US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy agreed on Wednesday to work together to end Russia's war with Ukraine, in what the White House described as a "fantastic" one-hour phone call.
In their first conversation since an Oval Office shouting match on February 28, Zelenskiy thanked Trump for US support and the two leaders agreed that technical teams would meet in Saudi Arabia in the coming days.
Zelenskyy asked Trump for more air defence support to protect his country against Russian attacks and the US president said he would help locate the necessary military equipment in Europe, the White House said.
Trump briefed Zelenskyy on his phone call on Tuesday with Vladimir Putin, in which the Russian president rejected a proposed full 30-day ceasefire sought by Trump that Ukraine said it would be prepared to accept, but agreed to pause attacks on energy infrastructure.
That narrowly defined pause appeared in doubt on Wednesday, however, with Moscow saying Ukraine hit an oil depot in southern Russia while Kyiv said Russia had struck hospitals and homes, and knocked out power to some railways.
Still, the two sides carried out a prisoner exchange, each releasing 175 troops in a deal facilitated by the UAE. Moscow said it freed an additional 22 wounded Ukrainians as a goodwill gesture.
Zelenskyy, describing his conversation with Trump as "positive, very substantive and frank," said he had confirmed Kyiv's readiness to halt strikes on Russian infrastructure and to accept an unconditional frontline ceasefire as the US proposed earlier.
"One of the first steps toward fully ending the war could be ending strikes on energy and other civilian infrastructure. I supported this step, and Ukraine confirmed that we are ready to implement it," he said on social media. Later, the Ukrainian president told reporters in a video call that Trump understands Kyiv will not recognise occupied land as Russian.
Zelenskyy said the Russian strikes, which he said were carried out since Trump's call with Putin, showed that Russia was not ready for peace. He said the US should be in charge of monitoring any ceasefire, adding a halt to infrastructure attacks could be quickly established.
The Kremlin said it had called off planned attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, including by shooting down seven of Russia's own drones heading towards Ukraine. It accused Kyiv of failing to call off its own attacks in what it called an attempt to sabotage the agreement.
Trump suggested to Zelenskyy the US could help run, and possibly own, Ukraine’s nuclear power plants, according to a statement by the US administration. Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, has been shut down since Russian troops occupied it in 2022.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine has begun talks with the US about its possible involvement in restoring the Zaporizhzhia plant.
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