Zelenskyy Calls on Trump to Harness Gaza Ceasefire for Advancing Peace in Ukraine

According to Rokna, citing The Guardian, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on U.S. President Donald Trump to use the momentum from the Gaza ceasefire to advance peace efforts in Ukraine, according to a phone conversation between the two leaders on Saturday.

During the call, Zelenskyy raised Ukraine’s request for the U.S. to authorize the delivery of Tomahawk cruise missiles to enhance Kyiv’s capacity for long-range strikes within Russia, alongside other strategic discussions, Axios reported. This follows Trump’s earlier statement suggesting he had “tentatively decided” to supply Tomahawks to NATO countries for potential delivery to Ukraine.

“If a war can be halted in one region, then surely conflicts elsewhere—including the Russian war—can also be addressed,” Zelenskyy wrote on Facebook, one day after Moscow launched a major drone and missile assault on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, causing widespread blackouts in Kyiv and other areas.

“I briefed President Trump on Russia’s attacks on our energy network, and I value his readiness to support Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said on X, adding that their conversation was “very positive and productive,” focusing on “concrete agreements” to strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses.

The call occurred amid growing concern in Kyiv over the escalating scale of Russian airstrikes and Ukraine’s ability to counter increasingly sophisticated aerial assaults involving hundreds of drones simultaneously, alongside improved Russian countermeasures.

Ukraine’s Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi warned that Russia is intensifying its air campaigns. “New challenges lie ahead. Over the past month, the enemy has increased the number of air attack assets, and although our air defenses remain about 74% effective, additional efforts are required to protect critical infrastructure, energy sectors, and logistics,” Syrskyi stated.

Earlier this week, Russia launched 465 Shahed-type attack and decoy drones, as well as 32 cruise and ballistic missiles targeting Ukraine.

The latest discussions between Trump and Zelenskyy come amid ongoing deliberations in Washington regarding Ukraine’s long-standing request for Tomahawk cruise missiles—a move that Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned would mark “a completely new and qualitatively escalated phase.”

The call also reflects a warming of relations between the U.S. president and Zelenskyy. In his nightly address on Friday, Zelenskyy highlighted that Russia is exploiting the world’s focus on Middle East peace efforts and emphasized the need to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense systems and tighten sanctions on Russia.

“Russian assets must be fully utilized to reinforce our defense and support recovery,” he stated in a video posted on X.

Meanwhile, the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in a joint statement on Friday that they are ready to coordinate the use of “frozen Russian sovereign assets to support Ukraine’s armed forces and bring Russia to the negotiating table,” adding that these efforts would be carried out “in close cooperation with the United States.”