Zelenskyy says Ukraine ready to implement limited energy and infrastructure ceasefire after ‘positive’ and ‘frank’ Trump call – live

When specifically asked about it, Leavitt also confirmed that “intelligence sharing in terms of defence of Ukraine will continue to be shared.”

She was also repeatedly asked about minor differences in the Kremlin and the White House readouts as to the extent of the proposed partial ceasefire, specifically whether it covered energy and infrastructure, as two separate items named by the US, or energy infrastructure, as put out by the Russian side.

Leavitt said she would “defer … to the readout that was provided by the White House,” as “that is our understanding and that is the truth.”

Asked about the minerals deal, she said the conversation has moved “beyond the economic minerals deal,” with focus on “partial ceasefire, and we are moving towards a full ceasefire and a longstanding peace in this conflict.”

Pressed further if that meant it is off the table, she said it was “the first set of framework” discussed earlier, but the US “was not focused on a long-term peace agreement.”

“The Ukrainian president, at the time, wasn’t talking about a greater peace deal. We are now at that place where we are talking about that,” she said.

“We’ve moved beyond just the economic minerals deal framework, and we’re looking at a lasting ceasefire, right now a partial ceasefire. But again, the president is sending his highly skilled, intelligent and experienced team to Saudi Arabia later this week to creating peace in this conflict, and I would just reiterate one more time, we have been closer to peace than we are today,” she said.

The press secretary was also asked about the proposed NHL-KHL ice hockey match, floated in the Kremlin readout, saying the US was “more interested in securing a peace deal than scheduling hockey games right now.”

White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt has just read out the full White House readout from the Trump-Zelenskyy call.

The most interesting line is that Ukraine’s Zelenskyy “asked for additional air defence systems to protect his civilians, particularly Patriot missile systems,” and Trump “agreed to work with him to find what was available, particularly in Europe.”

Other key points:

• Trump “fully briefed” Zelenskyy on his conversation with Putin.

• The leaders agreed on “a partial ceasefire against energy” targets.

• There will be further “technical” discussions about extending the ceasefire to cover the Black Sea “on the way to a full ceasefire.”

• The leaders discussed “the situation in Kursk” and agreed to share more information about the situation.

• Trump suggested that US ownership of Ukrainian electrical supply and nuclear power plants “could be very helpful in running those plants,” and “be the best protection” for that critical infrastructure.

• Trump promised “to work closely with both parties” to make sure children abducted during the war children “were returned home.”

Here it is in full, as read out in the briefing:

Today, President Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a fantastic phone conversation.

President Zelenskyy thanked President Trump for a productive start for the work of the Ukrainian and American teams Jeddah on March 11. 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.

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 defense 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.

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 Zelenskyy was grateful for the President’s leadership in this effort, and reiterated his willingness to adopt a full ceasefire.

President 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.

President Zelenskyy also thanked President Trump for continuing to push humanitarian concerns, including the exchange of prisoners of war. He noted they had just had a successful exchange, and thanked the President for his leadership on that.

President Trump also asked President Zelenskyy about the children who had gone missing from Ukraine during the war, including the ones that had been abducted, and President Trump promised to work closely with both parties to help make sure those children were returned home.

They agreed all parties must continue the effort to make a ceasefire work.

The presidents noted the positive work of their advisors and representatives, especially Secretary Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Special Envoy Kellogg and others.

The presidents instructed their teams to move ahead with the technical issues related to implementing and broadening the partial ceasefire.

The presidents instructed their advisors and representatives to carry out this work as quickly as possible.

The presidents emphasized that in furthering the teams can agree on all necessary aspects of advancing toward lasting peace and security.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has just posted his readout from the call with US president Donald Trump, saying it was “a positive, very substantive, and frank conversation,” and he believed that “under American leadership, lasting peace can be achieve this year.”

Zelenskyy says that Trump shared details of his yesterday’s conversation with Russian president Vladimir Putin, and in response confirmed Ukraine’s readiness to “implement” a limited energy, civilian infrastructure ceasefire.

“The American side also proposed an unconditional ceasefire on the frontline, and Ukraine accepted this proposal as well. We will continue working to make this happen,” he said.

Zelenskyy also said that he leaders “instructed our teams to resolve technical issues related to implementing and expanding the partial ceasefire.”

Here’s the statement in full:

I had a positive, very substantive, and frank conversation with President of the United States Donald Trump @POTUS. I thanked him for a good and productive start to the work of the Ukrainian and American teams in Jeddah on March 11—this meeting of the teams significantly helped in moving toward ending the war. We agreed that Ukraine and the United States should continue working together to achieve a real end to the war and lasting peace. We believe that together with America, with President Trump, and under American leadership, lasting peace can be achieved this year.

President Trump shared details of his conversation with Putin and the key issues discussed. One of the first steps toward fully ending the war could be ending strikes on energy and other civilian infrastructure. I supported this step, and Ukraine confirmed that we are ready to implement it. Our teams discussed this step in Jeddah. The American side also proposed an unconditional ceasefire on the frontline, and Ukraine accepted this proposal as well. We will continue working to make this happen. We believe that such steps are necessary to create the possibility for a comprehensive peace agreement to be prepared during the ceasefire.

I also provided an update on the battlefield situation and the consequences of Russian strikes. We spoke about the situation in the Kursk region, touched on the issue of the release of POWs, and the return of Ukrainian children who were taken by Russian forces. We also discussed the state of Ukraine’s air defense and the possibility of strengthening it to protect lives.

We instructed our teams to resolve technical issues related to implementing and expanding the partial ceasefire. Ukrainian and American teams are ready to meet in Saudi Arabia in the coming days to continue coordinating steps toward peace. We instructed our advisors and representatives to carry out this work as quickly as possible. We noted the positive work of our advisors and representatives—Rubio, Waltz, Kellogg, Yermak, Sybiha, Umerov, and Palisa. In further meetings, the teams can agree on all necessary aspects of advancing toward lasting peace and security guarantees.

I thanked President Trump and the American people for their support. I stressed that Ukrainians want peace, which is why Ukraine accepted the proposal for an unconditional ceasefire. I highlighted the importance of President Trump’s concept of peace through strength. We agreed to maintain constant contact, including at the highest level and through our teams.

A White House press briefing has now started, but there are no new details on Trump-Zelenskyy call.

A very brief statement on this from the podium offered nothing beyond previous public comments from the US administration.

Here it is:

President Trump also spoke with President Zelenskyy this morning to align both Russia and Ukraine in terms of their needs and requests.

As President Trump has said repeatedly, the precious lives and money that both Ukraine and Russia have been spending in this war would be better spent on the needs of their people.

This terrible conflict would have never started with President Trump in charge, but he is determined to end it once and for all.

Let’s see if it comes up again in the Q&A.

We’re still waiting for a more comprehensive readout from Trump-Zelensky call from the White House and any reaction from Ukraine.

We will bring them to you as soon as we have them.

Reporter

The European Commission has accused the US tech companies Google and Apple of breaking its digital rules, in a landmark action that could escalate transatlantic tension with Donald Trump.

The US president has sought to exert pressure on the EU to back away from tougher regulation of American technology groups, warning that he could retaliate by imposing tariffs on foreign companies.

But on Wednesday, the commission pressed ahead with enforcement action against Apple and Google’s parent company Alphabet, two of the world’s five largest companies by stock market value, accusing them of breaking the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA).

Breaches of the DMA can result in companies being fined 10% of revenue, or 20% if they reoffend. Based on Apple’s 2024 revenue of $391bn (£301bn), the maximum fine would be nearly $80bn.

US president Donald Trump has just put out a short social media update on his “very good” call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying he sought to “align both Russia and Ukraine in terms of their requests and needs.”

“We are very much on track,” he said, unusually deferring to senior administration officials to reveal more about the conversation. A further statement will be put out “shortly,” he said.

Here is his comment in full:

Just completed a very good telephone call with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine. It lasted approximately one hour.

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.

We are very much on track, and I will ask Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, to give an accurate description of the points discussed.

That Statement will be put out shortly.

The Trump-Zelenskyy call is now under way, both sides confirmed.

Dan Scavino, White House deputy chief of staff, said in a social media post:

Happening Now—President Trump is in the Oval Office on a call with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine.

Zelenskyy’s spokesperson Sergiy Nykyforov also told reporters that the president was “having a conversation by telephone with US President Donald Trump,” AFP reported.

in Kyiv

I sat down in Kyiv with Mykhailo Podolyak, an aide to President Zelenskyy.

He said that the talks planned for Sunday in Saudi Arabia are expected to be bilateral between the US and Russia, and said there were no plans for Ukraine to take part, though he conceded that we would have to wait for the results of a Trump-Zelenskyy call later to know when further talks involving Ukraine will take place.

Of the call, he said:

“The president wants to understand the contents of this call fully from Trump. The main thing is to understand how Trump sees the results of his call with Putin, and to draw conclusions from that.”

Reflecting on the last discussion between Trump and Zelenskyy, the disastrous meeting in the White House, he said:

“It was a fairly emotional conversation in the Oval Office, and it showed that contradictions had built up.

These contradictions were then put on the negotiating table in Saudi Arabia, and very quickly formal and informal communications were made.

The administrations created negotiating teams and we quickly moved to discussing concrete issues around these contradictions and found a synchronised position.”

On the Kremlin statement that Putin had said the West should cease all western military support and intelligence sharing to Ukraine before a ceasefire could be agreed, he said:

“It’s a very strange demand, of course. He’s saying, ‘We want you to be disarmed and then we can keep on fighting the war’. That’s what it sounds like…

He wants Ukraine to give up its army, to give up security guarantees, to give up its right to be in alliances, and to give up on various territories.

This is what he’s been fighting for three years, and he couldn’t do it militarily… And now that’s what he wants from the negotiations process.”

US national security adviser Mike Waltz has just said he agreed with his Russian counterpart, Yuri Ushakov, that the two sides will hold further talks in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, aimed at “expanding the partial ceasefire president Trump secured from Russia.”

Here is what he said:

“I spoke today with my Russian counterpart Yuri Ushakov about President Trump’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine. We agreed our technical teams would meet in Riyadh in the coming days to focus on implementing and expanding the partial ceasefire President Trump secured from Russia.”

Russia and Ukraine have exchanged 372 soldiers in a prisoner swap brokered by the United Arab Emirates, the Russian defence ministry said Wednesday, as reported by AFP in the last few minutes.

The Kremlin announced the swap on Tuesday, following talks between US president Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Moscow returned 175 Ukrainian POWs, as well as “22 seriously wounded prisoners of war in need of urgent medical assistance”, while Kyiv returned 175 Russian troops, the Russian defence ministry said.

US president Donald Trump is “likely” to meet with Russian president Vladimir Putin at some point, US envoy Steve Witkoff told Bloomberg TV.

Speaking to Bloomberg TV, he said:

“You know, I can’t speak for them, but my best bet would be that it’s likely to happen. They have a great rapport together. They had a great rapport in the first Trump administration.

It was on display yesterday. This was really a very positive, very proactive, outcome oriented call, and that’s who President Trump is. He’s there to get to the goalline. And we did a we went a long way yesterday to doing that.”

Witkoff was also asked about the outcomes from yesterday’s call and if Russian attacks on Ukraine over the night broke the arrangements.

He said that the leaders agreed on “cessation of attacks on energy infrastructure … and civilian infrastructure,” with a plan to “work towards a Black Sea moratorium on hits on naval vessels and freighters carrying grants and things on that sort.”

But he dismissed claims – including from Ukraine’s president Zelenskyy – that Russian strikes overnight crossed the agreed line.

He said that just before coming on air he confirmed it “on good information” that “Putin issued an order within 10 minutes of his call with the president directing Russian forces not to be attacking any Ukrainian energy infrastructure.”

“Any attacks that happened last night would have happened before that order was given,” he claimed.

He added that “in fact, the Russians tell me this morning that seven of their drones were on their way when president Putin issued his order and they were shot down by Russian forces.”

“So I tend to believe that President Putin is operating in good faith. He said that he was going to be operating in good faith to the President yesterday, and I take him at his word,” he said.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to speak with US president Donald Trump shortly, as per earlier comments.

A White House official confirmed earlier that the call was expected at 10am ET, which is 2pm GMT and 3pm CET.

We will bring you the two sides’ readouts from the call as soon as we get them.

Zelenskyy ends on a strong note talking about the historic Ukrainian struggle for independence and freedom, saying “the most important thing is who will win in the end.”

He repeats that Ukraine will not recognise Russian-occupied territories as Russian, even if it cannot reclaim them back immediately.

That concludes their event at the University of Helsinki.