Trump Says 25,000 Died in One Month as He Pushes Zelenskyy to Make a Deal

US President Donald Trump said he hopes Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin will reach an agreement and "settle" their differences, as Moscow and Kyiv kept exchanging deadly strikes [251497]. Trump also said 25,000 people died last month in the Russia-Ukraine war, and that he urged the Ukrainian president to reach a settlement with Putin [250975].

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Trump in New York on September 22 to discuss ways to end the war [247894]. Speaking ahead of his address to the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, Zelenskyy said he wants the fighting to stop before winter, warning that living conditions across Ukraine are getting harder and that the longer the war lasts, the more people will die on the frontline [247894]. Trump said Ukraine and Russia have agreed not to attack each other's energy infrastructure — a change in his position, since he had previously criticized Kyiv for striking Russian oil refineries [247894]. According to France 24 correspondent Gulliver Cragg, the Black Sea could be another area for a temporary ceasefire, because attacks there have disrupted grain shipments from both Ukraine and Russia [247894].

The diplomacy played out against continued bloodshed. Russian attacks killed at least four people across Ukraine on Saturday, and both sides are intensifying their aerial attacks [251497]. Russia and Ukraine traded deadly strikes on Tuesday, targeting economic infrastructure on both sides: the Russian army hit Ukrainian economic sites, while Ukraine struck an oil refinery inside Russia [247343]. Ukrainian officials said Russian attacks killed four people on Saturday, while Russian authorities said a Ukrainian drone attack killed three [251129].

In Kyiv, residents are preparing for power cuts, drone attacks and a cold winter by stocking up on generators, food and "dry showers" [251129]. Russia has also opened a new front in the war by hitting several data centers and internet providers in Kyiv this week, in attacks that appear aimed at weakening Ukraine's digital economy [251129]. Zelenskyy wrote on Saturday that "Russia is escalating every single day" and that "if the Russians have chosen to make their strikes even more brutal, the world must choose stronger responses to keep the war from spreading further" [251129].

Diplomatic efforts have produced little. The foreign ministers of Russia and Germany met in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly — their first meeting since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine — but the talks produced no breakthrough [251129]. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul urged Russia "to abandon the dangerous path of escalation vis-a-vis Germany, Europe, and Nato," and asked Lavrov to do "everything possible to reach an agreement on grain exports via the Black Sea" [251129]. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov rejected the warning, accused Germany of being Ukraine's main sponsor, and later told a press conference that "nothing new" came from the talks [251129].

Russia's foreign minister has also accused Europe of blocking peace talks on Ukraine, a claim that came as Moscow and Kyiv both increased their attacks during the deadliest summer since 2022, the year Russia launched its invasion [251219].

Meanwhile, the United States has formally invited Putin to the G20 summit on December 14 and 15 at Trump National Doral Golf Club in Florida, a resort owned by Trump [249344]. "We hope he accepts the invitation," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, adding that Trump is willing to meet with almost anyone and that Putin and Trump have spoken by phone at least a dozen times since Trump took office [249344]. Many G20 leaders are unlikely to welcome Putin; when Lavrov attended a G20 foreign ministers' meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, last month, European officials protested and he was left out of the traditional group photo [249344].