US President Donald Trump has held what he described as a “very good” hour-long phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, a day after speaking to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.
Writing on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said the call was aimed at aligning Ukraine and Russia “in terms of their requests and needs”, adding that ceasefire efforts were on track.
Zelensky described his conversation with Trump as “positive”, “frank”, and “very substantive”.
“We believe that together with America, with President Trump, and under American leadership, lasting peace can be achieved this year,” he wrote on X.
Speaking during an online briefing on Wednesday, Zelensky said he and Trump had discussed possible US ownership of the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia power plant.
Zelensky admits that Europe’s largest power plant, which is on the frontline, could take more than two years to be made operational again and is vital for Ukrainians and Europeans.
He also said that a halt on strikes on energy infrastructure, rail and port facilities could be established quickly as part of a partial ceasefire brokered by Washington and Kyiv – but Zelensky warned that Ukraine would retaliate if Moscow violated the terms of the ceasefire.
“I understand that until we agree (with Russia), until there is a corresponding document on even a partial ceasefire, I think that everything will fly,” he said, referring to drones and missiles.
He told reporters that he believed Putin would not agree to a full ceasefire while Ukrainian troops remained in Russia’s western Kursk region, after Kyiv launched a surprise attack on the region in August last year.
Zelensky also told reporters that he had not been pressured by Trump to cave into demands from Moscow, saying: “There was none. And this is a fact. You know that I am an open person. If it was, I would have told you frankly.”
Both Zelensky and Putin have said they would agree to halt attacks on energy infrastructure. However, both have since accused each other of continued attacks.
Trump is seeking a wider truce, but in their phone call on Tuesday Putin rejected a full 30-day ceasefire backed by the US and Ukraine.
Trump said Wednesday’s call with Zelensky lasted about an 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,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Later Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a more detailed statement, saying that Trump had agreed to help Ukraine source additional air defence systems, particularly in Europe.
The two leaders “agreed to share information closely between their defence staffs as the battlefield situation evolved”, he said.
Technical teams would meet in Saudi Arabia in the coming days to discuss broadening the ceasefire to the Black Sea, Rubio added, saying they agreed that this could be the first step towards fully ending the war.
Trump also raised the possibility of the US taking ownership of Ukraine’s power plants, adding that it would be the “best protection” for Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, Rubio said.
The apparently cordial mood of the conversation is in marked contrast to Zelensky’s visit to the White House at the end of February, in which the two leaders – along with US Vice-President JD Vance – were involved in a tense exchange.
Afterwards the US temporarily suspended military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine, but diplomats were able to improve relations and on 11 March the two sides agreed on a ceasefire.
During his call with Trump on Tuesday, Putin agreed to halt Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
But he said a full ceasefire would only work if Ukraine’s supporters stopped giving military assistance – a condition Kyiv’s European allies have previously rejected.
Hours later both Ukraine and Russia launched attacks, with Kyiv saying hospitals had been targeted.
Officials in the southern Russian region of Krasnodar said that a Ukrainian drone attack sparked a small fire at an oil depot.
Despite the strikes, Kyiv and Moscow carried out an exchange of prisoners on Wednesday. Each side released 175 POWs.
Zelensky described the swap as “one of the largest”, adding that Russia included an extra 22 “severely wounded” soldiers.
