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Zelensky Agrees to Halt Strikes on Russian Energy Targets in Call With Trump

President Trump also floated the idea of the United States taking control of Ukrainian power plants, according to U.S. officials. The Ukrainian president said he was not pressured about the proposal.

Zelensky Halt Strikes

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine agreed in a Wednesday phone call with President Trump to accept Russia’s offer of a mutual pause in attacks on energy targets for 30 days as a step toward a broader cease-fire.

It was not immediately clear how or when a pause in strikes on certain targets would take hold. “Everything will continue to fly,” Mr. Zelensky said in a later news conference from Finland, until “there is an appropriate document” negotiating terms. He added that Russian drones were in the air in Ukraine as he spoke.

During the call between Mr. Trump and Mr. Zelensky, the American president floated the idea of the United States possibly taking control of Ukrainian power plants, according to an official U.S. statement; it was a new idea that Ukrainian energy experts said was probably unworkable.

Mr. Zelensky later elaborated during his news conference that he felt he faced “no pressure” from Mr. Trump about that idea, saying it was limited to one plant. He added that the call with Mr. Trump was “the most substantive in recent times” and that the list of targets protected from strikes in a partial cease-fire could be expansive.

But any agreement restricted to energy targets between Mr. Zelensky and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia would leave a wide chasm between their positions on how the war could end. And Mr. Zelensky has characterized some of the Russian leader’s proposals as stalling tactics as he maneuvers for military advantage and the best possible deal from the American president.

A little after 4pm, the host reminded Putin that he was getting late for the call. The Russian president was filmed smirking and shrugging. According to The Sun, he reached the Kremlin around 5pm - an hour after the call was supposed to begin.

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