International

Zelensky agrees to partial ceasefire with Russia, says US

Darpan News Desk IANS, 19 Mar, 2025 11:36 AM

Washington, March 19 (IANS) Ukranian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has agreed to a partial ceasefire in the war against Russia that was discussed by US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, the White House said on Wednesday.

Trump briefed Zelensky on a phone call about his conversation with Putin on Tuesday.

I had a positive, very substantive, and frank conversation with President of the United States Donald Trump @POTUS. I thanked him for a good and productive start to the work of the Ukrainian and American teams in Jeddah on March 11—this meeting of the teams significantly helped… pic.twitter.com/JFBd5EeIkg
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 19, 2025

The two leaders “agreed on a partial ceasefire against energy", Karoline Leavitt, the White House spokesperson said from a readout of Trump and Zelensky’s phone call to be issued by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz.

“Technical teams will meet in Saudi Arabia in the coming days to discuss broadening the cease fire to the Black Sea on the way to a full cease fire,” Levitt said further, adding, “They agreed this could be the first step toward the full end of the war in ensuring security.”

While President Trump had earlier proposed a 30-day ceasefire, which was accepted by President Zelenskyy, he and President Putin agreed instead on a limited ceasefire regarding only the energy and infrastructure sectors.

Levitt described the Wednesday phone call between Trump and Zelensky as “fantastic”.

“President Trump fully briefed President Zelensky on his conversation with Putin and the key issues discussed. They reviewed the situation in Kursk and agreed to share information closely between their defense staffs as the battlefield situation evolved. President Zelensky asked for additional air defense systems to protect his civilians, particularly Patriot missile systems. And President Trump agreed to work with him to find what was available, particularly in Europe,” Levitt said.

She added: “President Zelensky was grateful for the President's leadership in this effort, and reiterated his willingness to adopt a full ceasefire. President Trump also discussed Ukraine's electrical supply and nuclear power plants. He said that the United States could be very helpful in running those plants with its electricity and utility expertise. American ownership of those plants would be the best protection for that infrastructure and support for Ukrainian energy infrastructure.”

Prev Next

MORE International ARTICLES

Threat remains critical amid the battle against Los Angeles area wildfires

More powerful winds were expected to trigger new wildfires that could set back the recent progress made in containing blazes that have destroyed thousands of homes and killed at least 24 people.

Threat remains critical amid the battle against Los Angeles area wildfires

Trump gets no-penalty sentence in his hush money case, while calling it 'despicable'

President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced Friday to no punishment in his historic hush money case, a judgment that lets him return to the White House unencumbered by the threat of a jail term or a fine. With Trump appearing by video from his Florida estate, the sentence quietly capped an extraordinary case rife with moments unthinkable in the U.S. only a few years ago.

Trump gets no-penalty sentence in his hush money case, while calling it 'despicable'

Saving Torah scrolls and saying prayers, Los Angeles fires leave congregants without worship spaces

Flames were already attacking the campus of Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center when the cantor, Ruth Berman Harris, and three companions rushed in to rescue its sacred Torah scrolls. Physically, that’s now all that is left of the 80-year-old synagogue, destroyed by wildfires that also destroyed a mosque, a Catholic parish and a half-dozen Protestant churches.

Saving Torah scrolls and saying prayers, Los Angeles fires leave congregants without worship spaces

More than 4,000 structures have been destroyed in the fire just outside Los Angeles, fire chief says

More than 4,000 structures have been destroyed in the Eaton Fire in the Los Angeles area, as thousands more have burned in the Pacific Palisades community, fire officials said Thursday. Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said structures could include homes, apartment buildings, commercial buildings or even vehicles.

More than 4,000 structures have been destroyed in the fire just outside Los Angeles, fire chief says

Thousands flee as wildfires burn out of control and destroy homes across the Los Angeles area

Multiple massive wildfires tore across the Los Angeles area with devastating force early Wednesday, destroying more than 1,000 structures and killing at least two people as desperate residents escaped through flames, ferocious winds and towering clouds of smoke. At least four separate blazes were burning in the metropolitan area, from the Pacific Coast inland to Pasadena, home of the famed Rose Parade

Thousands flee as wildfires burn out of control and destroy homes across the Los Angeles area

US Army veteran who killed 15 in New Orleans attack was inspired by Islamic State

A U.S. Army veteran who drove a pickup truck into a crowd of New Year’s revelers in New Orleans, killing 15 people, had posted videos to social media hours before the carnage saying he was inspired by the Islamic State group and expressing a desire to kill, the president said.