Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the UN General Assembly, New York, September 24, 2025 (Yuki Iwamura/AP)

EA on TVP World: Will Trump’s Newfound Support for Ukraine Last?

UPDATE 1635 GMT:

Denmark has informed allies that drone incursions which have closed the Copenhagen and Aalborg airports (see 0730 GMT) are linked to state actors.

“The Danish government said it’s a state activity that operates it,” said Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže. “So we will wait for further assessments from our Danish colleagues, but it’s very clear on allies’ side, on our side, we all have to invest in counter-drone capability.“

UPDATE 1447 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that he is “ready” to step down once Russia’s invasion is halted.

The President said he will ask Parliament to organize elections if a ceasefire is reached. His goal “is to finish the war”, not to run again for office.

He told Donald Trump on Tuesday that, if there is a ceasefire, “we can use this period of time, and I can give this signal to the Parliament”.

He said he understood people may want “a leader with…a new mandate” to make decisions for a long-term peace.

UPDATE 1437 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has suggested that the Trump Administration may give Kyiv long-range weapons, via sale to NATO members, and permission for their use inside Russia.

They have to know where the bomb shelters are. They have to know that we in Ukraine will answer. If they attack us, we will answer them.

Zelensky said Donald Trump expressed support, saying, “We will work on it.”

The Russian sites include energy infrastructure and weapons production facilities. Ukraine will not target civilians because “we are not terrorists,” but centers of power, including the Kremlin, could be legitimate targets.

UPDATE 1428 GMT:

Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has spoken with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte about recent drone incursions into Danish airspace.

“We agreed that NATO would work with Denmark on what we can do together to ensure safety and security,” Frederiksen posted.

Rutte also spoke with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The Russian Embassy in Copenhagen insisted, “It is evident that the incidents involving reported disruptions at Danish airports are a staged provocation.”

UPDATE 1422 GMT:

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has expressed concern abput two Russian satellites shadowing Intelsat satellites used by German forces and others.

“Russia and China have expanded their capabilities for warfare in space rapidly over the past years: They can disrupt satellite operations, blind satellites, manipulate or kinetically destroy them,” Pistorius told a space conference in Berlin.

He called for talks on development of offensive capabilities in space as a deterrent.

UPDATE 0919 GMT:

Chinese drone experts have flown to Russia for technical development work on military UAVs at a State-owned weapons manufacturer under international sanctions, according to “two European security officials” and documents.

The Chinese experts visited IEMZ Kupol on more than six occasions since spring 2024. Kupol also received shipments of Chinese-made attack and surveillance drones via a Russian intermediary.

The Russian company developed a new drone, the Garpiya-3, last year.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry insisted it was unaware of the collaboration: “China has always maintained an objective and fair position on the question of the Ukraine crisis, never providing lethal weapons to any party in the conflict and strictly controlling dual-use items, including drone exports.”

But documents, including business invoices and bank statements, establish that Kupol received more than a dozen one-way attack drones last year produced by China’s Sichuan AEE.

The drones were supplied by Russian defense procurement company TSK Vektor, which is under U.S. and European sanctions.

UPDATE 0818 GMT:

Amid Russia’s drone and fighter jet overflights in the airspace of other countries, Turkey has sent an Airborne Warning and Control System to Lithuania.

The AWACS is a flying radar station that can detect incoming warplanes.

UPDATE 0742 GMT:

Five residents have been murdered and 17 wounded by Russian attacks on the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday.

Four people were slain in Kostiantynivka, which was attacked by three aerial bombs, and one in Oleksievo-Druzhkivka.

UPDATE 0730 GMT:

Denmark’s Aalborg Airport temporarily closed this morning because of reports of unidentified drones in its airspace.

The incident comes two days after drones forced the temporary suspension of operations at the airport in Denmark’s capital Copenhagen as well as Norway’s capital Oslo.

Denmark’s Justice and Defense Ministers says this morning’s episode is part of a systemic hybrid attack. They said the risk is “here to stay” and likely to continue in the coming days and weeks, with the intention to “create fear, to create division”.

They assured that the government will seek “enhanced capabilities” to deal with the emerging threat and to update legislation, allowing infrastructure owners to take down drones more easily.

UPDATE 0654 GMT:

Ukraine’s drones have destroyed two Russian An-26 transport aircraft and two radar stations in occupied Crimea, says the Ukrainian military intelligence agency HUR.

The An-26, a Soviet-era twin-engine turboprop aircraft, is widely used for short- and medium-haul transport. It is capable of carrying up to 40 troops or 5.5 tons of cargo.

The destroyed radars were a surface surveillance system and an MR-10M1 Mys M1 coastal radar station.

“How well the Muscovites’ An-26 transport aircraft burn – watch the video!” HUR said in a social media post.

Ukraine also hit a fertilizer plant in southwest Russia supporting Moscow’s invasion.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Addressing the General Assembly, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on UN members to ensure Ukrainian and global security.

Zelensky said on Wednesday morning in New York:

Today, no one but ourselves can guarantee security. Only strong alliances. Only strong partners, only our own weapons. The 21st century isn’t much different from the past. If a nation wants peace, it still has to work on weapons. It’s sick but real. Weapons decide who survives….

International law doesn’t work fully unless you have powerful friends willing to stand up for it.

He chided the Assembly, referring to Sudan, Somalia, and Palestine: “What can any people living through war really expect from the UN or the global system? For decades, just statements.”

The President cited Russia’s mass killing of civilians, abduction of Ukrainian children, and the risk of “radiation disasters” from the Russian occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Then he turned to Moscow’s overflights with drones and fighter jets of Poland, Romania, and Estonia: “Even being part of a longstanding military alliance doesn’t automatically mean you are safe.”

He said of Russia’s threat through subversion, political and military pressure to other countries in the region:

We have already lost Georgia in Europe. Human rights and the European nature of the state system are only shrinking there, and Georgia is dependent on Russia, and for many, many years Belarus has also been moving toward dependence on Russia.

Europe cannot afford to lose Moldova too.

Linking Ukrainian, European, and global security, Zelensky explained:

We are now living through the most destructive arms race in human history, because this time it includes artificial intelligence.

And if there are no real security guarantees except friends and weapons, and if the world can’t even respond to all threats, and if there is no strong platform for international security, will there be any place left on Earth that’s still safe for people?

He concluded with an appeal, “So don’t stay silent while Russia keeps dragging this war on. Please speak out and condemn it. Please join us in defending and international law and order. People are waiting for action.”

Zelensky Confers With NATO, Brazil, and Syria

The President met a series of national and international leaders throughout Wednesday, discussing arrangements for security of Ukraine and other countries.

He spoke with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte about US weapons supplies through sales to the bloc’s members, as well as the threat to the airspace of NATO members.

The President conferred with French President Emmanuel Macron about air defenses, sanctions against Moscow’s shadow fleet, and the use of frozen Russian assets.

He embraced Brazilian President Lula da Silva:

We spoke about the most important issue – the ways to achieve real peace for Ukraine. We want peace more than anyone, and I am ready for a meeting with the Russian side at the level of leaders, but Russia shows no readiness. Strong international pressure is needed to unblock the path to dialogue.

And Zelensky greeted Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa, 9 1/2 months after the fall of the Assad regime.

See also Syria’s President Sharaa to Address UN General Assembly

Trump Administration Clashes With Russia

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio clashed with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, less than 24 hours after Donald Trump suddenly shifted to support of Ukraine and the declaration that Kyiv could triumph over Moscow’s 44-month full-scale invasion.

Rubio called for Russia’s “killing to stop”. He insisted that the Kremlin “take meaningful steps toward a durable resolution”.

Lavrov countered by proclaiming “the unacceptability of the schemes promoted by Kyiv and some European capitals aimed at prolonging the conflict”.

Later on Wednesday, US Vice President J.D. Vance — who has been a critic of American support of Ukraine and tried to humiliate Zelensky in the White House in late February — told an audience in North Carolina that Trump “doesn’t feel like [the Russians] are putting enough on the table to end the war”.

He said, “If the Russians refuse to negotiate in good faith, I think it’s going to be very, very bad for their country. That’s what the President made clear.”

Zelensky used his General Assembly address to hail his “good meeting with Trump”: “Of course we are doing everything to make sure Europe truly helps and of course we count on the United States.”

“Two people familiar with the matter” said Trump’s shift over Ukraine’s ability to defeat Russia followed briefings from American officials on the current battlefield situation and a possible Ukrainian offensive in the future.

The officials giving the briefings included the US envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, and US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz, Trump’s first National Security Advisor.

They emphasized Russia’s failure to make significant territorial gains despite large-scale offensives in eastern Ukraine.

Another “senior White House official” played down the significance of Trump’s remarks, saying they are “a negotiating tactic” to pressure the Kremlin.

He said Trump is frustrated with Vladimir Putin, but was not signaling a major shift in US policy.