Donald Trump says ceasefire talks ‘on track’ after ‘very good’ call with Ukraine’s Zelensky

US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke for about an hour on Wednesday, a day after the former spoke with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Donald Trump said his call with Zelensky was "very good" and that efforts to negotiate a ceasefire in Russia's invasion are "very much on track".

The US president said in a Truth Social post that "much of the discussion" was following up on his call on Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin and aimed "to align both Russia and Ukraine in terms of their requests and needs." It was the first known talk between Trump and Zelensky since a tense meeting in the White House last month.

During Donald Trump's discussion with Putin on Tuesday, the Russian leader agreed not to target energy infrastructure but refused to back a full 30-day ceasefire.

Ukraine's Zelensky had said on Wednesday that a vow by Russian President Vladimir Putin not to attack energy infrastructure was “very much at odds with reality” following an overnight barrage of drone strikes across the country.

Hours before his conversation with US President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his anticipation of gaining further insight into Trump's Tuesday call with Putin.

Specifically, Volodymyr Zelensky hoped to learn more about the proposed partial ceasefire discussed during their conversation and to explore the subsequent steps that would be taken to advance the peace process.

“Even last night, after Putin’s conversation with ... Trump, when Putin said that he was allegedly giving orders to stop strikes on Ukrainian energy, there were 150 drones launched overnight, including on energy facilities,” Zelensky said at a news conference in Helsinki with Finnish President Alexander Stubb.

Russian strikes on civilian areas in Ukraine followed President Vladimir Putin's refusal to back a full 30-day ceasefire during discussions with Donald Trump.

The White House has characterised the call between President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin as the initial step in a "movement towards peace", a development that Washington hopes will pave the way for a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea.

However, there was no indication that Vladimir Putin backed away from his conditions for a prospective peace deal, which are fiercely opposed by Kyiv.

Ukraine, Russia claim neither heeding halt to energy strikes

Tensions between Ukraine and Russia escalated on Wednesday as both nations accused each other of violating the agreed halt on strikes against energy infrastructure.

US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin held a 90-minute call on Tuesday aimed at ending the grinding three-year conflict. During that phone call, Putin consented to a limited 30-day moratorium on attacks targeting Ukraine's power grid.

However, Putin declined to endorse a broader ceasefire proposal, which Ukraine had expressed readiness to accept.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Kyiv supports the moratorium but emphasised that Putin effectively rejected the proposal for a full ceasefire.

Despite this, Ukraine's defence ministry, on Wednesday, reported that an overnight barrage of Russian missiles and drones struck the war-battered nation.

Meanwhile, Russia's defence ministry accused Ukraine of launching a deliberate attack on an oil depot in southern Russia, which they claimed was aimed at undermining Trump's efforts to broker a ceasefire.

"Today Putin effectively rejected the proposal for a full ceasefire," said Zelensky.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov condemned these actions, stating that they counter the joint efforts to achieve peace. "These attacks are countering our common efforts," Peskov added, referring to the US-Russia talks.

(This story has been updated to reflect the latest developments)