US President Donald Trump holds what he described as a “very good” time call with Ukrainian counterpart Voldymir Zelensky.
Writing on his social media platform’s Truth Social, Trump said the call was “to integrate Ukraine and Russia in terms of their demands and needs, and added that ceasefire efforts are on track.
Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin have said they agreed to halt attacks on energy infrastructure. However, both sides have since denounced each other’s continued attacks.
Trump is calling for a wider ceasefire, but in a call with him on Tuesday, Putin quickly refused a 30-day ceasefire on land, air and sea supported by the US and Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Kiev and Moscow carried out prisoner interactions. Each side released 175 prisoners of war.
Zelensky described the swap as “one of the biggest,” adding that Russia includes an extra 22 “severely injured” soldiers.
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Trump said Wednesday’s call with Zelensky lasted about an hour.
“Many of the discussion is based on the call with President Putin yesterday, to coordinate both Russia and Ukraine in terms of demand and needs,” he wrote about the society of truth.
“We’re on very good progress,” he added.
Subsequently, Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a more detailed statement, saying that Trump agreed to help Ukraine procure additional air defense systems, particularly in Europe.
The technical team will meet in Saudi Arabia in the coming days to discuss spreading the ceasefire to the Black Sea, Rubio added, adding that he agreed that this could be the first step to bring the war to an end in full.
Trump also provided assistance in the operation of Ukraine’s power plants, adding that US ownership would be the “best protection” of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, Rubio said.
Zelensky also described the conversation as “positive”, “frank”, and “very substantive”.
“We agreed that Ukraine and the United States should continue to work together to achieve war and lasting peace,” he said.
Trump spoke to Putin for two hours on the phone Tuesday. There, Russian leaders agreed to halt attacks on energy infrastructure.
However, he said a complete ceasefire would only work if Ukrainian allies halt military aid – a state in which Ukrainian European allies had previously been rejected.
Hours later, both Ukraine and Russia launched an attack, and Kyiv says the hospital was targeted.
Officials in the southern Russian region of Krasnodar, southern Russia, said the Ukrainian drone attack caused a small fire at the oil depot.
