Zelenskyy rejects talks on potential US ownership of Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday rejected any talks on the potential US ownership of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

US President Donald Trump and Zelenskyy discussed the situation surrounding energy supplies to Ukraine and the country's nuclear power plants during a phone conversation on Wednesday, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement released by the White House.

According to the statement, Trump told Zelenskyy that the US could be helpful in running the plants and that its ownership would be the “best protection.”

Zelenskyy told journalists in a briefing after the meeting that he and Trump did discuss the restoration of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) and that Ukraine is ready to discuss the modernization of the plant.

“If the Americans are thinking about how to find a way out of this situation, want to take it (ZNPP) away from the Russians, and want to invest and modernize it—that is a different question … But we definitely did not discuss the issue of ownership (with Trump),” Zelenskyy told a joint press conference with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store in Oslo.

Expressing that all of the country's nuclear power plants belong to the Ukrainian people, Zelenskyy said that those working at the plant have received their salaries from the Ukrainian state and are Ukrainians.

Zelenskyy further said that the issue of the ZNPP is a “dangerous” one because of the lack of proper maintenance at the station, despite the presence of personnel from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The Ukrainian president underlined the station's “very severe technical condition,” saying that there is no normal supply of water to cool down the reactors at the plant following the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam in June 2023.

He went on to say that Trump asked him about his thoughts on the plant during their phone conversation, adding: “I told him that if it is not Ukrainian, then it will not work for anyone. This is illegal.”

The situation around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe's largest and one of the world's 10 biggest, particularly remains tense as concerns persist over a possible nuclear disaster between Moscow and Kyiv, both of which have frequently accused each other of attacks around the facility.

Since Sept. 1, 2022, IAEA personnel have been present at the plant, which has been under Russian control since March 2022.