Zelenskyy Also Agrees to Limited Russia–Ukraine Cease-Fire in Call With Trump

A day after Putin consented to a partial cease-fire on energy infrastructure, Zelenskyy told Trump that he also agreed to this proposal.

(Left) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Feb. 12, 2025. (Right) U.S. President Donald Trump on Feb. 25, 2025. Tetiana Dzhafarova and Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has agreed to a moratorium on attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure following a March 19 phone call with President Donald Trump.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security adviser Mike Waltz issued a statement on the Trump–Zelenskyy call, saying that the two leaders “agreed on a partial ceasefire against energy.”

Zelenskyy confirmed the development in a post on social media platform X, saying, “I supported this step, and Ukraine confirmed that we are ready to implement it.”

Trump’s and Zelenskyy’s phone conversation lasted about an hour and came a day after Trump proposed the moratorium on energy infrastructure attacks to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Following that March 18 call, the Kremlin stated that Putin had immediately passed down the order to halt new Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy facilities.

“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,” Trump said of his March 19 call with Zelenskyy.

Just hours before his call with Washington, Zelenskyy alleged that Russian forces had already breached the agreement.

Speaking at a press conference in Finland, Zelenskyy said Russian forces launched about 150 attack drones toward Ukraine in the hours after Trump concluded his call with Putin. He said those Russian attack drones had targeted Ukrainian energy sites, transportation systems, and hospitals.

Russian officials claimed that Ukrainian forces had also targeted an oil transfer site in Russia’s Krasnodar region on March 19, setting fire to an oil tank there.

Despite the accusations of a breach, Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform, “We are very much on track.”

Broader Cease-Fire Negotiations Proceeding

Last week, Zelenskyy voiced his support for a U.S.-backed proposal for a 30-day cease-fire covering not just energy facilities but all aspects of the ongoing Russia–Ukraine war.

After the Trump–Putin call on March 18, the White House stated that the next round of negotiations would concern a cease-fire at sea and then a more comprehensive cease-fire and eventual permanent peace.

“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,” a joint statement from Rubio and Waltz reads.

The limited cease-fire covering energy infrastructure may be the necessary component to get both sides moving toward peace, according to James Robbins, dean of academics at the Institute of World Politics in Washington.

“It’s going to take time to build confidence in this process, but it seems to be off to a good start,” Robbins told The Epoch Times on March 19.

Putin had expressed willingness to enter into a more expansive temporary cease-fire but raised questions about how the deal would be monitored and enforced.

Following the Trump–Putin call on March 18, the Kremlin stated that in order to prevent new escalations and advance peace talks, there should be “a complete cessation of foreign military assistance and the provision of intelligence information to Kyiv.”

According to a Rubio–Waltz readout of the March 19 call, Zelenskyy asked for more air defense systems for Ukraine, to which Trump “agreed to work with him to find what was available particularly in Europe.”

Robbins said it’s natural behavior for belligerent parties to use a cease-fire as an opportunity to prepare for further fighting. It would be difficult to enforce any sort of pause on such behavior during a halt in the fighting, he said.

“The idea that Russia would be overly concerned about what Ukraine is going to do during those 30 days, well, Russia will probably be doing twice that,” Robbins said.

Trump and Zelenskyy Talk Business

Trump and Zelenskyy also discussed exchanges of prisoners of war and efforts to locate and return children who have gone missing or been taken from Ukraine during the war.

Rubio and Waltz said Trump also pitched the idea of the United States taking a more involved role in Ukraine’s energy facilities.

“[Trump] said that the United States could be very helpful in running those plants with its electricity and utility expertise,” Rubio and Waltz said. “American ownership of those plants would be the best protection for that infrastructure and support for Ukrainian energy infrastructure.”

Zelenskyy didn’t mention Trump’s comments about U.S. ownership in Ukraine’s energy facilities in his own readout of the call.

Washington and Kyiv have previously discussed an economic partnership arrangement, whereby the United States would benefit from access to certain Ukrainian industries and natural resources. Trump and Zelenskyy had planned to finalize such a deal last month, but the talks fell through after a heated Oval Office exchange.

Speaking with reporters on March 19, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Trump administration had moved on from this earlier proposal.

“We’ve moved beyond just the economic minerals deal framework, and we’re looking at a lasting cease-fire,” she said.