Trump tells Zelenskyy that the US could take ownership of Ukrainian power plants to protect their security.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine is ready to support a US proposal to pause attacks on energy targets following a “positive” phone call with US President Donald Trump, a day after the Russian president also accepted the US plan.
The two leaders spoke for around an hour on Wednesday as Trump continues his efforts to secure a ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war. After the call, Trump wrote on social media that he held a “very good” call with Zelenskyy and that efforts towards negotiating a truce are “very much on track”.
The purpose of the call, which came a day after Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin, was to “align both Russia and Ukraine in terms of their requests and needs”, Trump said.
During Trump’s discussion with Putin on Tuesday, the Russian leader agreed not to target energy infrastructure but refused to back a full 30-day ceasefire.
In a social media post, Zelenskyy said his conversation with Trump was “positive, very substantive and frank” and that he believes “lasting peace can be achieved this year” with the support of the US.
Zelenskyy said they will “continue working” to make a ceasefire happen and suggested there would be further meetings “in the coming days” in Saudi Arabia between the US and Ukrainian teams.
Trump also told Zelenskyy during their call that the US could take ownership of Ukrainian power plants to boost their security. The US could be “very helpful in running those plants with its electricity and utility expertise”, according to a White House statement from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.
Trump said that “American ownership of those plants could be the best protection for that infrastructure”.
It was not immediately clear which energy plants Trump referred to in the call.
Prisoner exchange
Earlier on Wednesday, Ukraine and Russia exchanged 372 prisoners of war in a swap brokered by the United Arab Emirates.
The Russian Defence Ministry announced on Wednesday that Moscow returned 175 soldiers and “22 seriously wounded prisoners of war in need of urgent medical assistance” in what it said was a “gesture of goodwill.” It said that Kyiv also returned 175 Russian troops.
Zelenskyy confirmed the swap and wrote on X that it was “one of the largest” exchanges since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The flurry of diplomatic activity comes after the Ukrainian military on Wednesday said Russia launched 145 drones, and air defences downed 72 of them.
Ukraine’s Defence Ministry reported that one person was killed and two hospitals were damaged during the Russian strikes that also took out power to some of the country’s railways.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said its air defences destroyed 57 Ukrainian drones.
In the southern Russian region of Krasnodar, authorities said a Ukrainian drone attack caused a fire at an oil depot near the village of Kavkazskaya, and no one was injured.
