President Trump tried to build on the momentum for his ceasefire proposal to pause the Russia–Ukraine war in an hourlong conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday, a day after his long phone discussion with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
Both sides have tentatively agreed to a partial, 30-day ceasefire prohibiting attacks on either country’s energy infrastructure. Despite Mr. Trump’s characterization of his discussion with Mr. Zelenskyy as “very good,” significant hurdles to a final deal remain. Mr. Zelenskyy, who clashed with Mr. Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance in a fiery Oval Office meeting last month, said the talk was “productive, very substantive and frank.”
“We instructed our teams to resolve technical issues related to implementing and expanding the partial ceasefire,” Mr. Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram after the call, but expanding the military stand-down will prove tricky.
In an unexpected move, the White House said Mr. Trump appeared to shift his focus away from a much-touted deal to acquire a stake in Ukraine’s lucrative mineral sector and would pursue at least partial ownership in its nuclear power plants.
Mr. Trump agreed to “closely” share U.S. intelligence information with Mr. Zelenskyy, which had been temporarily paused after their meeting erupted into a shouting match last month. The call is the first known conversation between the two men since that disastrous sit-down. Ukraine says it needs U.S. and Western military and intelligence aid to hold off a larger Russian invasion force, but Mr. Putin said this week that banning such aid was one of his conditions for any long-term overall peace agreement.
The U.S. president pledged to help find Patriot missile systems for Mr. Zelenskyy, including from European nations’ stockpiles.
The big news from the call was the White House’s statement that it had “moved beyond” the mineral deal to focus on American operations and possible ownership of Ukrainian power plants.
“We are now focused on a long-term peace agreement,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “We’ve moved beyond just the economic minerals deal framework.”
She said during the call that Mr. Trump suggested to his Ukrainian counterpart that the U.S. could “be very helpful” running Ukrainian nuclear plants and has “electricity and utility expertise.”
Extracting and mining Ukraine’s minerals requires a lot of energy, and the nation’s energy plants, including Zaporizhzhia, the largest nuclear plant in Europe, could provide that energy.
Russia has refrained from attacking the nuclear plants directly, fearing that could trigger a catastrophe. Instead, Russia has focused on crippling the plants’ ability to transmit power by destroying substations that connect them to Ukraine’s power grid.
Most of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants date back to the Soviet era and rely on reactors built with Soviet technology that can be sourced only from former Soviet-bloc countries such as Bulgaria.
Ms. Leavitt raised the same argument that Mr. Trump made for pursuing the minerals deal: Giving America an economic stake in a lucrative Ukrainian industry would be the most effective way to provide “protection” of vital energy and infrastructure resources.
Mr. Trump described his call Wednesday with Mr. Zelenskyy as “very good.” He said they spent much of the discussion on a plan for a temporary ceasefire that he put forth in a call with Mr. Putin on Tuesday.
“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,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Mr. Zelenskyy said he thanked Mr. Trump for “a good and productive start to the work.”
“President Trump shared details of his conversation with Putin and the key issues discussed. 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,” he said in a statement.
He said the two nations should have further meetings to discuss “security guarantees,” which have been a sticking point. Mr. Trump has rejected Ukraine’s demand for security guarantees in exchange for a ceasefire and has not promised that it would be part of a minerals deal. Mr. Zelenskyy’s demand for security guarantees was one of the reasons for the collapse in talks last month in the Oval Office.
Mr. Trump spoke with Mr. Zelenskyy roughly 24 hours after his discussion with Mr. Putin. Moscow did not accept the 30-day full ceasefire proposed by Mr. Trump but agreed to a more restricted pause in attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Mr. Zelenskyy said Russia continued to hit Ukraine’s energy infrastructure despite the U.S. statement that Mr. Putin agreed to lay off those targets.
“We will support any proposals that lead to a sustainable, just peace. But we must understand what is at stake. What are the details? And I hope to God that we know all these details, so that the partners talk to us. Because there are two sides in this war — Russia and Ukraine. Trying to negotiate without Ukraine, in my view, will not be productive,” Mr. Zelenskyy said in a statement Tuesday night.
The White House released a statement Tuesday saying Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin agreed that “the movement toward peace” should begin with an energy and infrastructure ceasefire and a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, followed by a “full ceasefire and permanent peace.”
“These negotiations will begin immediately in the Middle East,” the statement said.
On Truth Social, Mr. Trump described the conversation with his Russian counterpart as “good and productive.”
“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,” Mr. Trump wrote. “That process is now in full force and effect, and we will, hopefully, for the sake of Humanity, get the job done!”
The positive diplomatic sentiment was complicated by fighting on the battlefield. Kyiv accused the Kremlin of continuing its missile and drone barrage at cities and civilian targets just hours after Mr. Putin and Mr. Trump spoke. Russia denied that it violated any understandings with Washington, and aides to Mr. Trump said the Russian strikes appeared to have been ordered before Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin talked.
Some in Europe say Mr. Trump is being too credulous in his dealings with Moscow and that Mr. Putin has shown he will not keep his promises in his quest to conquer Ukraine.
“Attacks on civilian infrastructure in the first night after this supposedly ‘pivotal’ and ‘great’ phone call have not abated,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told the German broadcaster ZDF. “Putin is playing a game here, and I’m sure that the American president won’t be able to sit and watch for much longer.”
