KYIV/WASHINGTON, March 20 – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has agreed to a limited ceasefire with Russia, following a call with U.S. President Donald Trump, who proposed American ownership of Ukraine’s power plants to safeguard their operations, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.
Trump told Zelenskyy the United States could play a “very helpful” role in managing the plants, leveraging its expertise in electricity and utilities, according to a White House statement issued by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz. The statement described the conversation as “fantastic.”
A day earlier, Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed in their own call to pursue a limited ceasefire focusing on energy and infrastructure targets. The Kremlin said the two leaders had a “detailed and frank exchange of views,” with Putin outlining conditions for a truce, including halting Ukraine’s military mobilization and the supply of Western arms to Kyiv.
Ukraine’s air force said on Thursday that Russia launched 171 drones in overnight attacks, the latest in a series of near-daily assaults. Ukrainian forces downed 75 of the drones, while 63 others went off radar without causing damage, the air force said in a statement.
A fire broke out at an airfield in Russia’s Saratov region after a Ukrainian drone attack, regional governor Roman Busargin said on Thursday .Authorities were evacuating residents near the airfield as a precaution, Busargin said on his Telegram channel. He provided no details on casualties or the extent of the damage.
The reported attack comes amid escalating cross-border strikes by both sides in the war, now in its third year. Russia has intensified its air raids on Ukrainian infrastructure, while Ukraine has increasingly targeted military sites deep inside Russian territory.
