Zelenskyy denies reports of tense talks with von der Leyen: meeting was "absolutely positive"

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has denied media reports that his talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in New York were tense.

Source: European Pravda, citing Novyny.Live and Ukrinform

Details: Zelenskyy described the talks with von der Leyen as "absolutely positive". He said the two sides had agreed to look for solutions regarding further funding for Ukraine.

Quote from Zelenskyy: "My talks with Ursula von der Leyen were not difficult because they had been prepared in advance. We had spoken by phone beforehand and discussed a number of issues."

Details: The Ukrainian president said they discussed the funding shortfall, which has arisen in part because of the rising cost of the war.

He also noted that the meeting covered the issue of linking some European funding to the Ukrainian parliament's adoption of the necessary legislation.

Zelenskyy stressed that because of the war, the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, cannot operate as it normally would.

"I explained that parliament will support [the bills], but it is impossible to expect parliament to operate the way it would in a normal country in peacetime," he said.

Zelenskyy also said Ukraine would send a financial team for talks on the possibility of bringing forward some of the funds from the second tranche.

"We agreed that they would sit down and consider how some of the funding could be covered from the second tranche and how the money could be brought forward, because we need money for drones," he said.

Zelenskyy reiterated that he did not consider the talks with von der Leyen difficult.

"The meeting was, in fact, absolutely positive. I don't know where that message came from. I would even say it was a very positive meeting," he added.

Background:

• Bloomberg reported the previous day that the meeting between Zelenskyy and the European Commission president in New York had been tense.
• Earlier, Vsevolod Chentsov, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, presented the EU Council Working Party on Enlargement with an update on Ukraine's progress in fulfilling its commitments as part of the EU accession negotiating process.

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