Ukraine war briefing: Trump ‘wants Zaporizhzhia power plant for US’
www.theguardian.com
Thu, 20 Mar 2025 03:22:40 +0200
White House has moved beyond minerals deal Zelenskyy expects ceasefire deal to cover civilian as well as energy infrastructure.
What we know on day 1,121 Donald Trump told Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday that the US could own and run Ukrainian nuclear power plants as part of a ceasefire.
The Ukrainian president said following their call that we talked only about one power plant, which is under Russian occupation, referring to Zaporizhzhia, Europes largest nuclear power station.
The White House said it had moved beyond the idea of taking possession of Ukraines mineral wealth as part of negotiations.
We are now focused on a longterm peace agreement, said White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt.Kyiv was ready to pause attacks on Russias energy network and infrastructure, Zelenskyy said, write Shaun Walker and Pjotr Sauer.
Zelenskyy indicated he did not yet consider a ceasefire to be in place, instead saying it could be established quickly, and his team would present the Americans with a list of the kind of facilities it should include.
Zelenskyy also indicated he expects the ceasefire to apply to civilian infrastructure as well as energy facilities.Zelenskyys call with Trump came a day after Vladimir Putin agreed to halt similar strikes on Ukraine but Russia immediately went back on the attack with drones and missiles.
The Ukrainian president remained sceptical of Vladimir Putins goodwill and intentions after Ukraines defence ministry said on Wednesday that an overnight barrage of Russian missiles and drones killed one person and damaged two hospitals.
The national railway service said railway energy infrastructure in the central Dnipropetrovsk region was hit.
Such actions put Putins words about ceasing attacks at odds with reality, Zelenskyy said.A major Russian oil pipeline station continued to burn at Kavkazskaya in Russias Krasnodar region after a successful Ukrainian drone strike.
Authorities in the region said a total of 406 firefighters and 157 pieces of equipment had been sent.European leaders reacted sceptically to the TrumpPutin limited ceasefire idea, saying it showed the Russian president was not serious about seeking a peaceful end to the threeyearold conflict, Sam Jones writes.
Putins sweeping demands include leaving the Ukraine military weakened and vulnerable, with no western arms or intelligence, and a depleted army.
The EUs foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said It is clear that Russia does not really want to make any kind of concessions, adding along with other leaders that Kremlin demands to stop arming Kyiv could not be accepted.Zelenskyy said on Wednesday that Ukraine had received more F16 fighter jets.
Several F16s have flown to Ukraine.
Im not going to tell you how many, Zelenskyy told reporters.
Ukraine received its first F16s in 2024.
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