Key points
- Trump tells Zelensky the US could own and run Ukraine’s nuclear power plants
- Zelensky says it could take more than two years for the plant to be made operational again
- Ukrainian leader urges his Western allies to step up aid even in the event of a ceasefire
KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that he and his US counterpart Donald Trump had discussed possible US ownership of the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, according to AFP.
Zelensky’s remarks to reporters came after Trump told Zelensky on Wednesday that the United States could own and run Ukraine’s nuclear power plants as part of his latest bid to secure a ceasefire in Russia’s invasion, Western media reported.
“We talked only about one power plant, which is under Russian occupation,” Zelensky, who was on an official visit to Finland, said during an online briefing, referring to the plant in Zaporizhzhia, AFP reported.
Zelensky said that it could take more than two years for the plant to be made operational again, and that its generation capacity was needed by both Ukrainians and Europe.
We talked only about one power plant, which is under Russian occupation.” – Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky
A US-led proposal
Zelensky last week backed a US-led proposal for a complete and unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine, but the Kremlin refused and instead proposed a halt on strikes on energy infrastructure, according to media reports.
The Ukrainian leader told reporters from Finland that Putin was unlikely to agree to any ceasefire as long as Ukraine’s troops were still fighting for control of Russia’s Kursk region, where Kyiv launched an audacious but struggling offensive last year.
“He does not want a ceasefire while our troops are on the territory of the Kursk region,” Zelensky said.
The Ukrainian leader has also urged his Western allies to step up aid even in the event of a ceasefire, and announced on Wednesday that his country had recently received “several” more F-16 fighter jets.
Talks in Britain
“I’m not going to tell you how many,” Zelensky told reporters, without saying which country delivered them. Ukraine received its first deliveries of the US-made aircraft last year.
The offer comes as some 30 military chiefs from countries keen to help protect an eventual ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine prepared for talks in Britain on Thursday to discuss planning for a peacekeeping force, according to local media reports.
EU leaders were also set to discuss the three-year war at a summit in Brussels on Thursday, as well as the bloc’s defence capabilities as it grapples with an aggressive Russia.
