US President Donald Trump floated taking control of Ukraine’s nuclear power and electrical sites in a call in which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky agreed to a limited ceasefire deal.
Trump suggested taking ‘Ukraine’s electrical supply and nuclear power plants’ as the US could be ‘very helpful in running those plants with its electricity and utility expertise’, stated State Secretary Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Michael Waltz.
But Zelensky after the Wednesday call said the idea applied only to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which ‘under temporary occupation’ by Russia.
Zelensky added that he is under ‘no pressure’ to hand over the plant.
The Trump administration has ‘moved beyond just the economic minerals deal framework’ and is ‘looking at a lasting cease-fire,’ said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Zelensky agreed to accept Russia’s offer to stop attacks on energy targets for 30 days as a move toward a full ceasefire.
The Ukrainian president during a press conference in Finland said that Russian drones were still deployed and that ‘everything will continue to fly’ until ‘there is an appropriate document laying out the deal terms.
Earlier, Zelensky shared a lengthy post on the call that his country believes ‘lasting peace can be achieved’ under the Trump’s leadership. Trump had called it a ‘very good’ discussion.
‘I had a positive, very substantive, and frank conversation with President of the United States Donald Trump,’ wrote Zelensky on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday afternoon.
He said he thanked Trump for a ‘good and productive start’ to the Ukrainian and American teams’ meeting in Jeddah earlier this month focused on moving toward the end of the war.
‘We agreed that Ukraine and the United States should continue working together to achieve a real end to the war and lasting peace,’ Zelensky wrote.
‘We believe that together with America, with President Trump, and under American leadership, lasting peace can be achieved this year.’
Zelensky’s five-paragraph post struck a tone of gratitude throughout – a sharp contrast to the shouting match the two leaders had in the White House last month.
‘I thanked President Trump and the American people for their support. I stressed that Ukrainians want peace, which is why Ukraine accepted the proposal for an unconditional ceasefire,’ Zelensky wrote.
‘I highlighted the importance of President Trump’s concept of peace through strength.’
Zelensky said that Trump shared details of his call with Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday and that halting strikes on energy and civilian infrastructure is one of the steps toward ending the war completely.
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‘I supported this step, and Ukraine confirmed that we are ready to implement it,’ Zelensky wrote.
‘The American side also proposed an unconditional ceasefire on the frontline, and Ukraine accepted this proposal as well.’
He added that he updated Trump on the battlefield situation and Russia’s latest drone strikes, the release of prisoners of war, and that they talked about strengthening Ukraine’s air defense and returning Ukrainian children taken by Russia.
Zelensky’s account closely mirrored Rubio’s readout of the call. Rubio stated that Zelensky thanked Trump and thinks ‘a lasting peace under President Trump’s leadership can be achieved’.
Leavitt, who read Rubio’s statement, concluded that a partial ceasefire was ‘incomprehensible’ a couple of years ago.
‘We have never been this close to peace and it’s only because of President Trump that we are here,’ she said.
Trump and Zelensky had the call hours after Ukraine was pummeled by strikes when Russia broke an agreement to stop attacks on infrastructure. Technical teams are scheduled to meet in Saudi Arabia ‘in the coming days’ to talk about broadening the ceasefire on energy sites to include the Black Sea, stated Rubio and Waltz.
The US president posted on Truth Social: ‘Just completed a very good telephone call with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine. It lasted approximately one hour. Much of the discussion was based on the call made yesterday with President Putin in order to align both Russia and Ukraine in terms of their requests and needs.
‘We are very much on track, and I will ask Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, to give an accurate description of the points discussed.’
Yesterday, Trump and Putin reportedly brokered a deal for Russia to stop striking crucial Ukrainian infrastructure for 30 days – which Putin promptly broke this morning.
The Kremlin hit energy infrastructure in Slovyansk, a city in the Donetsk region, leaving large swathes of the city of 100,000 people without power.
In response, Russia accused Ukraine of launching air attacks and the Kremlin said it had shot down 57 Ukrainian drones.
Zelensky said Moscow’s refusal to halt all strikes proved the need for increased pressure on Moscow to prevent Putin from prolonging the war.
‘This confirms that we must continue to pressure Russia for the sake of peace,’ he said on Tuesday night.
‘Only a real halt to Russia’s attacks on civilian infrastructure can signal a genuine desire to end this war and bring peace closer.’
The Ukrainian leader said that one of the most difficult issues in future negotiations would be the issue of territorial concessions.
‘For us, the red line is the recognition of the Ukrainian temporarily occupied territories as Russian,’ he said. ‘We will not go for it.’
The White House described the call between Trump and Putin as the first step in a ‘movement to peace’ that it hopes will include a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea and eventually a full and lasting end to the fighting.
But there was no indication that Putin backed away from his conditions for a prospective peace deal, which is fiercely opposed by Kyiv.
Trump touted the results of the 90-minute call with Putin on Truth Social on Tuesday afternoon.
‘We agreed to an immediate Ceasefire on all Energy and Infrastructure, with an understanding that we will be working quickly to have a Complete Ceasefire and, ultimately, an END to this very horrible War between Russia and Ukraine,’ wrote Trump.
‘Many elements of a Contract for Peace were discussed, including the fact that thousands of soldiers are being killed, and both President Putin and President Zelenskyy would like to see it end.
‘That process is now in full force and effect, and we will, hopefully, for the sake of Humanity, get the job done!’
Trump added, as he has said many times before, that the war would not have started if he were president.
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