Zelenskiy says energy strike ceasefire could be established quickly

By Yuliia Dysa and Tom Balmforth

(Reuters) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday that a halt on energy strikes in the war with Russia could be established quickly, but warned Ukraine would respond in kind if Moscow violated the terms of the limited ceasefire.

After speaking to U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday for the first time since their disastrous Oval Office talks, Zelenskiy said Kyiv would draw up a list of facilities that could be subject to a partial ceasefire brokered by Washington.

That list could include not only energy, but also rail and port infrastructure, he said, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to Trump and agreed to pause attacks on energy infrastructure.

"I understand that until we agree (with Russia), until there is a corresponding document on even a partial ceasefire, I think that everything will fly," Zelenskiy said, referring to drones and missiles.

As Zelenskiy's online briefing with reporters drew to a close, regional authorities reported a mass drone attack on the central Ukrainian city of Kropyvnytskyi, with footage on social media showing large fires and damage to apartment buildings.

Officials said the attack also damaged rail infrastructure. The regional governor said some injuries were reported.

The Ukrainian leader, who looked tired as he spoke to reporters, described his phone call with Trump as "probably his most substantive and positive" talks yet and added that he had not felt under pressure.

The readout contrasted with the acrimonious optics of Zelenskiy's last meeting with Trump on February 28, which was meant to lead to them signing a minerals deal but instead spiralled into a shouting match.

Asked at the briefing if he still wanted Trump to visit Ukraine, Zelenskiy said that he did and that he believed it would be helpful for the U.S. president in his efforts to halt the war.

NEW MEETING TO DISCUSS TECHNICAL DETAILS

Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff has said another round of talks between Russian and U.S. officials, aimed at a permanent ceasefire and end to the war, will take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Sunday, but it was unclear whether Ukraine would be involved in those talks.

Zelenskiy said Ukrainian and U.S. officials could meet next in Saudi Arabia on Friday, Saturday or Sunday to discuss technical details.

The Ukrainian leader said he wanted to understand how the partial ceasefire would be monitored, though he added that he thought it would be successful if the United States set out to do it.

A statement by the U.S. presidential administration said earlier that Trump suggested to Zelenskiy that the U.S. could help run, and possibly own, Ukraine's nuclear power plants and energy infrastructure.

Zelenskiy said he and Trump discussed only the vast Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine during their phone call.

He added that he told Trump that Kyiv would be ready to discuss U.S. involvement in modernising and investing in the nuclear plant if it is returned to Ukraine.

Zelenskiy said he believed Putin would not agree to a full ceasefire while Ukrainian troops remained in Russia's western Kursk region.

Kyiv's forces launched a surprise incursion into the region in August last year, but have since been pushed back to a tiny sliver of land during a multi-stage operation by Russia.

Zelenskiy also said that Ukraine had received new supplies of several F-16 fighter jets, but he declined to say exactly how many or when exactly the delivery had happened.

(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa and Tom Balmforth; Editing by Nia Williams and Michael Perry)