EU deadlocked on changes to Russia sanctions ahead of key Ukraine, Greenland talks

Global leaders are gathering in New York this week for the 81st UN general assembly and given the state of the world, it’s likely to be a lively one.

We are expecting to hear today from the US president, Donald Trump, Finland’s president Alexander Stubb, and France’s Emmanuel Macron (in his last UNGA appearance), among others.

Macron got to New York early and already held talks with Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy last night, possibly trying to mediate ahead of the pair’s closely watched meeting later today. Trump and Zelenskyy are expected to sit down together in the late afternoon or early evening.

Outside the main UNGA room, it will also be worth keeping an eye on Trump’s meeting with Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen and Greenland’s Jens-Frederik Nielsen as they meet to sign the new Greenland deal on Arctic security.

Expect potentially diverging interpretations of what the deal actually involves…

Separately, I will also keep an eye on events back in Europe as EU ambassadors meet in Brussels to discuss the latest Russia sanctions list with some controversial attempts to amend it and take some fairly well-known names out of it. More on that shortly.

It’s Tuesday, 22 September 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.