In call, Trump floats idea of US running Ukraine's power plants

US President Donald Trump, in a call on Wednesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, suggested that the United States could take control of Ukraine's power plants to ensure their security, in their discussion about a limited cease-fire between Kiev and Moscow.

Trump told Zelensky that the US could be "very helpful in running those plants with its electricity and utility expertise", according to a White House statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security adviser Mike Waltz.

Trump added that "American ownership of those plants could be the best protection for that infrastructure".

The power plant discussion included the Zaporizhzhia nuclear facility, Europe's largest, which is currently controlled by Russia, The New York Times reported.

"The question was exclusively about the station under temporary occupation," Zelensky said.

The two leaders also agreed on a partial cease-fire against energy facilities, according to the statement.

Technical teams will meet in Saudi Arabia in the coming days to discuss broadening the cease-fire to the Black Sea on the way to a full cease-fire. They agreed that could be the first step toward the full end of the war and ensuring security.

Trump also briefed Zelensky on his conversation Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump and Zelensky reviewed the battlefield situation in Kursk and agreed to share information closely between their defense staffs as the situation evolved.

Zelensky asked for additional air defense systems to protect civilians, particularly Patriot missile systems; Trump agreed to work with him to find what was available, particularly in Europe.

While there were signs of progress, Putin and Zelensky still have firm positions on certain issues.

According to the Kremlin, Putin made clear to Trump that there must be a halt to foreign military aid and intelligence-sharing as part of any deal.

But White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday said that US "intelligence sharing in terms of defense for Ukraine" would continue.

In a readout on Tuesday of the talk between Trump and Putin, Leavitt posted: "The leaders agreed that the movement to peace will begin with an energy and infrastructure ceasefire, as well as technical negotiations on implementation of a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, full ceasefire and permanent peace."

Trump's call with Zelensky was about half as long as his call with Putin, in which the Russian president agreed to not target Ukraine's energy infrastructure but declined to back a full 30-day cease-fire.

"Even last night, after Putin's conversation with ... Trump, when Putin said that he was allegedly giving orders to stop strikes on Ukrainian energy, there were 150 drones launched overnight, including on energy facilities," Zelensky said at a news conference with Finnish President Alexander Stubb in Helsinki prior to his call with Trump.

Russia responded by saying it had halted its targeting of Ukraine's energy facilities and accused Kiev of attacking equipment near one of its pipelines.

"Unfortunately, we see that for now there is no reciprocity on the part of the Kiev regime," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

The White House described the call between Trump and Putin as the first step in a "movement to peace".

But there was no indication that Putin backed away from his conditions for a prospective peace deal, which are fiercely opposed by Kiev.

Waltz said on social media that he and his Russian counterpart, Yuri Ushakov, agreed Wednesday that their teams would meet soon in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, "to focus on implementing and expanding the partial cease-fire President Trump secured from Russia".

The Russian Defense Ministry said its military had launched seven drones at power facilities related to the military-industrial complex in Ukraine's southern Mykolaiv region, but that it shot them down after receiving Putin's order to not hit energy infrastructure.

Moscow accused Ukraine of targeting its energy facility in the Krasnodar region bordering the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014, several hours after the Putin and Trump talks.

The ministry said that three drones targeted oil transfer equipment that feeds the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, causing a fire and leading an oil tank to lose pressure.

"It is absolutely clear that we are talking about yet another provocation deliberately concocted by the Kiev regime, aimed at derailing the peace initiatives of the US president," the ministry said.

Russia said that its air defenses intercepted 57 Ukrainian drones over the Azov Sea and several Russian regions — the border provinces of Kursk and Bryansk and the nearby regions of Oryol and Tula.

Zelensky said that "words of a cease-fire" weren't enough.

"If the Russians don't hit our facilities, we definitely won't hit theirs," Zelensky said.

"I don't think anybody should make any concessions in terms of helping Ukraine, but rather, assistance to Ukraine should be increased," Zelensky said. "This will be a signal that Ukraine is ready for any surprises from the Russians."

Trump has repeatedly complained about the cost of the conflict — the US has sent Ukraine more than $180 billion in military and economic aid since the start of the war in February 2022.

Nigel Gould-Davies, senior fellow for Russia and Eurasia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said that it was "completely unsurprising" that Putin rejected the cease-fire, adding that it's "imprudent for him to tell President Trump that directly, since Trump has made ending the war a very, very high priority".

Zelensky said that one of the most difficult issues in future negotiations would be the issue of territorial concessions.

"For us, the red line is the recognition of the Ukrainian temporarily occupied territories as Russian," he said. "We will not go for it."

Agencies contributed to this story.