Trump holds ‘very good’ call with Zelensky

The US president has revealed that conversation revolved around his talks with Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday held what he described as a “very good” phone call with Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky. The conversation primarily revolved around his 2.5 hour phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, Trump revealed in a brief statement on his Truth social media platform.

“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,” Trump wrote.

The US president said he will ask US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Michael Waltz to “give an accurate description of the points discussed,” while a readout will be published.

The Trump-Putin talks primarily revolved around the Ukrainian crisis and ways to resolve it. During the conversation, Trump floated an idea of both Moscow and Kiev mutually halting strikes on energy infrastructure facilities for 30 days. Putin backed the idea and immediately ordered the military to halt such attacks, according to the Russian defense ministry.

On Tuesday Zelensky publicly backed the idea and explicitly agreed to it during the phone call with Trump, Bloomberg reported. Earlier in the day, however, Ukraine’s leader expressed concerns over how exactly such a truce could be implemented.

“If Russia stops striking our targets, we will definitely stop hitting targets in Russia. But Putin’s promises alone are not enough; there must be control. The main subject of this control must be the US,” Zelensky said during a joint press conference with Finnish President Alexander Stubb.