The president of the European Council, Antonio Costa, said he was encouraged by a telephone call earlier today between the leaders of the US and Ukraine, Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky.

“The discussion with President Zelenski was positive. I am encouraged by his substantive phone communication with Donald Trump,” Costa wrote on X.

He also said that “stopping attacks on energy and other civilian infrastructure would be an important first step towards ending the war. We will continue our discussions with (Ukrainian) President Zelensky tomorrow at the European Council.”