Trump, Zelenskyy speak on path to peace for Ukraine in “very productive” call: “Surely other wars can be stopped as well”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged President Trump to broker peace in Ukraine like he did in the Middle East during a phone call on Saturday, the Ukrainian leader said.

“If a war can be stopped in one region, then surely other wars can be stopped as well — including the Russian war,” Zelensky wrote in a post.

He added, “I informed President Trump about Russia’s attacks on our energy system—and I appreciate his willingness to support us. We discussed opportunities to bolster our air defense, as well as concrete agreements that we are working on to ensure this.”

Russia launched a major airstrike on Friday that targeted the Ukrainian power grid, causing blackouts across much of the country. Power was restored on Saturday to more than 800,000 residents in Kyiv; however, localized outages remain, officials said.

CBS News reached out to the White House for further details.

Relations between the two leaders have warmed dramatically since February, when they sparred during a now-infamous televised meeting at the White House. That meeting was abruptly canceled, and the Ukrainian leader’s visit was cut short after it descended into insults and chaos. Mr. Trump threatened Zelenskyy to make a deal with Russia or “we’re out,” and Vice President JD Vance accused the Ukrainian leader of being “disrespectful.”

Trump has since called Zelensky a “nice guy” and maintained support for Ukraine, which has been fighting a Russian invasion since 2022.

The two leaders most recently met on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York in September. After that meeting, Mr. Trump said on Truth Social that Ukraine was in a position to win back all its territory from Russia. 

“Russia has been fighting aimlessly for three and a half years a War that should have taken a Real Military Power less than a week to win. This is not distinguishing Russia. In fact, it is very much making them look like ‘a paper tiger.'”

He wrote, “I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form.” 

Zelenskyy has said Ukraine will not cede territory to Russia.