President Donald Trump spoke Wednesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy while talks continue to end the Russian-Ukraine war.
Their conversation occurred one day after Trump failed to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to accept a total cease-fire of 30 days proposed by the United States and supported by Ukraine, although Putin has agreed to suspend attacks against energy infrastructure.
Trump, in an article on social networks, said the call with Zelenskyy lasted an hour and was “very good”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy listens as the Finnish president approaches his joint press conference at the presidential palace in Helsinki, on March 19, 2025.
Heikki Saukkomaa / AFP via Getty Images
“Much of the discussion was based on the call made yesterday with President Putin to align Russia and Ukraine in terms of their requests and their needs,” wrote Trump. “We are on the right track, and I will ask the Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the National Security Councilor Michael Waltz, to give a precise description of the points discussed. This declaration will be published shortly.”
Zelenskyy also found the conversation “good” and “very productive”, according to a source from the office of the Ukrainian president.
The Ukrainian president has also agreed to set up a new meeting for Ukrainian and American delegations as soon as possible. The two parties will start working there now, said the source of ABC News.
At a press conference with Finnish President Alexander Stubb on Wednesday, Zelenskyy said that Putin’s “words” are not enough to obtain an agreement that Ukraine and Russia would stop hitting the energy infrastructure.
Zelenskyy said he was preparing a list that Ukraine will share “with our partners” on facilities and targets will be prohibited to attack in a potential agreement between Russia and Ukraine.
“If the Russians do not strike our facilities, we will certainly not hit their own,” said Zelenskyy.
“Just assurances and words of Putin that he orders not to hit the energy facilities – it is not enough. Why? Because, unfortunately, this war made us very practical people,” said Zelenskyy.
“If we reach such an agreement, there will be a list of sites. We already have a list – a list of civil, energy and infrastructure installations. We are certainly preparing this list and will provide it with our partners. If the Russians do not hit our facilities, we will certainly do not do force,” added Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy previously declared to the International International ABC News correspondent James Longman, whom he counted on a conversation with Trump on the “details” of a ceasefire of partial energy.
“We have always supported the ceasefire position and not using weapons against energy infrastructure, and we also supported the position not to attack naval corridors,” Zelenskyy said on Tuesday.
But Russia and Ukraine continued to exchange strikes overnight after Trump-Putin’s call. Ukrainian authorities have reported a drone attack on a hospital, while Moscow said Ukraine had struck an oil depot establishment.
The actions prompted Zelenskyy to say: “Only a real cessation of Russia of attacks against civil infrastructure as proof of a desire to put an end to this war can bring peace closer.”
Wednesday’s call was the first between Trump and Zelenskyy since their oval office confrontation last month, in which Trump accused the Ukrainian chief of not being ready for peace and not having cards in the negotiations.
President Donald Trump and the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, meet in the oval office of the White House in Washington, on February 28, 2025.
Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty Images
After the tense exchange, the Trump administration reduced military assistance and an information sharing with kyiv. These tools, however, were reinstated after Ukraine accepted a 30 -day truce during interviews with senior US officials in Saudi Arabia last week.
Trump had expressed optimism before his call with Putin that there would be a good chance of being able to ensure the ceasefire for a month. But in an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham on Tuesday evening, Trump conceded it “would have been difficult”.
The Kremlin said after Tuesday’s call, in terms of a month’s ceasefire, Russia “has identified a number of important problems related to the effective control guarantee on a possible ceasefire throughout the contact line”.
In addition, he indicated that a key condition for ending the war would be the total “cessation” of military aid and intelligence in Kyiv.
“Today, Putin actually rejected the proposal for a full ceasefire. It would just be that the world responded by rejecting any attempt by Putin to prolong the war,” Zelenskyy replied on Tuesday.
“The sanctions against Russia. Assistance to Ukraine. Strengthen the allies in the free world and work on security guarantees. And only a real cessation of strikes on civil infrastructure by Russia, as proof of its will to put an end to this war, can bring peace.”
Ivan Pereira of ABC News contributed to this report.
