The tone has changed totally. It’s a remarkable turnaround from the Oval Office meltdown to the perfect phone call.

President Trump is wholly transactional. His desire for give and take far outweighs any ideological instincts. He has no particular alignment to Ukraine or, for that matter, to Russia.

He just wants a deal. Peace would stop the killing as he has said repeatedly. It would also allow for deals which can benefit America: recouping the taxpayer money spent on Ukraine and reconnecting the American economy with Russia.

But trumping all that is his legacy and his image. He wants to be seen as the peacemaker president.

Since the Oval Office moment, Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy seems now to have recognised all that.

Ukraine’s approach towards Trump has changed. Zelenskyy is now playing his game: transactionalism.

The minerals deal hasn’t dissolved. The indications I am getting is that it’s essentially been upgraded and broadened to a wider scope: fuller economic cooperation.

Zelenskyy needs to encourage America deep into his country economically. Has he bought into the idea that a US economic footprint amounts to a key part of a security guarantee?

Read more:
A timeline of Trump and Zelenskyy’s relationship
What could be the future of Ukraine?
Sky’s correspondents react to Trump-Putin phone call

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The old adage is: “If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.” That’s too true with President Trump.

Zelenskyy now feels like he’s at the table and I am told he doesn’t feel coerced.

The challenges remain huge though: he doesn’t trust Putin. That’s what he tried to tell President Trump in the Oval Office. The performance that day proved to him that Trump is inclined to trust Putin.

Zelenskyy must use transactionalism to draw an impatient Trump in.

President Trump is in a hurry for a deal. He’s inclined to accept wholly disingenuous commitments from Russia, or as one source put it to me: “Trump has a high tolerance for bullshit…”

That’s the jeopardy for Zelenskyy.

US President Donald Trump has had a “very good” call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the White House says, during which US ownership of Ukraine’s energy network was discussed to help protect it.

Mr Trump also agreed to “help locate” additional air defence support in Europe after a request from the Ukrainian leader, a statement about the one-hour phone call said.

Further talks will take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in the coming days, and the US will continue intelligence sharing with Ukraine, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

Mr Trump also agreed to work to ensure missing Ukrainian children are returned home and both parties agreed to a temporary 30-day ceasefire involving attacks against energy facilities, with the US president saying the US “could be very helpful in running those plants with its electricity and utility expertise”, Ms Leavitt said.

Secretary of state Marco Rubio also issued a statement about the call saying that “President Trump also discussed Ukraine’s electrical supply and nuclear power plants.

“He 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.”

The White House statement added that Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskyy also reviewed the situation in Kursk and agreed to share information closely.

The presidents instructed their teams to move ahead with the details of implementing a partial ceasefire, with discussions to include expanding any ceasefire to the Black Sea.

“We have never been closer to peace,” Ms Leavitt added.

In comments later on Wednesday, Mr Zelenskyy said that Mr Trump understands that Ukraine will not recognise occupied land as Russian, and that he would like the US president to visit Ukraine – adding that “it would be helpful for Trump in his peace efforts”.

In an earlier statement, President Zelenskyy said the two leaders had “a positive, very substantive and frank conversation”.

Mr Zelenskyy echoed much of Mr Trump’s statement about what was decided, and said later that he “felt no pressure” from the US president.

“We agreed that Ukraine and the United States should continue working together to achieve a real end to the war and lasting peace. We believe that together with America, with President Trump, and under American leadership, lasting peace can be achieved this year,” Mr Zelenskyy said

He added that Ukraine would “continue working to make this happen”.

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“I stressed that Ukrainians want peace, which is why Ukraine accepted the proposal for an unconditional ceasefire,” he said. “I highlighted the importance of President Trump’s concept of peace through strength. We agreed to maintain constant contact, including at the highest level and through our teams.”

In an earlier post on Truth Social, Mr Trump said the “very good” phone call lasted around one hour.

Read more:
A timeline of Trump and Zelenskyy’s relationship
What could be the future of Ukraine?
Sky’s correspondents react to Trump-Putin phone call

“Much of the discussion was based on the call made yesterday with President Putin in order to align both Russia and Ukraine in terms of their requests and needs,” Mr Trump said.

“We are very much on track,” he added.

The call marks the first time Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskyy have spoken since the disastrous confrontation in the White House last month.

Mr Zelenskyy travelled to Washington expecting to sign a critical minerals deal but left early after he and Trump clashed in front of the world’s cameras.

On Tuesday, Mr Trump and Vladimir Putin held a phone call lasting about an hour and a half in which the Russian leader rejected a full 30-day ceasefire.

He agreed to not attack Ukraine’s energy infrastructure for 30 days. The two countries also swapped 175 prisoners each earlier this morning.

The relationship between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been complex over the years.

Relations between the two presidents extend as far back as 2019, the year the Ukrainian leader took office.

It has since weathered the start of the war in Ukraine, Mr Trump‘s reelection and last month’s heated exchange in the Oval Office, in which Mr Zelenskyy was accused of being “disrespectful” to his country’s most powerful ally.

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Here we look back at the key moments that have helped shape the pair’s relationship and how it has changed over the years.

The ‘perfect’ phone call

One of the first times Mr Zelenskyy spoke with Mr Trump was in July 2019, months after he became president of Ukraine.

During a 30-minute phone call, the US leader suggested that in exchange for future military support for Ukraine, Mr Zelenskyy should help launch an investigation into Joe Biden’s son, Hunter.

Trump allies alleged Mr Biden had lobbied Ukraine to dismiss its top prosecutor to obstruct a probe into energy fIrm Burisma, which had Hunter Biden as one of its board members.

Mr Trumo’s request coincided with him appearing to want to weaken Mr Biden as he competed to become the Democratic nominee for the presidential election.

It was this call that formed the basis for Mr Trump’s first impeachment by the Democratic-controlled House in December 2019 on abuse of power and obstruction of justice charges.

Mr Trump denied wrongdoing at the time and referred to his exchange with Mr Zelenskyy as a “perfect” phone call. He was later acquitted by the Senate.

Mr Zelenskyy later admitted, during his first face-to-face meeting with Mr Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2019, that there was “no blackmail” involved in the exchange.

Outbreak of war

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, triggering the biggest conflict on the European continent since the Second World War.

At the time, the Biden administration made steadfast military and political support for Ukraine a centrepiece of US foreign policy, which included huge sums of military assistance.

Mr Trump condemned the war as “appalling”, saying at the time that he was praying for Ukrainians. He even extended praise to Mr Zelenskyy, calling him “brave” for staying in the capital, Kyiv.

In the run-up to the 2024 presidential election, Mr Trump claimed he would be able to stop the war in 24 hours, adding that he would be able to “get it settled” before even entering the White House.

Doubting the claims, Mr Zelenskyy invited Mr Trump to Ukraine during an interview with Sky News’ US partner network, NBC News, in November 2023.

“If he can come here, I will need 24 minutes – yes, 24 minutes. Not more. Yes. Not more – 24 minutes to explain [to] President Trump that he can’t manage this war [in that time frame],” Mr Zelenskyy told Meet The Press presenter Kristen Welker.

He added at the time that he was unsure if Mr Trump would have Ukraine’s back if he were to re-enter the White House.

Meeting ahead of US election

A month before Mr Trump won the US election, Mr Zelenskyy visited him in Trump Tower, New York.

The trip, which took place in September, came after Mr Zelenskyy told the New Yorker magazine that he thought Mr Trump “doesn’t really know how to stop the war”.

He added, “many leaders have thought they could, but have been unable to do so”.

While in New York, the pair discussed ending the war, with Mr Trump telling Fox News after the meeting that Mr Zelenskyy wants fighting in his country to stop.

Mr Zelenskyy also reissued the invite for Mr Trump to visit Ukraine, to which he said he would accept.

‘Dictator without elections’

Work seemingly began on a ceasefire deal soon after Mr Trump was sworn into office.

Mr Zelenskyy said in February that he was working with a team from the Trump administration, describing the US as the “power that has the ability to not only stop the war but also help ensure the reliability of peace afterwards”.

But relations quickly seemed to turn sour when the US administration held talks with Russian officials in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia without Ukraine.

The four-and-a-half hour meeting was condemned by Kyiv, who said talks should not be held behind Ukraine’s back. Mr Zelenskyy also postponed a visit to Saudi Arabia, reportedly as a way to avoid giving the US-Russian meeting “legitimacy”.

The US-Russian meetings appeared to work as a catalyst of dwindling relations between the two presidents, with Mr Trump then suggesting that Ukraine was responsible for starting the war, adding that Mr Zelenskyy had “better move fast” or he would have no country left.

Her later called Mr Zelenskyy a “dictator without elections” – a dig at him remaining in office after Ukraine’s general election was delayed due to Russia’s invasion.

He also repeated the claim that the Ukrainian president has low approval ratings – which had already been dismissed by Mr Zelenskyy as Russian disinformation – and claimed American aid money had been misused.

That Oval Office meeting

Despite prior crosswords, relations between Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskyy appeared to be back on track near the end of February, when Ukraine said it wanted to sign a minerals deal with the US, giving them the right to $500bn (£394bn) in potential revenue from the resources.

The deal had planned to be signed during an in-person meeting in the Oval Office, but Mr Zelenskyy’s visit was cut short due to a clash in front of the world’s media.

The last 10 minutes of the almost 45-minute meeting descended into a tense back-and-forth, which began with vice president JD Vance telling Mr Zelenksyy: “I think it’s disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media.

“You should be thanking the President [Trump] for trying to bring an end to this conflict.”

As the Ukrainian president tried to object, Mr Trump raised his voice and told him: “You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people.

“You’re gambling with World War Three, and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country that’s backed you far more than a lot of people say they should have.”

Read more:
What could be the future of Ukraine?
Sky’s correspondents react to Trump-Putin phone call

The back ‘on track’ phone call

Addressing Congress a few days after the meeting in the Oval Office, Mr Trump said he had received an “important letter” from Mr Zelenskyy in which he said he would work under his leadership to reach a peace deal.

The letter appeared to echo what Mr Zelenskyy had said in a statement on social media hours after the US reported it was pausing military aid to Kyiv.

Mr Zelenskyy described the Oval Office meeting as “regrettable”, adding that it “did not go the way it was supposed to be” and it was “time to make things right”.

He also added that he was “ready to sign” the mineral deal, which had remained a sticking point between the two countries.

The pair did not have any direct contact until Wednesday, when they had an hour-long phone call.

Mr Trump described the conversation as “very good” adding that he and Mr Zelenskyy are “very much on track”.

He said most of the call was based on what he discussed with Russian President Vladimir Putin the day before.