Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump seeks to seize control of nuclear plants via minerals deal after Zelensky pushback

Donald Trump has floated the idea of taking control of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants, in a phone call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.

The conversation on Wednesday was described as positive by both sides and was mainly aimed at securing a truce between Ukraine and Russia on aerial attacks against one another’s energy infrastructure.

Mr Zelensky suggested the call had focused on the US takeover of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which is under Russian control.

My colleague Tom Watling takes a look:

Russian president Vladimir Putin's top security adviser Sergei Shoigu has landed in North Korea and plans to meet its leader Kim Jong Un, the TASS news agency reported on Friday, his latest visit amid dramatic advances in security relations between the two countries.

The TASS report did not provide further details and North Korea's state media did not report on Mr Shoigu's arrival.

Mr Shoigu, Russia’s defence minister until last May and secretary of the Security Council since then, had earlier made visits to Pyongyang as North Korea allegedly geared up to deploy soldiers to fight for Russia in its war against Ukraine.

Donald Trump is seeking to reopen negotiations on a deal for the US access to critical minerals and energy assets in Ukraine, after earlier talks collapsed following a public clash between the leaders of the two countries.

Volodymyr Zelensky had said he was ready to sign the previous agreement, but the US is now expanding its economic demands, the Financial Times reported citing Ukrainian officials.

Washington is seeking assurances from Kyiv on the ownership and control structure of a joint investment fund, as well as broader provisions that could extend to US ownership of other key economic assets, including Ukraine’s nuclear power plants, according to two Ukrainian officials.

Speaking at the White House on Thursday, Mr Trump stated that the US was actively pursuing deals on rare earths and minerals worldwide, with Ukraine being a particular priority.

Ukrainian officials expressed concern about being pressured into accepting unfavourable terms in a wider agreement, particularly following Washington's temporary suspension of weapons deliveries and intelligence sharing with Kyiv earlier this month.

It comes after Mr Zelensky and Mr Trump said they held a "positive" but "frank" phone call after their public spat at the White House.

An explosion rocked an oil depot in Russia's Krasnodar region where firefighters are trying to extinguish a blaze that broke out after a Ukrainian drone attack earlier this week, regional authorities said on Friday.

"During the extinguishing process, due to depressurisation of the burning tank, there was an explosion of oil products and release of burning oil," officials said on the Telegram messaging app.

The fire spread to another tank, and the fire area increased to 10,000 square metres, they added. Two firefighters were injured.

The depot, near the village of Kavkazskaya, is a rail terminal for Russian oil supplies to a pipeline linking Kazakhstan to the Black Sea.

Russia's foreign ministry said on Thursday that Ukraine had already violated a proposed ceasefire on energy sites by attacking the depot

The Ukrainian military suggested it had carried out a "successful strike" in western Russia's Kursk region on the Sudzha gas station, through which Russia sends gas to Europe.

A picture showing a huge fireball rising skyward was shared on the Ukrainian military Telegram channel following the strike.

"Media are reporting a successful strike on the Sudzha gas transport system through which the enemy used to transport gas to Europe,” it said, citing media reports.

There was no official word on the incident from the government in Kyiv.

Authorities in Moscow also did not report the incident.

Ukrainian forces have faced pressure from the Russian army in the area for the last seven months.

The station at Sudzha was the only point through which Russian gas had passed on its way through Ukraine and on to Europe until Ukraine declined to prolong a transit agreement in January this year.

Ukrainian media also reported the strike and posted video footage of the blaze, as did Telegram channels in the Kursk region.

The Baza Telegram channel, close to the Russian security services, said the pipeline had been damaged.

Russia's foreign ministry said on Thursday that Ukraine had already violated a proposed ceasefire on energy sites in the three-year-old war by attacking an oil depot in the southern Russian region of Krasnodar.

Three people were injured after Russia launched a drone attack on Ukraine's Black Sea port city of Odesa late on Thursday.

Regional governor Oleh Kiper said drone strikes damaged high-rise buildings and a shopping centre, sparking huge fires.

The attacks happened in three locations, causing power outages in the area.

Public broadcaster Suspilne had earlier reported more than 18 explosions in the city after 10pm.

Russia has imposed a state of emergency in the district of Engels in the Saratov region after 10 people were injured in a Ukrainian drone attack on a military airfield.

All those wounded are being treated in hospital and there is no threat to their lives, the head of the regional health ministry told a local TV channel.

Ukraine struck Russia's Engels strategic bomber base on Thursday with drones, triggering a major blast and fire.

Several buildings in the area were damaged following the strike.

French president Emmanuel Macron said he will host a meeting of European leaders with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in Paris next Thursday to discuss ways to help defend Ukraine.

He said his goal was to discuss ways to speed up immediate military support, how to make a possible ceasefire work, and draw up plans to beef up the Ukrainian military after a deal and possibly deploy troops there.

Russian president Vladimir Putin's top security adviser Sergei Shoigu has arrived in North Korea and plans to meet its leader Kim Jong Un today, Russian news agencies reported this morning.

Further details of the former Russian defence minister's visit to North Korea are not immediately clear. North Korea's state media have not reported on Shoigu's arrival.

Mr Shoigu had earlier made visits to Pyongyang as North Korea geared up to deploy troops to fight for Russia in its war against Ukraine.

According to the US and South Korean officials, North Korea has deployed more than 10,000 troops who were sent into combat in Russia's eastern Kursk region and also shipped heavy weapons including artillery and ballistic missiles.

Seizing the opportunity to drive a wedge between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, Ukraine’s president has moved swiftly to usher the American president back towards his corner.

By respecting, vocally, Trump’s efforts to get a ceasefire with Russia, Ukraine has exposed Putin’s deep reluctance to agree to any lowering of hostilities until he can be sure of permanently mangling Ukraine’s sovereignty.

According to a briefing on a call between Volodymyr Zelensky and Trump, the US president has calmed down, stopped calling him a “dictator”, and come up with an agreement to supply some badly needed air defences for Ukraine.

Sam Kiley writes from Odesa: