Zelensky urges Trump to broker Ukraine peace

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Donald Trump to broker peace in Ukraine like in "the Middle East" during a phone call Saturday, saying if Trump could stop one war, "others can be stopped as well".

The call came a day after Russia launched a large-scale attack on Ukraine's energy grid, knocking out power to parts of the capital Kyiv and nine other Ukrainian regions.

Diplomatic efforts to end Russia's invasion of Ukraine have slowed in recent months, in part because global attention shifted to Israel's two-year war with militant Palestinian group Hamas, Kyiv says.

Trump, who announced the first phase of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas on Wednesday, met Russian President Vladimir Putin for talks in August but failed to extract any kind of peace deal.

"I had a call with US President Donald Trump. A very positive and productive one," Zelensky said on Facebook, congratulating Trump for his "outstanding" ceasefire plan in the Middle East.

"If a war can be stopped in one region, then surely other wars can be stopped as well, including the Russian war," Zelensky added, calling for Trump to pressure Russia into negotiations.

Relations between the two leaders have warmed dramatically since February, when they sparred during a now infamous televised meeting at the White House.