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KYIV — U.S. President Donald Trump’s transactional approach to bringing peace to Ukraine has found a new craving: the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Trump discussed the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) during a call on Wednesday. Trump offered to help solve the ongoing dispute over Russians illegally controlling the plant, Zelenskyy said.
“President Trump asked me [about the plant], I told him that if it is not Ukrainian, it will not work for anyone. This is illegal. [But] if the Americans are thinking about how to find a way out and want to take it away from the Russians and modernize it — this is a different issue, an open issue. We can talk about it,” Zelenskyy said at a press conference Thursday in Oslo
While such a gambit would be complicated, not least because the invading Russian military currently occupies the site, the leadership in Kyiv is mulling the idea as Ukraine searches for a lasting security guarantee from the U.S. Initially that backstop looked set to take the form of a minerals deal giving America lucrative preferential access to Ukraine’s critical raw materials.
“The idea of ZNPP was first discussed in terms of the mineral deal. Mining needs a lot of electricity. This station is the biggest in Europe. So, the American side came up with the idea that we can work together to return the control over the station,” a senior Ukrainian official familiar with the matter told POLITICO on condition of anonymity to be able to speak freely.
“But for us, it is more than just a station because we do not consider the de-occupation of the NPP without its satellite city Enerhodar, where the NPP workers live. Some of them and their relatives were practically taken as prisoners by Russians,” the official added.
In Washington, Trump’s top foreign policy official lobbied for the plan.
“[Trump] said that the United States could be very helpful in running those plants with its electricity and utility expertise. American ownership of those plants would be the best protection for that infrastructure and support for Ukrainian energy infrastructure,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement Wednesday after the call with Zelenskyy.
The Ukrainian president clarified in a late-night video conversation with reporters that the leaders had only discussed one nuclear power plant: Zaporizhzhia, which is located on the outskirts of Enerhodar and is occupied by Russia. “But we did not discuss the issue of ownership with President Trump,” Zelenskyy added Thursday, noting that ZNPP, like other Ukrainian plants, belongs to the people of Ukraine.
On Monday White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also said Trump was planning to discuss ZNPP during a phone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Our station, our land
Russian forces occupied the station in March 2022 and pushed its staff to defect to Russia; some were arrested or forced to flee to Ukraine-controlled territory.
The station used to be a crucial cog in Ukraine’s energy system, producing six gigawatts of power and covering 20 percent of the country’s electricity needs. Since the 2022 Russian invasion, however, it has not been operational.
But the Russians plan to restart it, and Moscow nuclear energy operator Rosatom has illegally taken over the management of the plant — which environmental watchdogs claim is a violation of international law.
“The NPP is in danger because Russians rule there with weapons,” Zelenskyy said. “We are able to restart the station. But getting access to the plant will not be enough. It needs infrastructure to start producing energy for people. And the president asked me what if America would be able to restore the NPP. And I told him yes, if there’s a possibility to modernize, invest in it, we are ready to discuss it with you.”
However, Zelenskyy added, it will take at least two years to restore the station and start producing electricity, and only Ukrainians can do the work.
“We can’t just give this station to someone. And if we want it to start working again, and become safe, Ukrainians must take it over, not only because it is our station and our land. We need to be able to restore the station and make it safe for the entire world. We can’t just give it away,” the Ukrainian leader said.
“And [a] restart is impossible if Russians will remain nearby. Nobody will work like that. Nobody will trust them. Because that is impossible.”
For a deal on ZNPP to be legitimate, Ukraine says, the Russians must be removed from Enerhodar.
“Moreover, there’s a lack-of-water-in-a-cooling-pond issue after Russians destroyed the Kakhovka dam. We can provide water and personnel. It is our station,” the senior Ukrainian official said.
