Trump pushes for US control of Ukraine’s power plants
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The news: US President Donald Trump proposed US ownership of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants in a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, amid efforts to broker a ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow.
The proposal, backed by security adviser Mike Waltz and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, was not directly addressed by Zelensky.
It was unclear whether the proposal includes the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southeastern Ukraine, Europe’s largest.
During the call, Zelensky said he agreed to a 30-day pause in strikes on “energy and civilian infrastructure”, following Trump’s conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who suggested the truce.
The context: Despite this, Russian drone strikes on Ukrainian energy targets continued. The Kremlin had earlier said Putin proposed a halt to strikes on energy sites for 30 days, but US officials described the ceasefire as covering both energy and other civilian infrastructure.
Another discrepancy between how the Kremlin and US officials described the talks included the Kremlin’s claim that Putin tied long-term peace to halting foreign military aid to Ukraine. Trump denied discussing aid.
“We didn't talk about aid, actually, we didn't talk about aid at all. We talked about a lot of things, but aid was never discussed," Trump told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham.
The Trump administration had paused military assistance to Ukraine last month but has since resumed it.
Talks on expanding the ceasefire to the Black Sea are planned in Saudi Arabia.
What they said: Zelensky called the truce a step toward peace but warned that Putin’s verbal assurances alone were not enough.
Waltz and Rubio said in a joint statement that “American ownership of those plants would be the best protection for that infrastructure and support for Ukrainian energy infrastructure.”
The sources: The Hill, The New York Times
