Trump floats plan to protect Ukraine's besieged power plants through U.S. ownership

March 20 (UPI) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States could take over Ukraine's embattled electric power plants, at least one of which is controlled by Russian forces, saying American ownership would be "the best protection for that infrastructure and support for Ukrainian energy infrastructure."

Trump made the offer in an hour-long call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday to brief him on discussions he had with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, a day earlier on implementing a U.S.-brokered cease-fire, according to a White House statement.

Referring to both electrical supply and nuclear power plants in Ukraine as part of a discussion on a partial cease-fire covering energy infrastructure that Ukraine and Russia agreed to, Trump said 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 reads.

Ukraine's electricity generation, transmission and distribution system has been a particular focus of Russia's military strategy since launching its full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022 with power plants, sub-stations and pylons frequently targeted in attacks, including the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station, seized by Russia in March 2022 and occupied by its forces ever since.

The plant, Europe's largest, that before being taken over generated half of Ukraine's nuclear energy and one-fifth of its entire electricity output, remains disconnected from the energy grid, but not decommissioned, and under the nominal supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Zelensky told reporters in a virtual briefing Wednesday that the discussion with Trump around the energy plants focused on restarting the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station.

"Water supply, technical staff, and many more steps to ensure that in a year and a half to two and a half, the plant starts to bring money and electricity to people. This is my vision," he said.

In February, the former Chernobyl nuclear plant in the north of Kyiv province, which suffered a meltdown in 1986 that spewed out a radioactive cloud that contaminated a large part of the country and much of Europe, was targeted by Russia in an attack that damaged the New Safe Containment shelter encasing the reactor to prevent radiation leaking into the air.

In June 2023, the Kakhovka Hydro Electric Power Plant dam on the Dnipro River, northeast of Kherson, was blown up, knocking out one of the country's largest power plants and flooding hundreds of square miles of land downstream in an attack that both sides accused the other of carrying out.

Wednesday's conversation between the two leaders, which Trump called "fantastic" and Zelensky said was "positive, very substantive, and frank," also saw Trump offer close information sharing between their defense staffs as the battlefield situation evolved and to work to fulfill Zelensky's request for more air defense systems, particularly the so-called Patriot system made by Arlington, Va.,-based Raytheon

Trump agreed to work with him to access what was available, particularly from Europe, although it was unclear if he was referring to U.S. systems currently deployed in Europe or systems from NATO allies in Europe.

They also agreed to send technical teams to Saudi Arabia in the coming days to discuss extending the energy cease-fire to cover the Black Sea "on the way to a full cease-fire," saying it could serve as a first step toward the full end of the war and ensuring security.

The presidents instructed their teams to move ahead with the technical issues related to implementing and broadening the partial cease-fire as quickly as possible, emphasizing that their representatives would be given authority to "agree on all necessary aspects of advancing toward lasting peace and security."