce elsewhere. In the northeastern Kharkiv region, particularly around the vital rail hub of Kupiansk—retaken by Ukrainian forces in their 2022 counteroffensive—Zelenskyy described “intense actions” as both sides vied for control. Meanwhile, Russian officials claimed to have repelled what they called “massive” Ukrainian attacks in Russia’s Volgograd and Rostov regions, with at least one civilian wounded in the neighboring Saratov region. The governor of Samara, another Russian region, said that “fuel and energy facilities” had been targeted, though he did not specify the extent of the damage.
The Russian Defense Ministry boasted that its air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 149 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 27 over Saratov and 15 over Samara. These claims, while difficult to independently verify, underscore the growing use of drone warfare on both sides of the border and the ever-expanding range of the conflict.
All this unfolds as diplomatic efforts remain deadlocked. Three rounds of direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, held in Istanbul, have failed to yield anything more than large-scale prisoner exchanges. Russia continues to insist on hardline demands, including that Ukraine cede the entire eastern Donbas region—parts of which are still under Ukrainian control. Kyiv, for its part, has flatly rejected any territorial concessions and has even advocated for the deployment of European troops as peacekeepers, a prospect Moscow categorically rejects.
In this climate, President Zelenskyy’s upcoming meeting with President Trump takes on added significance. “We expect sanctions if there is no meeting between the leaders or, for example, no ceasefire,” Zelenskyy said in comments released by the Ukrainian presidency on September 20, 2025. He added, “We are ready for a meeting with Putin. I have spoken about this. Both bilateral and trilateral. He is not ready.” Zelenskyy has made it clear that he intends to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine and additional sanctions on Russia during his talks with Trump.
Security guarantees have been a central demand for Ukraine since the outset of the war. Kyiv insists that only robust, Western-backed assurances can prevent future Russian aggression. But the path to such guarantees remains fraught, not least because of deep divisions among Western allies about how far to go in supporting Ukraine militarily and politically.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin has sent mixed signals about its own willingness to negotiate. On September 19, 2025, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state news agency RIA that Moscow presumed President Trump was still pursuing efforts to achieve a settlement to the Ukraine conflict. “We presume that the United States, and President Trump personally, have maintained the political will and the intention to expend efforts to facilitate a Ukrainian settlement,” Peskov said, as reported by Reuters. He added, “So, of course, President Trump is, shall we say, quite emotional about this topic. This is completely understandable.”
This followed remarks by Trump himself, who, during a joint news conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on September 18, 2025, expressed disappointment in Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Putin has let me down,” Trump said, referring to the continued Russian attacks on Ukrainian targets despite his own efforts to broker a solution.
Despite these frustrations, Russian officials—including Putin—have publicly praised Trump’s attempts to organize a diplomatic solution and facilitate high-level meetings. The Kremlin’s statements suggest that while Moscow may not be ready to engage directly with Zelenskyy, it still sees value in maintaining a dialogue with Washington.
This diplomatic dance comes as tensions flare beyond Ukraine’s borders. Just days before the latest wave of attacks, three Russian fighter jets reportedly violated the airspace of Estonia, a NATO member on the alliance’s eastern flank. Moscow denied the allegations, but the incident has rattled nerves in the West, especially after Poland last week complained that around 20 Russian drones overflew its territory. Zelenskyy has reiterated his call for “joint solutions” to shoot down drones over Ukraine “together with other countries,” a plea that reflects the growing interconnectedness of European security.
As the war grinds on, the human cost continues to mount. The images from Dnipro—of burning buildings, shattered glass, and families fleeing for their lives—are a stark reminder of the stakes. For many Ukrainians, the hope is that meetings like the one planned between Zelenskyy and Trump can move the needle, however slightly, toward peace or at least a reduction in the violence that has become a daily reality.
Yet, with Russia unwilling to meet Zelenskyy directly and the United States’ own strategy in flux, the prospects for a breakthrough remain uncertain. Both sides appear dug in, with little appetite for compromise and plenty of firepower still at their disposal. As Zelenskyy prepares for his high-profile meeting in New York, the world will be watching to see whether diplomacy can gain any traction—or whether the war’s grim logic will prevail for yet another season.
The coming week’s developments, both on the battlefield and in the halls of international diplomacy, could prove pivotal for Ukraine’s future and for the broader stability of Europe.