Getty ImagesUS President Donald Trump held what he described as a “very good” one hour phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, one day after having spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Writing on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said that the appeal was aimed at aligning Ukraine and Russia “in terms of requests and needs”, adding that cease-fire efforts were on the right track.
Zelensky described his conversation with Trump as “positive”, “Frank” and “very substantial”.
“We believe that with America, with President Trump, and under the American leadership, a lasting peace can be made this year,” he wrote on X.
Zelensky and Putin said they would accept to stop attacks on energy infrastructure. However, the two have since accused each other of continuous attacks.
Trump is looking for a wider truce, but during their phone call on Tuesday, Putin rejected a full 30-day ceasefire supported by the United States and Ukraine.
The agreement shows that an agreement is never dead with Trump
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 Russia and Ukraine in terms of their requests and their needs,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Later, Secretary of State Marco Rubio published a more detailed statement, saying that Trump had agreed to help Ukraine get supplied with additional air defense systems, especially in Europe.
The two leaders “agreed” to closely share the information between their defense staff as the battlefield situation was evolving, “he said.
The technical teams would meet in Saudi Arabia in the coming days to discuss the expansion of the ceasefire to the Black Sea, added Rubio, saying that it agreed that this could be the first step towards the end of the war.
Trump also raised the possibility that the United States appropriating Ukrainian power plants, adding that it would be “better protection” for Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, Rubio said.
EPAThe apparently cordial atmosphere of the conversation contrast marked with the visit of Zelensky to the White House at the end of February, in which the two leaders – with the American vice -president JD Vance – were involved in a tense exchange.
Subsequently, the United States temporarily suspended military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine, but diplomats were able to improve relations and on March 11, the two parties agreed with a cease-fire.
During his call with Trump on Tuesday, Putin agreed to stop the Russian attacks against the energy infrastructure of Ukraine.
But he said that a complete cease-fire would only work if Ukraine supporters ceased to provide military assistance-a condition that the European allies of kyiv have already rejected.
A few hours later, Ukraine and Russia launched attacks, with Kyiv saying that hospitals had been targeted.
Zelensky said Russian strikes have demonstrated that Putin had actually rejected the cease-fire proposal.
Managers of the Southern Krasnodar Russian region said that an attack on Ukrainian drones had sparked a small fire in an oil deposit.
Despite the strikes, Kyiv and Moscow made an exchange of prisoners on Wednesday. Each side released 175 prisoners of war.
Zelensky described the exchange as “one of the greatest”, adding that Russia included 22 additional “seriously injured” soldiers.
