NEW YORK (TNND) — The wars in Iran and Ukraine are expected to take center stage Wednesday as the United Nations General Assembly enters its second day of speeches from world leaders.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is scheduled to address the assembly in his first appearance there since the U.S. and Israel launched their war against Iran in February.
His speech follows an unscheduled round of indirect talks between U.S. and Iranian officials on the sidelines of the New York gathering. The discussions were the first such contacts since a June ceasefire agreement unraveled.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Tehran maintained its negotiating position through Qatari mediators, demanding the U.S. end its blockade on Iranian ports and release frozen Iranian assets.
“This was not anything new,” Baghaei said of Iran’s conditions.
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff held a three-hour meeting with Iranian mediators, calling it “a very good meeting” and saying more talks were scheduled “in the near future.”
The talks came as intermittent attacks continue in the Strait of Hormuz, where commercial shipping remains below prewar levels. Trump said in his speech that he must decide whether to make a deal with Iran or “annihilate” the country.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also scheduled to speak Wednesday, hours after Russia hammered Kyiv with a daytime drone assault that killed two people and wounded 23 others, according to Ukrainian authorities.
The attack set off fires and damaged buildings in the capital and elsewhere in Ukraine, with black smoke rising over Kyiv. Zelenskyy is in New York seeking continued international support for Ukraine’s 4 1/2-year fight against Russia’s invasion.
He met with Trump on Tuesday to discuss efforts to end the war, including a potential energy ceasefire.
The Ukrainian president said his country is prepared for an energy ceasefire with Russia but did not discuss unilaterally stopping Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries. He has also said Ukraine needs more U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems to protect against Russian ballistic missiles, though the systems are in short supply after the war in Iran began.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is not scheduled to attend the U.N. gathering. Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces overnight struck Ukrainian military-industrial and energy-sector facilities, logistics centers and sea vessels. It also said Russian air defenses intercepted more than 500 Ukrainian drones across several regions.
The General Assembly’s annual high-level debate continues through Saturday before concluding Sept. 28. This year’s theme is “Restoring trust, managing transformation: a United Nations that delivers for all.”
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Editor’s note: The Associated Press contributed to this article.