Rubio Says Trump Had 'Fantastic' Talk With Zelensky

President Trump says he had a "very good telephone call" with Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday, the day after he spoke to spoke to Vladimir Putin about a ceasefire proposal. "Much of the discussion was based on the call made yesterday with President Putin in order to align both Russia and Ukraine in terms of their requests and needs," Trump said in a Truth Social post. "We are very much on track." In a statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security adviser Mike Waltz described the call as "fantastic" and said Trump and Zelensky had "agreed Ukraine and America will continue working together to bring about a real end to the war."

Rubio and Waltz said the leaders "agreed on a partial ceasefire against energy." They said Trump also "discussed Ukraine's electrical supply and 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." Putin agreed to halt strikes on energy infrastructure Tuesday, but Zelensky said earlier Wednesday that Russia launched strikes overnight "targeting energy infrastructure, among other things," the Wall Street Journal reports. "Putin's words are very much at odds with reality," Zelensky said.

Zelensky requested additional Patriot missile defense systems during the call, and Rubio said Trump "agreed to work with him to find what was available, particularly in Europe," the AP reports. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the US will continue sharing intelligence with Ukraine despite Russia's demand for the US to cut off the supply of weapons and intelligence, NBC News reports. In a post on X, Zelensky described the phone call with Trump as "positive, very substantive, and frank." "I thanked President Trump and the American people for their support," he wrote. "I stressed that Ukrainians want peace, which is why Ukraine accepted the proposal for an unconditional ceasefire." (More Russia-Ukraine war stories.)