WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) - The White House says the U.S. is making progress on ending the war in Ukraine after President Donald Trump spoke on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Wednesday.
However, the conflict is still ongoing. Late Tuesday, patients evacuated a Ukrainian hospita
l after Russian strikes.
"Attacks like these are precisely why President Trump is committed to peace. It is time for the death and destruction to stop," State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.
Bruce says the U.S. is getting closer to a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, but there's still a ways to go.
"The shooting has to stop first," Bruce said.
President Trump spoke on the phone with President Zelenskyy Wednesday. He posted on Truth Social it was a "very good" phone call, and said the U.S. is "on track" to ending the war.
"We have never been closer to peace than we are today," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says Zelenskyy agreed to a "partial" 30-day ceasefire on energy infrastructure.
She says the president also floated having the U.S. run Ukraine's nuclear plants.
"American ownership of those plants would be the best protection for that infrastructure and support for Ukrainian energy infrastructure," Leavitt said.
The call with Zelenskyy comes after the president spoke with President Vladimir Putin Tuesday. That's when he agreed to pause strikes on energy infrastructure but stopped short of agreeing to a ceasefire.
U.S. officials say that's progress.
"We're moving toward a full ceasefire and a longstanding peace in this conflict and that's great news for the American public," Leavitt said.
The White House says negotiators will meet in Saudi Arabia later this week to try to expand the partial ceasefire and end the fighting. ...read more read less
