Without China, Putin's Russia is nothing
On the margins of the United Nations General Assembly, two leaders whose relationship has long defied easy categorization met to weigh the future of a war now entering its fourth year. Donald Trump offered Zelenskyy something rare: a public declaration that Ukraine could reclaim all territory lost since 2022, paired with a blunt assessment that Russia is suffering economically. The encounter reveals how diplomacy in this conflict increasingly turns not on the battlefield alone, but on the hidden architecture of global commerce — and whether one great power can be persuaded to stop sustaining another's war.
- Trump's statement that Ukraine can recover all lost territory marks his most explicit endorsement of Kyiv's position yet, raising hopes that American diplomatic weight may finally be shifting in Ukraine's favor.
- Zelenskyy's central strategic bet is now on China: he believes Trump alone has the leverage to pressure Xi Jinping into withdrawing the oil purchases and dual-use materials that keep Russia's war economy breathing.
- Russia is probing NATO's air defenses with long-range drones, a calculated reconnaissance that risks direct confrontation with the alliance and signals Moscow's intent to map European vulnerabilities.
- A UN human rights report documents widespread, systematic torture of Ukrainian civilian detainees by Russian forces — including sexual violence — a pattern sustained without interruption since February 2022.
- Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant has had its external power severed for the tenth time under Russian occupation, each disconnection edging Europe's largest nuclear facility closer to potential catastrophe.
On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Zelenskyy met Trump and emerged with what he called a 'big shift' in the American president's stance: a direct statement that Ukraine could recover all territory lost since Russia's 2022 invasion. Trump reinforced the message on Truth Social, declaring that Russia — three and a half years into a war he said a real military power should have won in days — was now in 'big economic trouble.'
But Zelenskyy's deeper strategic focus was China. Speaking to Fox News and later at the UN Security Council, he argued that Beijing holds a decisive key to ending the war. Chinese oil purchases and the flow of dual-use materials to Moscow, he said, sustain the very engine driving Russian aggression. 'If China truly wanted the war to end, it could force Russia to stop,' he told the Security Council. His hope is that Trump — uniquely positioned to pressure Xi Jinping — can be persuaded to use that leverage. The United States has long viewed China and India as critical enablers of Russia's war economy, their energy purchases blunting the effect of Western sanctions.
Beyond the diplomatic maneuvering, the war's costs continued to register in stark terms. Russia has been flying long-range drones through NATO airspace, probing alliance air defenses for weak points — a dangerous reconnaissance that risks direct escalation. A UN human rights report documented widespread and systematic torture of Ukrainian civilian detainees in Russian-occupied territories, including sexual violence, sustained as a pattern since the invasion began. And Ukraine's energy ministry sounded fresh alarms over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, where Russian forces have severed external power lines for the tenth time, each incident raising the specter of catastrophic failure at Europe's largest nuclear facility.
Zelenskyy's UN visit, then, was a layered diplomatic effort: locking in Trump's rhetorical support, pressing the case that China is the war's hidden fulcrum, and ensuring the world does not look away from the human and environmental toll of Russian occupation. Whether Trump will act on Beijing is unresolved — but for Kyiv, making the attempt has become a strategic necessity.
On the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Donald Trump and came away believing he had found an unlikely lever for shifting the war's trajectory. The conversation centered on a single, striking claim: Trump told Zelenskyy that Ukraine could recover all the territory it had lost since Russia's 2022 invasion. It was, by Zelenskyy's own account, a "big shift" in the American president's public stance.
Trump amplified that message on Truth Social shortly after their meeting, declaring that Russia had bungled a war that should have taken a genuine military power less than a week to win. Three and a half years into the conflict, he wrote, Russia was in "big economic trouble." The assessment was blunt and, for Zelenskyy, welcome—a far more forceful endorsement of Ukraine's position than Trump had previously offered.
But Zelenskyy's real strategic focus lay elsewhere. Speaking to Fox News, he articulated what he sees as the war's hidden fulcrum: China. The Ukrainian president believes Trump possesses the diplomatic weight to persuade Xi Jinping to abandon his current posture of tacit support for Moscow. "I think that President Trump can change the attitude of Xi Jinping to this war," Zelenskyy said, "because China, we don't feel that China wants to finish this war." Later, addressing the UN Security Council, he was more direct: if China truly wanted the war to end, it could force Russia to stop. Without Chinese purchases of Russian oil and the supply of dual-use materials flowing from Beijing to Moscow, Zelenskyy argued, Putin's war machine would grind to a halt.
The United States has long identified China and India as critical enablers of Russia's war effort, their energy purchases and industrial support sustaining an economy that Western sanctions were meant to cripple. Kyiv has documented what it views as Chinese complicity—the supply of components that find their way into Russian weapons systems, the steady flow of petrodollars that keep Moscow solvent. For Zelenskyy, the calculation is straightforward: if Trump can persuade Beijing to reverse course, the war's material foundation crumbles.
Meanwhile, the conflict's grinding brutality continued to surface in international forums. Russia, Zelenskyy reported, is deploying long-range drones across NATO airspace, probing the alliance's air defenses for vulnerabilities. He warned that Moscow will "try to find weak places in Europe, in NATO countries." The maneuver suggests a strategy of testing NATO's resolve and mapping its defensive gaps—a dangerous game of reconnaissance that risks direct confrontation.
On the ground in occupied Ukraine, the UN's human rights office released findings that documented what it called "widespread" and "systematic" torture of civilian detainees held by Russian forces. The violations included sexual violence and other serious breaches of international law, a pattern that has persisted since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022. The report offered no ambiguity: Russia has subjected Ukrainian civilians to consistent, deliberate abuse.
In the south, Ukraine's energy ministry issued an urgent call for international intervention at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which Russian forces continue to occupy. External power lines have been severed for the tenth time, a recurring crisis that the ministry characterized as proof that Russian occupation itself represents the primary threat to the facility's safe operation. Each disconnection raises the specter of catastrophic failure at one of Europe's largest nuclear installations.
Zelenskyy's diplomatic gambit at the UN, then, operates on multiple registers: securing Trump's rhetorical support for Ukrainian territorial recovery, banking on Trump's leverage with Beijing to shift the war's material balance, and keeping the world's attention fixed on the human and environmental costs of Russian occupation. Whether Trump can or will exercise such influence over China remains an open question—but for Zelenskyy, the attempt itself represents a necessary shift in strategy.
Notable Quotes
I think that President Trump can change the attitude of Xi Jinping to this war, because China, we don't feel that China wants to finish this war.— Zelenskyy, speaking to Fox News
If China truly wanted this war to stop, it could compel Moscow to end the invasion. Without China, Putin's Russia is nothing.— Zelenskyy, addressing the UN Security Council
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does Zelenskyy think Trump specifically can move China on this issue?
Because Trump has a relationship with Xi that other Western leaders don't. Zelenskyy is betting that Trump's transactional approach to diplomacy—his willingness to deal directly with authoritarian leaders—gives him credibility and leverage that traditional diplomacy hasn't achieved.
But what makes him think China wants to stop supporting Russia?
He doesn't think China wants to stop. He thinks China doesn't care whether the war ends or continues, as long as it profits. That's actually the problem. He's hoping Trump can make the cost of continued support higher than the benefit.
Trump said Russia is in economic trouble. Is that true?
Russia's economy has proven more resilient than many predicted, but it's under strain. The real question is whether Trump believes it, and whether saying it publicly shifts anything. For Zelenskyy, the statement itself matters—it's a signal that Trump sees Ukraine's position as potentially winnable.
What about the torture allegations?
They're documented by the UN, not speculation. Widespread, systematic, including sexual violence. It's the kind of finding that usually demands accountability, but in the middle of an active war, accountability is a distant concern.
And the nuclear plant?
That's the ticking clock. Every time power lines are cut, the risk of catastrophic failure increases. It's not a future threat—it's an ongoing one. Russia controls it, so Russia controls the risk.
So what's Zelenskyy actually hoping happens?
He's hoping Trump becomes the broker. That Trump pressures China, China pressures Russia, and the war becomes unsustainable for Moscow. It's a long chain, and it depends entirely on Trump's willingness to spend political capital on it.