Zelenskyy: Won't discuss US ownership of nuclear power plants

OSLO: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Thursday said he could not legally negotiate ownership of occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, which President Donald Trump suggested Washington could take over.

Trump said the US could own and run Ukraine's nuclear power plants, the latest in a series of proposals he has made to the war-torn country, reliant on Washington's support to fend off Russian invasion.

"We will not discuss it. We have 15 nuclear power units in operation today. This all belongs to our state," Zelensky said in Oslo, where he held talks with Norway's PM Jonas Gahr Store.

He said the nuclear plants legally belonged to the Ukrainian people but Kyiv was open to US investment once Ukraine got back control of the Zaporizhzhia plant, seized by Russian troops at the start of the war. "If they want to take it back from the Russians, if they want to modernise it, invest this is a different question, this is an open question, we can talk about it," Zelensky added. Trump made the proposal during a call with Zelensky Wednesday, which was believed to be their first since a blazing televised row in Oval Office last month.

Trump's tone was positive after the call, during which he "discussed Ukraine's electrical supply and nuclear power plants"read a statement from NSA Mike Waltz and secretary of state Marco Rubio.