Trump floats idea of U.S. owning Ukrainian power plants as he pushes cease-fire

Ukraine operates 15 nuclear reactors in four nuclear power plants across the nation: Nuclear Energy Agency

- Alan Cullison, Ian Lovett & Alexander Osipovich

President Trump raised the possibility that the U.S. would acquire Ukrainian power plants, including nuclear facilities, calling it the "best protection for that infrastructure," as the White House tries to jump-start talks to halt the Ukraine-Russia war.

Trump's proposal during a phone call Wednesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is a new twist in peace efforts, which included a still-unsigned deal that would give the U.S. rights to hundreds of billions of dollars of rare-earth minerals.

Trump is working to broker a wider peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv, both of which this week agreed to a partial cease-fire aimed at protecting their energy infrastructure.

That got off to a rough start, however, as Russia and Ukraine traded allegations that each side had attacked energy and oil facilities overnight, just hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to a 30-day pause in attacks on energy infrastructure in his own call with Trump.

Zelensky also agreed to the partial cease-fire against power and energy facilities, the White House said. According to an administration statement on the call, the two leaders discussed "Ukraine's electrical supply and nuclear power plants."

"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," the statement said.