Trump Needs to Take Over Ukraine’s Nuclear Crops. What Would That Imply?

Throughout a name with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine this week, President Trump floated a extremely uncommon thought: The US may take management of Ukrainian nuclear energy crops.

“He mentioned that the USA may very well be very useful in working these crops with its electrical energy and utility experience,” the White Home mentioned in an announcement after the decision on Wednesday. “American possession of these crops could be the perfect safety for that infrastructure and assist for Ukrainian vitality infrastructure.”

The concept shocked officers and vitality consultants in Kyiv. Mr. Zelensky appeared to reject it on Thursday, saying that nuclear crops had been state-owned and couldn’t be privatized, though he welcomed financial cooperation with the U.S. aspect. He added that the difficulty of U.S. possession of the crops had not been immediately addressed in the course of the name.

Solely one among Ukraine’s 4 nuclear crops — the Zaporizhzhia plant, now beneath Russian management — had been mentioned within the dialog, Mr. Zelensky mentioned.

“If the Individuals are interested by easy methods to discover a approach out of this case, in the event that they need to take it away from the Russians, put money into its restoration, that is an open query,” he instructed a information convention throughout a go to to Norway.

Past the confusion over what had been mentioned, one factor was clear: Mr. Trump desires a giant financial stake in Ukraine.