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00:00U.S. President Donald Trump has been on the phone again today, this time with his Ukrainian
00:04counterpart Vladimir Zelensky. Zelensky says the conversation with Trump was positive and
00:09very substantive, as well as frank. It's a more tepid assessment than that of Trump,
00:15who held the discussion as fantastic, adding that it significantly helped in efforts to end
00:20the war. It comes a day after the U.S. leader's call with President Putin in which he vowed to
00:25stop attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, a promise that Zelensky says the Russian leader
00:31has already broken. Well, let's speak to Catherine Norris-Trent, who's in
00:35central Ukraine for us. Catherine, good to have you. Just lay out for us what was said during the call.
00:43Yeah, there's a lot to unpack and this diplomacy is frankly moving very fast and it seems veering
00:49from one direction to another. So, just 24 hours after his phone call with Vladimir Putin,
00:56President Trump hailed a fantastic phone call with Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine,
01:03the Ukrainian president, saying that they are on the right path. He also said that they had a good
01:11conversation. It lasted for around an hour. Zelensky described it as frank, so addressing,
01:18we believe, some of the concerns that Ukraine has about the conversation Trump and Putin held
01:24yesterday. Zelensky asked the U.S. if it has emerged for more air defence systems, of course,
01:30as the Russian aerial attacks, bombs and drone attacks across the country continue. And it seems
01:38that in a statement put out by the U.S. officials, that President Trump has agreed to help Ukraine
01:44look for more air defence systems, perhaps by redeploying missile systems that are available.
01:50It said it's going to look to see what's available, particularly in Europe. So, lots of people
01:55in the European continent will be wondering where that's going to come from precisely as well.
01:59They both said their diplomacy is to continue in coming days in Saudi Arabia.
02:05President Zelensky undermined that he was committed to an unconditional ceasefire,
02:11again saying that the Russian President Vladimir Putin had only agreed to a limited ceasefire,
02:16which would involve not striking infrastructure around energy. So, pointing out the differences
02:22there. They're also set to talk about security in the Black Sea. And another crucial point which
02:29has been underlined by the U.S. is that apparently Donald Trump suggested to Zelensky that the U.S.
02:35could perhaps take control of some of the power plants such as the huge nuclear power plant,
02:40Europe's largest nuclear plant in Zaporizhia. So, that's another idea coming off the table.
02:46The ideas, the suggestions coming thick and fast. You know, the Americans are saying that they hope
02:52they can get the Russians and the Ukrainians on the same page. But meeting these competing demands,
02:58which still seem worlds apart, looks to be a very tough order. Nonetheless, President Zelensky in
03:05his office's readout of the call effusively thanked President Trump and the Americans.
03:11He made a point of doing so and said he believed that peace was possible within the coming year.
03:16Well, that's what was said, Catherine. But how have people where you are been reacting?
03:23People are a little bewildered where I am. So, I've been travelling through southern and central
03:27Ukraine in the past day or two. And a lot of people not really up to date with exactly who
03:34said what to who, because they don't really hold a lot of hope in this diplomatic process
03:41by the Trump administration. Of course, they have heard what Trump and Putin have said,
03:48and they've been following it perhaps rather cynically, rather sceptically, saying that
03:52peace should not be discussed by these two men and that Ukraine should have a say in its own future.
03:58And when you asked about, you know, do you think that President Zelensky is doing the right thing,
04:02offering this unilateral ceasefire for 30 days, there are really a mix of opinions. There are
04:08those who think that Ukraine should hold strong and not make any military concessions, not make
04:13any concessions on territory. Other people, though, saying, you know, perhaps we should be willing to
04:17compromise. The war has gone on long enough. And if you ask about overall how they think President
04:22Zelensky is doing in this face of this huge turnaround from the United States, its key ally,
04:29well, there's some pretty choice words, let me tell you, for President Trump. One elderly man we
04:35were speaking to in a mining town just this afternoon said that he, if he had been President
04:39Zelensky, would have taken a shotgun to the American president. So perhaps a good job that
04:42he's not in that diplomatic role. In any case, we've seen perhaps support for President Zelensky
04:47in Ukraine, which had been dropping as this war dragged on, take a boost after that very fiery
04:53Oval Office fallout. So he's had something of a popularity boost now, but whether he can get the
04:58results which will please Ukrainians, of course, is another matter. Yeah, time will have to tell.
05:04Catherine, thanks so much for that update. Good to have you. Thank you so much for joining me.