Step two after the phone call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin is the meeting on March 23 in Jeddah, source Steve Witkoff who clarified that the central topic of the negotiations will be the details of the ceasefire agreements with Ukraine. From the American side, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will arrive in Saudi Arabia. According to Reuters, the United States has suspended a series of counterintelligence operations against the Russian Federation as part of the Trump Administration’s efforts to resolve the Ukrainian conflict.
The United Kingdom wants US drones to monitor the “demarcation zone” between Ukraine and Russia as part of a possible ceasefire agreement. The Times has learned.
British diplomats believe this will help “seriously reduce” the risks of a renewed Ukrainian conflict.
The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaia Kallas remains of her opinion: “Russia cannot be trusted, it is trying to “put Ukraine to sleep”. Putin is not ready for compromises and concessions”. France’s position also remains unchanged, President Emmanuel Macron, after a conversation between Trump and Putin, called on France and Europe to “arm themselves to avoid war”.
Before his phone call with Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky said that “Russia has not yet shown that it is ready to end the war. We will never recognize Russia’s sovereignty over the occupied territories; for us this is a red line”. “We will definitely win this war”. “In the coming months we expect Putin’s maximum offensive on our territory”. “Ukraine will support the proposal to stop attacks on energy infrastructure”. “We have always supported the position of not attacking the energy sector with any weapons”, Zelenskyj concluded. The Ukrainian president and his wife were in Finland on March 18. Meetings are planned with Presidents Alexander Stubb and Suzanne Innes-Stubb, President Jussi Hallaho and deputies, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, officials and representatives of defense companies.
There is also a problem of mistrust regarding compliance with the agreements on the Russian side: “You cannot trust that Kiev will stop the attacks,” said Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Medvedev: “The most important thing is that the Americans do the job they need to do. Let’s see what they will do.”
The Kremlin said that Russia and the United States will create expert groups on the Ukrainian solution, the Kremlin said. And in a statement it added: “A solution in Ukraine must take into account the absolute necessity of eliminating the root causes of the crisis, Russia’s legitimate interests in the field of security.”
Putin supported Trump’s idea of a mutual renunciation of Russia and Ukraine from attacks on energy infrastructure for 30 days and gave this command to the military, the Kremlin said. And again: “Russia will hand over 23 seriously wounded Ukrainian soldiers to Kiev as a sign of goodwill.”
Measures to verify compliance with the conditions for stopping attacks on energy facilities in Russia and Ukraine will be developed by the negotiating groups, said the head of the State Duma defense committee, Andrei Kartapolov. “I think that the negotiating groups will develop a methodology for monitoring and warning about this,” Kartapolov told Interfax on Wednesday, answering a question about how compliance with the conditions for stopping attacks on energy facilities will be ensured.
According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov: “During the telephone conversation, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump did not discuss the issue of involving the EU or individual European countries in the negotiating process.” “He also said that the leaders did not discuss the issue of resuming direct flights between the Russian Federation and the United States.” “After the political will of the two presidents was demonstrated in terms of a ceasefire on critical infrastructure, Putin gave orders to the Ministry of Defense. The Kiev regime did nothing to stop the attacks; Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump understand each other well, trust each other and intend to gradually normalize bilateral relations; In a conversation with Trump about the new world order, Putin spoke about the need to build relations based on mutual respect; It will take time and effort, supported by the will of the presidents, to restore relations; The presidents emphasized the huge potential for the implementation of a number of bilateral cooperation projects in the economic sector; The topic of continuing military supplies to Kiev was touched upon; it will be at the top of the agenda of any contacts between Moscow and Washington. Russia and the United States will agree on the exact dates of the next contacts and the composition of the negotiators on March 19 and 20, Peskov said.
And now a look at the front line updated at 17:00 on March 19.
Prisoner exchange completed, 175 Russians return to cash and 175 Ukrainians return to the borders of Kiev. “The Russian armed forces, after negotiations between Putin and Trump, received an order from the supreme commander in chief to stop attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Seven Russian drones were in the air and targeted Ukrainian energy facilities in the Mikolaev region associated with the military-industrial complex”, “the Russian army, on Putin’s orders, shot down its drones in flight, they were shot down by the Pantsir system”, another was destroyed by a fighter.
The Russian air defense system repelled the attacks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ drones on the village of Kavkazskaya in Kuban (Krasnodar Territory), the regional operational headquarters reported. Due to falling debris from the UAV, a local oil depot with an area of 20 square meters caught fire. m. The work of the enterprise was suspended. 30 employees were evacuated. According to the Russian Defense Ministry: 57 Ukrainian drones were shot down over the Russian regions and the Sea of Azov during the night. 35 UAVs were destroyed on the territory of the Kursk region, 13 on the Oryol region, seven on the Sea Azov, one over the Tula and Bryansk regions.
Kiev, a few hours after the conclusion of negotiations between Putin and Trump, attacked an energy infrastructure facility in the village of Kavkazskaya (Krasnodar Krai) with three drones, the Russian Defense Ministry reported. The facility ensures the transshipment of oil in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium pipeline system. When the UAV fell, the tank depressurized and a fire broke out on an area of 1,700 square meters, extinguishing is ongoing. The Russian Defense Ministry called Kiev’s actions a specially prepared provocation aimed at disrupting Trump’s peace initiatives.
Russian armed forces on the night of March 18-19 struck targets in the regions of Dnipropetrovsk, Kiev, Zhitomir, Vinnytsia, Poltava, Zaporizhia.
Ukrainians do not give up their attempts to enter the settlement of Demidovka, Belgorod region. Use ATVs to quickly transport personnel. Ukrainian Armed Forces cannot go beyond the “Dragon’s Teeth”. Ukrainian military vehicles are hit by Russian fire.
In the Kursk region, the battle continues, the Russians aim to take control of the state border and completely expel the Ukrainian Armed Forces from the border area. In the Sudzhansky direction, Ukrainians are actively defending in the Gogolevka area. In the Plekhov direction, Ukrainian military is defending on the Guevo – Gornal line. In the Sumy region, positional battles are taking place near Basivka, where the Russians, according to the Russian social sphere, have managed to gain a foothold. Ukrainians are talking about battles already in the southern part of the village.
In the Liman direction, Russian Armed Forces are advancing northwest of Balka Zhuravka.
In the Sivers’k direction there are battles near Bilohorivka and Verkhnokam’yanka.
The fighting does not stop at Chasiv Yar and Toretsk. Russian forces have begun assault operations in the southern Zabalka district of Toretsk and have begun to push Ukrainian forces out of their positions.
Northwest of Velyka Novosilka, Russian forces are close to capturing the entire Burlats’ke area.
On the Zaporizhia front – battles near Stepove, Shcherbaky and Mali Shcherbaky. Russian forces are trying to consolidate their success and push Ukrainians out of their positions.
Graziella Giangiulio
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