Overview

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he called President Donald Trump on Oct. 11 to congratulate him on the Gaza ceasefire and to ask him to help broker peace in Ukraine.
• Zelensky reported he briefed Trump on recent Russian attacks on energy infrastructure and said they discussed strengthening Ukraine’s air defenses and working on concrete support agreements.
• The outreach came after a large-scale Oct. 10 Russian strike knocked out power in parts of Kyiv and nine other regions, with officials later reporting at least five deaths and outages in Odesa region on Oct. 11.
• Ukraine’s largest private utility, DTEK, said main restoration work in Kyiv was completed, though localized outages persisted after the latest barrage.
• Personal ties between Zelensky and Trump have warmed since February; Trump met Vladimir Putin in August without securing a deal, while both Kyiv and Moscow continue to blame each other for stalled negotiations.