Trump to meet with Zelensky, Starmer in New York

Donald Trump will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, after a separate meeting with British Prime Minister Keith Starmer later today.

The Republican presidential candidate announced the upcoming meetings, both of which are set to take place at his Trump Tower property in New York, during a Thursday press conference.

The two leaders are in the United States to attend the UN General Assembly, and they are among a slew of foreign officials who have sought to meet Mr Trump in the final weeks before the 5 November election.

Mr Starmer said he wanted to meet Mr Trump face to face because "I'm a great believer in personal relationships on the world stage".

The meeting has the potential to be diplomatically awkward, not just because of Mr Trump's bombastic style but also because Mr Starmer has not been able to schedule a similar appointment with Democratic candidate and vice president Kamala Harris.

Ahead of the meeting, Mr Starmer told reporters: "I've said a number of times, I want to meet both candidates. We've now got the opportunity to meet Trump, which is good. Obviously, I still want to speak to Harris as well."

It comes as Mr Trump's Democratic rival Ms Harris criticised the former president’s "surrender" policy on Ukraine.

Mr Zelensky presented a so-called "victory" plan to President Joe Biden and Vice President Harris during a meeting at the White House, with Mr Biden announcing a new military aid package worth nearly $8 billion for a struggling Ukraine.

Standing with Mr Zelensky at her side, Ms Harris did not mention Mr Trump by name but said there were "some in my country who would instead force Ukraine to give up large parts of its sovereign territory."

"These proposals are the same of those of (President Vladimir) Putin. And let us be clear, they are not proposals for peace. Instead, they are proposals for surrender," she said, referring to the Russian leader.

During a separate meeting in the Oval Office with Mr Zelensky, Mr Biden pledged that "Russia will not prevail" in the war it launched in February 2022.

"Ukraine will prevail, and we'll continue to stand by you every step of the way," Mr Biden said.

Dressed in his trademark military-style outfit, Mr Zelensky replied that "we deeply appreciate that Ukraine and America have stood side by side."

But Mr Zelensky is navigating the choppy waters of a US presidential election on 5 November that could sink the staunch support that he has received from the United States in the past two-and-a-half years.

'Make a deal'

Mr Trump, who has long been critical of the billions of dollars in US support for Ukraine, accused Mr Zelensky on the eve of the visit of refusing to strike a deal with Russia.

However, Trump announced that he would hold talks with Mr Zelensky at Trump Tower in New York on Friday.

"President Zelensky has asked to meet with me, and I will be meeting with him tomorrow morning at around 9.45am," the Republican told reporters in New York.

Mr Trump also repeated his longstanding claim that he would swiftly cut a peace deal - which Ukraine fears would involve giving up land Russia has already captured.

"I believe I will be able to make a deal between President Putin and President Zelensky and quite quickly," he said.

He also suggested he was displeased with Mr Zelensky's recent comments to The New Yorker magazine in which Ukraine's leader said he believed Mr Trump "doesn't really know how to stop the war."