Donald Trump and Zelensky have been at odds lately. Their relationship doesn’t look like it’ll improve anytime soon.
And Zelensky spits in Trump’s face after issuing this appalling statement.
In a surprising twist to the ongoing Ukraine War peace talks, President Donald Trump recently floated an unconventional idea: why not let the United States take ownership of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants, including the massive Zaporizhzhia facility, to settle the heated dispute over who should control them?
The suggestion, however, was met with a swift and firm rejection from Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, who made it clear that these plants are inseparable from the Ukrainian people and their nation’s sovereignty.
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe’s largest, sits at the heart of this controversy. Though legally owned by Ukraine, it has been under Russian occupation for more than three years, turning its fate into a sticking point in negotiations. Trump’s proposal aimed to sidestep the tug-of-war between Kyiv and Moscow by bringing the facility—and potentially others—under American control, effectively removing it as a bargaining chip.
But Zelensky was having none of it, doubling down on his unwavering stance that every inch of Ukraine’s internationally recognized territory, including its nuclear assets, must remain under Kyiv’s command.
Speaking alongside Norway’s Prime Minister in a press conference that occasionally hinted at frustration, Zelensky didn’t mince words. “All nuclear power plants belong to the people of Ukraine,” he declared.
“These are state-owned nuclear power plants, it is not in private property in Ukraine. The atomic energy in Ukraine belongs to Ukraine, and the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia region where there is the [Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant], it belongs to Ukraine.” His response was a direct rebuttal to Trump’s suggestion, emphasizing that Ukraine’s nuclear infrastructure isn’t up for grabs.
The idea surfaced during a recent call between the two leaders, though their accounts of the conversation seem to diverge. According to a U.S. statement, Trump pitched American ownership as a protective measure for the plants and a boost to Ukraine’s energy system. Zelensky, however, cast doubt on that narrative.
“The problem raised by the Americans, I do not know whether they have raised it with the Russians,” he said.
“Mr President Trump asked me ‘what do you think about this station’, I told him that ‘if it does not belong to Ukraine, it will not work for anybody, it is illegal and it is not capable of doing so’, and it is a state owned enterprise… the issue of property, we definitely did not discuss with Mr President Trump, and even more so we did not discuss the message you have said here.”
Zelensky suggested that media reports may have exaggerated or misinterpreted the discussion, noting he’d seen similar claims but hadn’t addressed them with Trump directly.
While Zelensky firmly rejected foreign ownership, he left the door ajar for other forms of cooperation. Ukraine, he said, is “open to discussions” about modernizing its nuclear power capabilities with international support—just not at the cost of relinquishing control.
With 15 Soviet-era reactors in its arsenal, including the six at Zaporizhzhia (most of which are in a cold shutdown for safety), Ukraine’s nuclear sector is a critical piece of its energy puzzle.
Trump’s proposal isn’t entirely out of left field. It aligns with his administration’s pattern of tying Ukraine’s security to American economic stakes, a strategy meant to ensure long-term U.S. involvement in the country’s stability.
According to Breitbart News, U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright backed the idea, confidently telling Fox News, “There’s no problem, we can do it.”
He added, “If it was helpful to achieve that end, have the US run nuclear power plants in Ukraine… We have immense technical expertise in the United States to run those plants. I don’t think that requires boots on the ground.”
Wright pointed to existing American involvement, noting that Westinghouse, a U.S. nuclear power leader, has been aiding Ukraine’s energy grid since Russia’s 2022 invasion and even broke ground on new reactors at the Khmelnytskyi plant last year.
For now, though, Zelensky’s stance doesn’t look to be shifting anytime soon.
Stay tuned to The Federalist Wire.
