TRANSCRIPT
The White House says the United States is closer than ever to peace in Ukraine after a key phone call between President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The leaders discussed a partial ceasefire, military aid, and the future of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt describes the call as fantastic.
"President Zelenskyy thanked President Trump for a productive start for the work of the Ukrainian and American teams in Jeddah on March 11th. The meeting of the senior officials from both nations significantly helped in moving toward ending the war. President Zelenskyy thanked President Trump for the support of the United States, especially the Javelin missiles that President Trump was first to provide in his efforts towards peace. The leaders agreed Ukraine and America will continue working together to bring about a real end to the war, and that lasting peace under President Trump's leadership can be achieved."
The two leaders also reviewed battlefield updates and agreed to continue sharing intelligence.
"President Trump fully briefed President Zelenskyy on his conversation with Putin and the key issues discussed. They reviewed the situation in Kursk and agreed to share information closely between their defence staffs as the battlefield situation evolved. President Zelenskyy asked for additional air defense systems to protect his civilians, particularly Patriot missile systems, and President Trump agreed to work with him to find what was available, particularly in Europe."
She says the two leaders agreed that US and Ukrainian technical teams would meet in Saudi Arabia in the coming days to discuss further steps.
"The two leaders also agreed on a partial ceasefire against energy. Technical teams will meet in Saudi Arabia in the coming days to discuss broadening the ceasefire to the Black Sea on the way to a full ceasefire. They agreed this could be the first step toward the full end of the war and ensuring security. President Zelensky was grateful for the (US) President's leadership in this effort, and reiterated his willingness to adopt a full ceasefire."
There’s also a push for energy security, with Mr Trump suggesting the US could take control of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants.
"He said that the United States could be very helpful in running those plants with its electricity and utility expertise. American ownership of those plants would be the best protection for that infrastructure and support for Ukrainian energy infrastructure."
Hours before the call, President Zelenskyy had dismissed Russia’s promise not to attack energy infrastructure for 30 days, calling it disconnected from reality after a wave of fresh strikes.
In the 24 hours between Mr Trump's calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Mr Zelenskyy, both countries carried out a number of strikes on one another's energy infrastructure.
Mr Zelenskyy reported that 150 drones had been launched by Russia.
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius is unsurprised by the strikes and says the 30-day energy agreement holds little significance.
"It's actually nothing, because it says to lessen attacks on exactly the infrastructure in Ukraine that is best protected. So it's a zero number, if you like. And we've seen that the attacks on civilian infrastructure didn't let up in the first night after this supposedly ground-breaking, great phone call. So Putin is playing a game and I'm sure that the American president won't be able to stand by and watch for long."
Nigel Gould-Davies is Senior Fellow for Russia and Eurasia with the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
He says it is clear that President Putin has rejected any ceasefire, it just may not be clear to President Trump.
"I found completely unsurprising and completely expected the fact that Putin rejected the ceasefire without overtly saying he was doing so. This is entirely consistent with his long standing position. He does not want to agree to a ceasefire. He's made that abundantly clear in very detailed terms in the past year. Yet he understands that it's imprudent for him to tell President Trump that directly, since Trump has made ending the war a very, very high priority. "
Mr Gould-Davies says both Russia and Ukraine are manipulating the US president.
"What we have now, in effect, is a competition or rivalry between Kyiv and Moscow to persuade Trump that it's the other side that is responsible for preventing Trump from achieving his goal of ending the war."
Despite the airstrikes, both sides exchanged 175 soldiers in a deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates.
Russia also freed 22 wounded Ukrainians, calling it a goodwill gesture.
Petro Yatsenko, from Ukraine’s Prisoner of War Coordination Headquarters, says it took some time for the exchange to be brokered.
"These exchanges are not spontaneous events; they take months of careful planning — not just days or weeks. We had a previous exchange on February 5, and since then the preparations for this exchange have been ongoing. That is, this is not a spontaneous event. Even logistically, it is very difficult for the Russian side to collect such a number of prisoners of war from very remote corners, from very remote places of detention, so such things are prepared for a long time."
