A Newsweek map shows where Ukraine’s four nuclear plants are located, some of which U.S. President Donald Trump has said he wants America to help run.
The Context
Trump said he thinks the U.S. could “very helpful” in running Ukraine’s electrical supply and nuclear power plants, according to National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.
“American ownership of those plants would be the best protection for that infrastructure and support for Ukrainian energy infrastructure,” Waltz said after a call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday – the first since last month’s heated Oval Office exchange between Trump, JD Vance and Zelensky.
While Zelensky confirmed that Kyiv and Washington were discussing the Zaporizhzhia power plant, he disputed some of Waltz’s statement on Thursday, saying that “all nuclear power belongs to the (Ukrainian) state.”
“In terms of ownership, we definitely did not discuss this with President Trump,” he said.
What To Know
After the call on Wednesday, Zelensky told The Financial Times that the only power plant being discussed with Trump was Zaporizhzhia – Europe’s largest.
The facility has been under Russian military control since a few weeks after the outbreak of the war in March 2022. Its six reactors are currently in “cold shutdown” mode, meaning they are safely turned off.
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Zelensky said at a news conference: “I believe that the station will not work under occupation. I believe that the station can be restored to operation.”
The other three facilities in Ukraine are the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant, in Varash, with four reactors, the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant, in Netishyn, with two operational reactors and the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant, with three reactors. All three are functional and under Ukrainian control.
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While discussing how the U.S. could run a Ukrainian nuclear plant, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told Fox News: “Certainly, we have immense technical expertise in the United States to run those plants. I don’t think that requires boots on the ground,” Wright said. “But I’ll leave the foreign policy to President Trump and Secretary (of State Marco) Rubio. I know they are working tirelessly, ‘How do we bring peace to Ukraine?’
“But, if it was helpful to achieve that end – have the US run nuclear power plants in Ukraine? No problem. We can do that.”
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What People Are Saying
Zelensky posted on X on Wednesday: “I had a positive, very substantive, and frank conversation with President of the United States Donald Trump. I thanked him for a good and productive start to the work of the Ukrainian and American teams in Jeddah on March 11—this meeting of the teams significantly helped in moving toward ending the war. We agreed that Ukraine and the United States should continue working together to achieve a real end to the war and lasting peace. We believe that together with America, with President Trump, and under American leadership, lasting peace can be achieved this year.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz following the call between the two leaders, said in a statement, “President Trump also discussed Ukraine’s electrical supply and nuclear power plants. He said that 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.”
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What Happens Next
Russia agreed to an immediate ceasefire on Ukrainian energy infrastructure targets. But shortly after Trump and Putin’s phone call, Zelensky posted to X that a barrage of Russian drone attacks had hit a hospital in Sumy and power supplies in Slovyansk.
“Unfortunately, there have been hits, especially on civilian infrastructure,” Zelensky wrote. “Today, Putin effectively rejected the proposal for a full ceasefire.”
