Zelenskyy's New York remarks Truce, missiles and finance

Sep 22

Ukrinform presents Zelenskyy's complete September 22 post-Trump briefing in New York with English interpretation. He offers a reciprocal halt to energy attacks, says Washington will convey it to Russia and leaves Russian acceptance unknown. He denies that Trump requested a unilateral halt that day, describes an energy truce as a first stage and alleges Putin will justify further strikes as retaliation for Ukrainian attacks during Russian elections. He asks Trump to involve Xi, renews readiness for a trilateral meeting when all sides are ready, doubts Russian willingness and hopes Trump will use the Graham sanctions instrument if Russia will not de-escalate; he does not know whether Trump will do so. He seeks an urgent winter Patriot interceptor package and future production licenses. He describes the American response as positive but says he obtained nothing very concrete. He reports a signed German contract for 600 missiles in two 300-missile packages and offers to replace advance American supplies in 2027. The German production years are fragmented in this English track. Licensing lead time remains uncertain, and no delivery or license document is shown. Asked about attacks on other European countries, he argues Putin is not winning, fears returning soldiers and seeks to divide European and American support for Ukraine. The English interpretation says Russian soldiers are dying at a rate of 32,000–33,000 per month. He alleges drone activity in several European countries, warns of high risks to countries bordering Russia or Belarus and urges them always to respond. These are his claims and forecasts, not independently verified deaths, responsibility or announced invasions. Asked about Russian-American business proposals, he cites that day's removal of sanctions from two unnamed oligarchs, vows to return to Europe with the same names and stresses the difficulty of resisting Russian money. He declines to discuss business details he has not heard. On financing, he says increasing attacks raise defense costs, describes work with Ursula and the IMF director to avoid financial collapse and says teams will meet in seven days. He proposes sharing Ukrainian technology with Europe while using unspent European defense allocations for Ukraine; the interpretation calls the program 'ASAP'. It refers to a two-year '50 billion' package and efforts to bring '45 billion' forward, without a stated currency. These wording and amount uncertainties are retained, with no new allocation or payment established. He links European urgency to risks of Russian aggression elsewhere. In Haltiwanger's final exchange, readiness for talks is distinguished from believing Putin wants peace, with an awkward Saudi-ceasefire recollection retained in the footage. A closing answer says the UN helps leaders meet but suggests this may be limited.

The EU agreed to renew sanctions against roughly 3,000 Kremlin-linked people and organisations for three years instead of six months, while exempting Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman after pressure from France, Slovakia and Luxembourg. Tina Hassel said the negotiations were private and no official explanation was available. She reported that France sought Usmanov's removal in connection with freeing French prisoners in Azerbaijan, while Luxembourg faced Fridman's compensation claim over frozen assets. Hassel criticized the political pressure, argued that the longer renewal period protected the remaining listings, and warned it could encourage pressure against future sanctions. Her explanations and predictions were presented as reporting and analysis, not an announced prisoner release or court ruling. TSN first reports provisional agreement, then its live correspondent says formalities are complete and the measures run to September 22, 2029. It adds Latvia's initial opposition to delisting the two billionaires, its acceptance of the longer renewal as a difficult compromise, and plans for national entry bans and asset freezes. A quoted Latvian response says preserving the wider regime was preferable to risking its collapse. TSN also reports Zelenskyy's earlier support for retaining individual sanctions, while noting no immediate presidential response to the final deal. TSN's September 23 report adds Zelenskyy's public criticism of delisting, calling such signals counterproductive, alongside his thanks for willingness to add further Russian names. Its closing recap puts the remaining coverage at more than 2,600 people, companies and organizations, compared with Tagesschau's earlier approximate 3,000, and says France insisted on Usmanov's removal while Luxembourg sought Fridman's. The broadcaster says their asset freezes and entry bans will be lifted; this is the same renewal decision, not a second sanctions vote. Weltwoche's September 23 review also welcomes the two-person delisting and calls for removing more Russian businessmen from sanctions lists. Köppel criticizes the NZZ's reaction and portrays sanctions as denying due process, hearings and effective recourse. He invokes Russian arguments about the invasion's legality and criticizes media judgments. He develops a historical analogy about British hostility to Germany before the First World War and the consequences of humiliating defeated Germany, then urges accommodation with Russia. He corrects his claim that other Swiss media reject neutrality: they support it, he says, but define it differently. These historical, legal and political assessments are his arguments, not independent findings. The passage does not name the businessmen or establish a separate Swiss delisting decision. Weltwoche's September 24 commentary welcomes the removal of two Russian businessmen after what Köppel calls French and Luxembourg vetoes. He interprets it as weakening Europe's confrontational approach to Russia, criticizes Switzerland's adoption of EU sanctions and hopes for more political support for changing that policy. This approving interpretation is retained alongside the earlier critical accounts. The brief does not name the businessmen or discuss the three-year renewal, and it supplies no new sanctions decision. TSN's September 25 live report describes coverage of more than 2,500 officials and companies, while Zelenskyy's quoted explanation rounds the figure to 3,000. It discusses likely asset unfreezing, member-state entry restrictions, Latvia and Estonia's national measures and Lithuania's plans. The correspondent reports Martin Ryan's pardon and release while preserving the French ambassador's nonconfirmation of a sanctions-for-release bargain. It adds Zelenskyy's view that delisting was a mistake but the three-year compromise limits future political reversals, Britain's assurance of continued sanctions, and accounts of prior Slovak, Turkish and Luxembourg lobbying. These additions do not constitute another EU renewal or establish the asserted political motives as fact. Weltwoche's September 29 recap attributes Usmanov's delisting to French pressure and an alleged bargain for Azerbaijan to free French prisoners. Köppel notes that Usmanov disputes the description of close ties to Putin. He links Fridman's removal to Luxembourg's exposure to a possible $16 billion claim, argues that imminent expiry forced other states to accept the exemptions, and contrasts criticism of earlier Hungarian lobbying with France's treatment. His assertion of a secret bargain is retained as his account alongside TSN's earlier report that France had not confirmed the connection. The recap's prospective prisoner-release wording does not supersede the separately reported release of Martin Ryan. In his September 22 English briefing, Zelenskyy says sanctions were lifted that day from two oligarchs, whom he does not name in this passage, and vows to return to Europe with the same names. He describes maintaining unity against Russian economic influence as difficult and declines to comment on American business details he has not heard. This is his response to the existing delisting, not a reversal of the EU decision.