Americas

Americas

White House Speaker: we’re looking at a lasting ceasefire, right now partial ceasefire

White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt

19 March 2025 22:42 (UTC +04:00)

When specifically asked about it, Leavitt also confirmed that “intelligence sharing in terms of defence of Ukraine will continue to be shared”, APA reports citing The Guardian.

She was also repeatedly asked about minor differences in the Kremlin and the White House readouts as to the extent of the proposed partial ceasefire, specifically whether it covered energy and infrastructure, as two separate items named by the US, or energy infrastructure, as put out by the Russian side.

Leavitt said she would “defer … to the readout that was provided by the White House,” as “that is our understanding and that is the truth.”

Asked about the minerals deal, she said the conversation has moved “beyond the economic minerals deal,” with focus on “partial ceasefire, and we are moving towards a full ceasefire and a longstanding peace in this conflict.”

Pressed further if that meant it is off the table, she said it was “the first set of framework” discussed earlier, but the US “was not focused on a long-term peace agreement.”

“The Ukrainian president, at the time, wasn’t talking about a greater peace deal. We are now at that place where we are talking about that,” she said.

“We’ve moved beyond just the economic minerals deal framework, and we’re looking at a lasting ceasefire, right now a partial ceasefire. But again, the president is sending his highly skilled, intelligent and experienced team to Saudi Arabia later this week to creating peace in this conflict, and I would just reiterate one more time, we have been closer to peace than we are today,” she said.

The press secretary was also asked about the proposed NHL-KHL ice hockey match, floated in the Kremlin readout, saying the US was “more interested in securing a peace deal than scheduling hockey games right now.”