Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky have spoken to each other for the first time since their bust-up at the White House on February 28. The American and Ukrainian President spoke on March 19, nearly 24 hours after Mr Trump and Vladimir Putin discussed the terms of a 30-day ceasefire deal for Ukraine.
The call between the two leaders last around an hour, with Mr Trump describing the conversation as “very good”. Writing on his Truth Social platform, the US President said: “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.” He said a statement will be “put out shortly”.
Mr Zelensky earlier confirmed he would hear from Mr Trump on Wednesday afternoon as he attended a press conference in Helsinki as part of his visit to Finland.
The discussions come after Mr Trump and Putin spoke for 90 minutes on Tuesday evening.
During the call, they reached a ceasefire agreement which included halting attacks on energy infrastructure.
Overnight, however, Ukraine reported Russian drone and missile attacks targeting some of its energy plants, as well as hospitals and other sensitive targets.
Dmitry Peskow, the Kremlin spokesman, rejected allegations Putin had ordered the attack and went on to claim Ukraine had instead breached the ceasefire, despite not taking part in the talks between the US and Russia on Tuesday, by launching an attack on an oil facility beyond enemy lines.
