WATCH: Bishkek residents found many government buildings ransacked and most of the shops empty and looted in the center of the Kyrgyz capital this morning. (video: Reuters)

BISHKEK (RFE/RL) -- Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev has said he will not relinquish power to an opposition coalition that said it was forming an interim government in the wake of a violent uprising.

In an interview with the Russian radio station Ekho Moskvy, Bakiev said, "I am the elected head of state and I do not accept any defeat."

His remarks came after the opposition said it had taken control of the government and dissolved parliament following the April 7 clashes between antigovernment protesters and police that left at least 75 people dead and hundreds more wounded.

Roza Otunbaeva, a former foreign minister, said she was now head of a temporary caretaker government (see profile) after Prime Minister Daniyar Usenov signed a letter of resignation.

In an interview with RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service today, Otunbaeva said she would coordinate an interim administration for at least six months until a new constitution is drafted that would pave the way for "fair" presidential and parliamentary elections:

But Bakiev, speaking to Ekho Moskvy several hours later, said he did not intend to resign and accused the opposition of an armed seizure of power.

"I think this is a real orgy [of violence] carried out by an armed group of people and I do not consider it my defeat," Bakiev said. He acknowledged, however, that he had been "stripped of any possibility" to influence events in the country at the moment.

The statement from Bakiev was the first since the unrest erupted in the northwestern city of Talas on April 6. His exact whereabouts are still unclear, though he said he was currently in the south of the country -- his stronghold -- as the opposition had earlier suggested.

Bakiev's statement of defiance capped another extraordinary day of events in Kyrgyzstan and raised the prospect of continued instability in the Central Asian country.

In what appeared to be an early sign of recognition of the interim government, the website of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said he spoke to Otunbaeva by phone today in her capacity as the "head of the Kyrgyz government of national confidence."

Otunbaeva -- who helped bring Bakiev to power in the 2005 revolution that toppled his predecessor, Askar Akaev -- had urged the president to resign, saying his business "in Kyrgyzstan is finished."

Bakiev's Whereabouts Unclear

Bakiev has yet to appear in public since the unrest erupted in the northwestern city of Talas on April 6, and his exact whereabouts were not immediately clear.

He reportedly fled the capital for the southern part of the country, where Otunbaeva said he was trying to rally supporters "in order to continue defending his positions."

RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service correspondent in the southern city of Jalal-Abad said the regional governor told a crowd there today that Jalalabad was establishing a "committee" to protect Bakiev. Governor Koshbai Masirov said Jalal-Abad would not allow anyone to offend "our son," a reference to Bakiev, who hails from the region.

There's also been no word from Prime Minister Usenov.

The country's de facto rulers -- many of them political figures released just hours earlier from jail -- said they were in control of the army, police, media, the parliament, the White House, hospitals and Bishkek international airport.

Among those released was Ismail Isakov, a former defense minister jailed on what supporters said were politically motivated charges of abuse of power. Isakov -- named by Otunbaeva as interim defense minister -- said people had nothing to fear now from the security forces, and described the security situation as stable.

"There is no reason to conclude that security is not being maintained in the country. The people's power has been established everywhere. The border guards are guarding the borders and carrying out their own duties," Isakov said. "There is just one matter that we need to stop activities of tiny clans of the corrupt families who care about their own interests, then, as I strongly believe, life will go on by its order."



However, RFE/RL Kyrgyz Service correspondents said the situation in Bishkek remained chaotic today. With continued looting and city residents setting up voluntary groups in an attempt to keep order, the self-proclaimed new interior minister, Bolot Sherniazov, ordered security forces to fire on looters.

Some of the members of Otunbaeva's team were seen talking to crowds of people who were outside the White House.

A national day of mourning will be held on April 9 to honor victims of the April 7 clashes.

RFE/RL's correspondent in the northern Chui Province also said there had been reports today that groups of Kyrgyz had attacked members of the local Dungan minority, a Muslim people of Chinese origin.

In a radio address, Otunbaeva called on people "not to give in to provocations or destroy and loot the property of ordinary citizens."

The chaos followed weeks of tension between the opposition and the government led by Bakiev, who opponents say has cracked down on independent media and fostered corruption.

In other developments today, Russian news agencies reported that Moscow had sent 150 extra troops to its military base in Kant. The Kremlin also said it ordered increased protection for Russian diplomatic missions and other institutions in Kyrgyzstan.

And the UN secretary-general and the current chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Kazakhstan, said they would send special envoys to Kyrgyzstan to monitor the situation.

The European Union's foreign-policy chief, Catherine Ashton, called for a quick return to law and order and said the EU would offer emergency aid to Kyrgyzstan.

Washington Reaching Out To Both Sides

The international community -- including the United States, Russia, China and the United Nations -- has urged all sides to show calm and restraint.

Before the opposition claimed control, Bakiev’s son, Maxim, accompanied by Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Kadyrbek Sarbaev, left Bishkek for Washington to take part in government-level meetings.

Today U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said a State Department official met briefly this morning with Sarbaev to inform him that the scheduled meeting had been canceled.

He added that in Bishkek this morning, the U.S. Embassy's charge’ d’affairs had met with Otunbaeva, and said in both encounters, the U.S. message was that “we hope that calm will be restored in a manner consistent with democratic principles.”

“Our priority at this point is law and order and that democracy be established in accordance with the rule of law,” Crowley said. “We continue to reach out to government officials and opposition leaders in every way that we possibly can.”

Crowley said there has been no U.S. contact with Bakiev, and when asked if Washington still considers him the president, the spokesman replied that U.S. officials are “in touch with government ministries … and opposition figures” alike.

“We stand with the people of Kyrgyzstan. We understand that there were specific grievances that resulted in the demonstrations that have produced an opposition that now says that it has effective control of the government,” he said, adding, “We will continue to work to help Kyrgyzstan and the people of Kyrgyzstan to have a government that they can support and that functions in accordance with democratic principles.”

U.S.-Russian Cooperation

U.S. officials also said today that they're working closely with Russia to respond to the changing situation in Bishkek. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev discussed the latest developments before signing an arms treaty in Prague.

At a press briefing following the signing, Michael McFaul, Obama's advisor on Russian affairs, said the United States doesn't view the conflict as a proxy struggle between Washington and Moscow.

Kyrgyzstan is home to a military base in the city of Manas that Russia tried to claim before the U.S. gained access to the facility as a supply line to Afghanistan.

McFaul said the two leaders agreed that they have mutual interests in Kyrgyzstan’s stability, and said that unlike at the beginning the Obama’s term in office, when “there was a sense of 'it's us against them'” with regard to the competition for control of the Manas air base, “what was striking today, as we talked about our mutual interests and security in Kyrgyzstan, was that we were not talking in zero-sum terms. We were talking about our mutual interests there."

The NATO-led force in Afghanistan today said flights supporting NATO operations in Afghanistan from the U.S. military air base at Manas had been temporarily suspended. However, a spokesman said the move had not had any significant impact on operations or logistical support in Afghanistan.

US envoy Steve Witkoff says the status of the Ukrainian territories currently occupied by Russia is central to ending the war between Moscow and Kyiv.

In a wide-ranging interview with U.S. conservative media figure Tucker Carlson, Witkoff said negotiations over the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya, Kherson and Crimea regions of Ukraine would determine how the conflict is settled.

"That's the elephant in the room," he said. "When that gets settled, we're having a very, very positive conversation."

Witkoff said that in these predominantly Russian-speaking regions, "there have been referendums [organized by Moscow] where the overwhelming majority of the people have indicated that they want to be under Russian rule."

But he said, "the question is, will the world acknowledge that those are Russian territories?"

Kyiv has consistently rejected Russian claims to have annexed the Ukrainian territories as well as widely criticized referendums to legitimize the move, which were organized following Moscow's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

“There are constitutional issues within Ukraine as to what they can concede to with regard to giving up territory,” Witkoff added. “Can [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky survive politically if he acknowledges this?”

In September 2022, Moscow held referendums in the occupied territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya, and Kherson without international observers amid reports of widespread fraud and coercion.

A large number of the residents of these regions had fled the Russian occupation and did not participate in voting.

Moscow later unilaterally declared Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya, and Kherson to be part of Russia.

The United Nations continues to recognize all four regions -- along with Crimea, which was occupied and annexed in 2014 -- as Ukrainian territory.

Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East who has been actively involved in diplomatic efforts concerning the conflict in Ukraine, said that he remains hopeful after the recent round of high-level contacts, including US President Donald Trump's telephone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelenskyy.

“I am very, very optimistic that we're going to be able to bring the two sides together,” he said.

A group that includes six Voice of America (VOA) journalists has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration and other officials accusing them of illegally shutting down several publicly funded broadcasters.

The lawsuit, filed on March 21 in the Southern District of New York, charges that the Trump administration has taken “a chainsaw” approach to the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) through an executive order signed a week earlier.

The order gutted seven federal agencies, including USAGM, telling them to “reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law.”

Hours later, VOA staff were put on administrative leave and its premises shut.

Many media rights watchdogs and analysts have said the decision halting the operations of VOA and other publicly funded broadcasters will embolden authoritarians around the globe with the loss of “a critical lifeline” of information for their populations.

“What is happening to the VOA Journalists is not just the chilling of First Amendment speech; it is a government shutdown of journalism, a prior restraint that kills content before it can be created,” the filing says.

USAGM Acting Director Victor Morales and Special Adviser Kari Lake, are named in the lawsuit, which says the Trump administration’s moves to close the USAGM violated the First Amendment rights of VOA’s employees.

It also asks for the court to restore USAGM-grantee news outlets and that funding for grantees, including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Radio Free Asia (RFA) and the Middle Eastern Broadcast Network (MBN), resume. Those outlets had their grants terminated the same day as VOA was shuttered.

“Defendants have violated all of these laws by closing USAGM and ceasing altogether the business of gathering and disseminating news and opinion via VOA and its sister service Radio y Television Marti, as well as its grantee-affiliates RFE/RL, RFA, and MBN. Defendants’ actions are unconstitutional and unlawful; they must cease immediately,” the complaint says.

'Tragic Attack On Democracy'

In addition to the six VOA journalists, plaintiffs in the lawsuit include the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), The NewsGuild-CWA, the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA), Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

David Seide, senior counsel at the Government Accountability Project (GAP), a nonpartisan civil rights defense and whistle-blower protection organization that is representing the VOA journalists in the case, called the administration’s moves “another tragic attack on democracy.”

"Over eight decades, VOA and its sister organizations have been renowned, evidenced by the over 400 million viewers, listeners, and readers who tune in every day," he said. "That reputation is now in tatters. Our lawsuit is intended to stop the bleeding.”

Lake, a vocal Trump supporter, did not respond immediately to the news, but around the same time as it was published, she wrote in a post on X that when The Washington Post, The New York Times, NPR, CBS, and 60 Minutes reached out for interviews this week, she declined.

“I do not do interviews with disreputable ‘news’ outlets,” she wrote.

Many Republicans, including Trump and Lake, have alleged that VOA and the other broadcasters are infected by left-wing propaganda, an accusation its operators say isn’t supported by the facts.

RFE/RL on March 18 filed a suit against the USAGM, Lake, and Morales, to block their attempt to terminate RFE/RL’s federal grant, which provides the broadcaster with funds to operate.

The complaint argues that denying the funds Congress has appropriated for RFE/RL violates federal laws and the US Constitution, which gives Congress exclusive authority over federal spending.

The suit was filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.

"This is not the time to cede terrain to the propaganda and censorship of America's adversaries," RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus said.

"We believe the law is on our side and that the celebration of our demise by despots around the world is premature," he added.

Internet influencer Andrew Tate and his brother, Tristan, have returned to Romania from the United States where they are accused of human trafficking and other crimes.

"We've come here to prove our innocence because we deserve our day in court," Andrew Tate told reporters on March 22 outside his house in the town of Voluntari, near Bucharest.

The two brothers, who have British and American passports, face charges in Romania that include human trafficking and forming an organized criminal group. Andrew Tate is also accused of rape.

According to prosecutors, they recruited several women and forced them to produce pornographic content, from which they earned large sums of money. Both have strongly denied the charges.

Although they are under "judicial control," meaning they must regularly report to authorities, Romania lifted a travel ban in February that had kept them from leaving the country. On February 27, the brothers traveled to Florida.

Now that they are back in Romania, the two have been summoned to a police station in Voluntari on March 24, an obligation they must comply with, according to judicial control procedures.

"We got our passports back. We live in Romania, we love Romania. We will never leave Romania. We have a house in Romania, we have Romanian children," Andrew Tate said, according to Ştirileprotv.

He insisted that the two, investigated in Romania for forming an organized criminal group, human trafficking, including minors, rape, and money laundering, "should never have gone to prison" and that "our assets should not have been confiscated" and that "our names should not have been slandered."

In December, a Romanian appeals court ruled that the trafficking case against the Tates could not go to trial because of several legal and procedural irregularities from the prosecutors. The case has since been returned to the prosecutors and remains open.

Andrew Tate, 38, told reporters on March 22 that he and Tristan, 36, had come back to Romania "to clear our names and exonerate ourselves."

Before arriving in Voluntari, he wrote on his X account, which has nearly 10.8 million followers, that he spent $185,000 just to sign a paper in Romania. "Innocent men don't run," he wrote in the post, accompanied by a photo of him and his brother on a private plane.

Often described as the "king of toxic masculinity," Andrew Tate -- a former kickboxer and reality TV star -- found global notoriety through controversial online videos promoting hypermasculinity. He has since built a multimillion-dollar brand targeting "alpha males."

In addition to the charges they face in Romania, the brothers are also under investigation in the United Kingdom over allegations of rape and human trafficking.

In the United States, the Tate brothers face a civil lawsuit filed by a woman who says they coerced her into sex work and defamed her after she gave evidence to Romanian prosecutors.

The brothers also face tax evasion charges in the United Kingdom.

They have denied those accusations as well.

The UN children’s agency has urged Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government to immediately lift a ban on girls' education beyond primary school, saying that if the ban continues until 2030 more than 4 million girls will have been deprived of their right to education.

Afghanistan's ban on girls' secondary education "continues to harm the future of millions of Afghan girls," UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement on March 22. “The consequences for these girls -- and for Afghanistan -- are catastrophic.”

The appeal by UNICEF comes as a new school year began in Afghanistan, where girls beyond sixth grade have been deprived of their right to education since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.

The Taliban justifies the ban, saying the education of girls beyond the sixth grade doesn't comply with their interpretation of Shari’a law.

Russell called for all girls to be allowed to return to school.

“Afghanistan is the only country in the world that bans female secondary and higher education,” Russell said in the statement, adding that if the rights of young girls continue to be denied, “the repercussions will last for generations.”

She pointed out that the ban negatively impacts the health system, the economy, and the future of the nation.

“With fewer girls receiving an education, girls face a higher risk of child marriage with negative repercussions on their well-being and health,” she said.

The consequences of the ban will affect the number of female doctors and midwives, and this in turn will leave women and girls without crucial medical care.

UNICEF projects an estimated 1,600 additional maternal deaths and over 3,500 infant deaths because of the situation.

The Taliban has allowed limited exceptions to the ban in the health and education sectors, but these jobs come with severe restrictions and the number of women in the workforce continues to fall, according to the United Nations.

Pakistan hosted a global conference in January at which Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai condemned the state of women’s and girls' rights in Afghanistan as gender apartheid.

Yousafzai urged Muslim leaders not to "legitimize" the Taliban-led government and instead to "raise their voices" and "use [their] power" against the militant group's curbs on women and girls' education.

"Simply put, the Taliban do not see women as human beings. They cloak their crimes in cultural and religious justification," Yousafzai told the gathering in Islamabad.

With reporting by AP

George Glezmann, an American who was released from detention in Afghanistan on March 20, has arrived in the United States and been reunited with his wife, a State Department spokesperson said.

Spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said on March 21 that Ryan Corbett, another former American prisoner in Afghanistan who had been held in the same cell as Glezmann, was in a welcoming party for Glezmann at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington.

"After a brief ceremony, George and [his wife] Aleksandra flew to another location in the United States to rest and recover," Bruce told reporters at a regular State Department news briefing.

Glezmann, 66, was released from detention in Kabul following the first visit by a senior US official to Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power in the wake of the withdrawal of international troops from the war-torn country in August 2021.

Former US special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad said on X that he and Adam Boehler, a senior adviser at the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, met with Taliban officials in Kabul on March 20.

"We succeeded in obtaining the release of an American citizen, George Glezmann, after two years in detention in Kabul. The Taliban government agreed to free him as a goodwill gesture to [President Donald Trump] and the American people," Khalilzad said.

Details of the negotiations were not revealed. The United States, like most countries, does not recognize the Taliban as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan.

“I feel like born again,” Glezmann said on Fox News after arriving at Joint Base Andrews. “I’m just thankful. I’ve got no word to express my gratitude for my liberty for my freedom.”

Glezmann also thanked President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and others who helped free him, he said on Fox News, recalling how he was abducted in the streets of Kabul and thrown "into a dungeon with no windows no nothing."

Boehler told Fox News he expects to see more Americans released.

“The Taliban understand that there is a new sheriff in town. That president Trump is that new sheriff and that’s why you are seeing something like this," he said.

One of the other US citizens being held in Afghanistan is Mahmood Habibi, who also has been held since 2022.

Glezmann, an airline mechanic from Atlanta, was taken into custody by Taliban authorities while on a tourist visit to Afghanistan in December 2022 and had been deemed wrongfully detained by the US government.

Rubio called Glezmann's release "a positive and constructive step" that was aided by officials in Qatar, which has often hosted negotiations between Washington and the Taliban.

"It is also a reminder that other Americans are still detained in Afghanistan," he added.

The release comes two months after two other Americans held in Afghanistan were exchanged for a Taliban man imprisoned for life in California on drug and terrorism charges.

Ryan Corbett and William McKenty were swapped for Khan Mohammed, who was sentenced to two life terms in 2008 and was incarcerated in a US prison.

Aid worker Corbett, 40, and Habibi, 37 -- who led the Afghan Aviation Authority under the previous Afghan government -- were detained separately in August 2022.

A teen injured in the collapse of a roof at a train station in Serbia has died, becoming the 16th victim in the disaster that has pushed the prime minister out of office and sparked massive demonstrations against President Aleksandar Vucic and his government.

The Military Medical Academy (VMA) in Belgrade said the 18-year-old, one of three people rescued from the rubble, succumbed to injuries they suffered when the canopy of the Novi Sad train station collapsed in November.

"Despite all the treatment measures...the patient succumbed to complex injuries and resulting complications," the hospital said, identifying the victim only by the initials V.C.

Demonstrators have flooded streets across the country to protest against the roof collapse, which they say is tied to government corruption and mismanagement.

The announcement of the 16th victim of the collapse comes as questions linger over how student demonstrators in Belgrade last week were dispersed after a disturbing audio incident disrupted the protest.

Serbian authorities, facing the largest protests in Vucic's 10-year reign, have rejected accusations that an "audio cannon" was used against protesters, saying they're ready to invite the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and its Russian equivalent to investigate amid speculation that police might have used either Russian or American-made equipment on the crowd.

However, those at the March 15 protest are demanding an explanation as to what caused mass panic to break out out as a crowd of thousands stood in silence to honor the victims of the Novi Sad railway station disaster.

"Suddenly, a very strange sound erupted—it was unfamiliar to me, and to everyone around. The atmosphere turned ghostly and terrifying," Tatjana Rosic, who was among the demonstrators, told RFE/RL.

"It felt like a stampede of horses was coming toward me. I lost consciousness for a moment."

A coalition of non-governmental organizations said it had received testimony from more than 3,000 people describing the event, with most reporting intense fear, panic, and shock induced by an unknown source.

They added that common symptoms experienced during the incident included rapid heartbeat, trembling, disorientation, and loss of control. Others described headaches, ear pressure, ringing, nausea, vomiting, a sense of intense cranial pressure, and heat spreading through the body.

Serbian police, military, and top government officials have also denied that sonic weapons were used during the protest, with Interior Minister Ivica Dacic saying the country doesn't possess such instruments and even naming specific models manufactured by California-based Genasys, as well as Russian-made devices produced by Russia's state-owned radio-electronic industry firm Ruselectronics.

Two days later, however, photos emerged showing a Serbian police vehicle equipped with a device resembling a Genasys-made LRAD system, while opposition politician Marinika Tepic told a press conference that the Interior Ministry may have bought as many as seven LRAD 450XL devices, which she described as "sound cannons."

The LRAD 450XL was not one of the models mentioned by Dacic, who later confirmed that Serbian police do possess LRAD-450XL and LRAD-100X models, which broadcast powerful warning tones and for public safety, law enforcement, maritime, and defense applications.

But Dacic insisted that the devices are used strictly for crowd communication and emergency warnings, not for dispersal or intimidation.

Contacted by RFE/RL, Patrick Wilcken, a researcher at Amnesty International, described LRAD systems as “a long-range acoustic device, essentially an extremely loud speaker that emits sounds over 150 decibels.”

Originally developed around two decades ago for military communication, "its most controversial use [today] is in law enforcement,” Wilcken said.

But manufacturer Genasys has now had its own say on the March 15 incident, and it has not brought any clarity to the discussion.

“The video and audio evidence we have seen and heard so far does not indicate that an LRAD was used during the incident on 15 March in Belgrade,” the company said.

Russian drone strikes targeted civilian infrastructure in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odesa, leaving at least three people injured and several districts of the city battling power cuts while Czech President Petr Pavel was visiting for talks with officials.

The head of the Odesa region's military administration Oleh Kiper reported on March 21 that minors were among the three known injured in the strikes that sparked fires in various parts of the city.

The ASTRA Telegram channel, citing information in local media, said an apartment building, a shopping center, a store, and several businesses were among civilian infrastructure facilities hit in Odesa.

The strikes resulted in power outages in at least three districts of the city, according to the DTEK electricity company.

“This is yet another reminder to the entire world: the war continues, and Ukraine continues to fight,” Kiper wrote on Telegram.

A 30-day moratorium on strikes on energy infrastructure in the Russia-Ukraine war was agreed on March 18 at talks between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

But since the Trump-Putin talks, Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of breaking the limited agreement and it appears to have had little impact on the course of the war.

Russia accused Kyiv on March 21 of blowing up a major gas pumping and measuring station in Russia's Kursk region near the border with Ukraine in what it called "an act of terrorism."

Russian and Ukrainian delegations are expected to meet separately with US officials in Saudi Arabia next week, though face-to-face meetings between the two are not expected to be held.

Hurting Odesa has been a priority for Russia in its three-year full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as Moscow looks to obstruct Kyiv's maritime access.

While Russia's hopes of reaching the strategic port with conventional forces faded in the first year of the war, it has continued to target it with regular strikes.

Strikes on January 31 damaged buildings on the UNESCO World Heritage list in Odesa's storied city center, including the Hotel Bristol, a luxury hotel built at the end of the 19th century.

Ukraine's Prosecutor-General's Office said Russian armed forces used ballistic missiles in that attack.

In a post on X on March 20, Pavel said Odesa "has been resisting Russian aggression since the beginning of the war.”

“The Czech Republic is sending aid here in the form of combat vehicles, drones, protective vests, and mobile jamming devices that protect residents from drone attacks, as well as medical equipment, such as ventilators and hospital beds," Pavel said.

Pavel met with Kiper, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba, and other Ukrainian officials to discuss cooperation.

Russian attacks late on March 21 killed two people in Zaporizhzhya, the regional Governor Ivan Fedorov said, adding that the attack caused three fires. Pictures posted on social media showed rescuers searching in the rubble and apartment blocks and homes with windows and facades badly damaged.

Two other people were killed on March 21 in the Sumy region on Ukraine's northeastern border with Russia when Russian forces dropped at least six guided bombs on the village of Krasnopillia, prosecutors said.

In eastern Donetsk region, prosecutors said Russian forces had dropped three bombs on the town of Kostyantynivka, killing one person.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said on March 21 that Kyiv was continuing to hold talks with the United States about a minerals deal.

“Ukraine was even ready to sign the agreement in Jeddah,” Heorhiy Tykhyy, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry said, referring to the March 11 talks between US and Ukrainian representatives in Saudi Arabia.

Tykhyy said that US officials at that time requested additional consultations in Washington about the deal.

Trump said on March 20 that the United States would sign the minerals and natural resources deal with Ukraine shortly.

Two men identified by prosecutors as members of the Russian mob have been convicted in New York City for plotting to kill Iranian-American journalist and activist Masih Alinejad in a murder-for-hire scheme financed by Iran's government.

The verdict was returned on March 20, ending a two-week trial that included testimony about how Iran targeted Alinejad, 48, for her online campaigns encouraging Iranian women to defy Iran’s law requiring women to cover their hair in public.

Prosecutors said Iranian intelligence officials first plotted in 2020 and 2021 to kidnap Alinejad and move her to Iran to silence her criticism of the government. When that failed, Iran offered $500,000 for her to be killed, prosecutors said.

Assistant US Attorney Michael Lockard told the jury on March 19 that the “Iranian government” had set the award to “fund the plan to silence” Alinejad.

Alinejad called the verdict “a powerful gift from the American government” to the people of Iran because it shows that justice is beginning to be served.

“I am relieved that after nearly three years, the men who plotted to kill me have been found guilty. But make no mistake, the real masterminds of this crime are still in power in Iran,” she told The Associated Press. “Right now, I am bombarded with emotions. I have cried. I have laughed. I have even danced.”

Leslie R. Backschies, who heads the FBI's New York office, said the verdicts show that the “Iranian government's shameless conduct and attempt to violate our laws and assassinate a critic of their human rights atrocities will not be tolerated.”

Prosecutors said the convicted men, Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov, were members of the Russian mob. Defense lawyers argued at trial that their clients were innocent and evidence was flawed.

“We respect the jury's verdict, but plan on filing an appeal on Mr. Omarov's behalf,” Elena Fast, an attorney for Omarov, was quoted by the AP as saying in an e-mail. A lawyer for Amirov did not immediately respond to the AP’s request for comment on the verdict.

In court on March 19 his lawyer, Michael Martin, said there was no doubt "Iran targeted Alinejad, but his client was not part of any plot."

Alinejad testified last week that she came to the United States in 2009 after she was banned from covering Iran's disputed presidential election and after the newspaper where she worked was shut down.

After establishing herself in New York City, she built an online audience of millions and launched a campaign that told Iranian women to send photos and videos of themselves exposing their hair when the morality police were not around.

She ultimately inspired women to take to the streets in Iran on Wednesdays to peacefully protest, leading the government to arrest hundreds of women. The crackdown only caused her following to grow.

Prosecutors said that by 2022, the Iranian government enlisted organized crime figures to kill Alinejad.

Khalid Mehdiyev, a former member of the Russian mob, testified that he was hired as the hitman.

Mehdiyev, who cooperated with prosecutors after pleading guilty to multiple crimes, said he bought an AK-47 to kill Alinejad in July 2022, but the plan was foiled when his car was stopped by police and the gun was found. Mehdiyev, like Amirov and Omarov, are citizens of Azerbaijan.

American officials have accused Iran of backing several assassination plots in the United States, including one against President Donald Trump during his presidential campaign last year.

In a separate case, US prosecutors in 2022 charged a man in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) with plotting to kill former US national-security adviser John Bolton. Tehran has denied being behind any such plots.

The plots came after Iranian officials vowed to exact revenge against Trump and others over the 2020 drone strike that killed prominent IRGC General Qassem Soleimani.

With reporting by AP

US President Donald Trump says the United States soon will sign a minerals and natural resources deal with Ukraine as negotiations with Russia and Ukraine to end the war continue.

Trump told reporters at the White House on March 20 that his efforts to achieve a peace deal for the country were going "pretty well" after his talks this week with the leaders of the warring countries.

"We're doing very well with regard to Ukraine and Russia. And one of the things we are doing is signing a deal very shortly with respect to rare earths with Ukraine," Trump said.

As Trump made the comments, Russian forces attacked civilian infrastructure in Odesa, causing damage and injuring three people, including a girl, the regional governor said.

"The enemy massively attacked Odesa and the region with strike drones,” Governor Oleh Kiper said. “There is damage to civilian infrastructure, including a residential high-rise building, a shopping center, and shops," he wrote on Telegram.

Kiper said large fires broke out in three locations as a result of the attack.

There also was a report from the Kursk region of Russia saying that Ukrainian forces attacked the gas distribution station in Sudzha. The independent media outlet Sota published a photo on Telegram showing a large fireball.

A Ukrainian military Telegram channel posted the same photo, citing media reports about "a successful strike on the Sudzha gas transport system through which the enemy used to transport gas to Europe."

There was no official word on the incident from Ukrainian government officials. Moscow also did not report the incident.

The station was the only point through which Russian gas had passed on its way to Europe until Ukraine declined to extend a transit agreement in January.

Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier on March 20 ordered Ukrainians in Ukraine's occupied territories to get a Russian passport by September 10 or leave. The ultimatum applies to Ukrainians in occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhya, Tymofiy Mylovanov, Ukraine's former economy minister, said on X.

Trump this week held separate talks aimed at reaching a cease-fire with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr.

Those talks fell short of securing a full 30-day cease-fire but resulted in Putin agreeing to stop Russian attacks on energy infrastructure for 30 days. Zelenskiy said after his talks with Trump that he would also accept such a pause.

"We would love to see that (war) come to an end, and I think we're doing pretty well in that regard," Trump said.

Ukraine and the United States earlier this month agreed to conclude a comprehensive agreement for developing Ukraine's critical mineral resources. Efforts to seal the deal fell apart on February 28 after a heated exchange between Trump and Zelenskiy at the White House.

Trump and Zelenskiy agreed on March 19 to work together to end Russia's war with Ukraine in a phone call that the White House described as a "fantastic."

It was unclear if the terms of the minerals deal have changed. An earlier version did not include the security guarantees that Zelenskyy has insisted upon.

It also envisaged the Ukrainian government contributing 50 percent of the proceeds for sales of state-owned natural resources to a U.S.-Ukraine managed reconstruction investment fund.

Trump on March 20 also signed an executive order to boost US domestic production of lithium and other minerals critical to the production of batteries for electric cars and electronics.

The order also directs federal agencies to create a list of US mining projects that can be quickly approved as well as which federal lands could be used for minerals processing.

With reporting by Reuters

US citizen George Glezmann has been released from detention in Kabul following the first visit by a senior US official to Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in the wake of the withdrawal of international troops from the war-torn country in August 2021.

Former U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad said in a post on X that after he and Adam Boehler, a senior adviser at the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, met with Taliban officials on March 20, the 66-year-old Glezmann was "on his way home to his family."

"We succeeded in obtaining the release of an American citizen, George Glezmann, after two years in detention in Kabul. The Taliban government agreed to free him as a goodwill gesture to [President Donald Trump] and the American people," Khalilzad said.

Details of the negotiations were not revealed. The United States, like most countries, does not recognize the Taliban as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan.

No mention was made of another US citizen being held by the Taliban, George Mahmood Habibi, who also has been held in Afghanistan since 2022.

Glezmann, an airline mechanic from Atlanta, was taken into custody by Taliban authorities while on a tourist visit to Afghanistan in December 2022 and had been deemed wrongfully detained by the US government.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio later confirmed the release, calling it "a positive and constructive step" that was aided by officials in Qatar, which has often hosted negotiations between Washington and the Taliban.

"It is also a reminder that other Americans are still detained in Afghanistan," he added.

The release comes two months after two other Americans held in Afghanistan were exchanged for a Taliban man imprisoned for life in California on drug and terrorism charges.

Ryan Corbett and William McKenty were swapped for Khan Mohammed, who was sentenced to two life terms in 2008 and was incarcerated in a US prison.

Aid worker Corbett, 40, and Habibi, 37 -- who led the Afghan Aviation Authority under the previous Afghan government -- were detained separately in August 2022.

North Macedonia was in deep mourning on March 20 as funerals were held in several towns and the capital, Skopje, for victims of a nightclub fire that left 59 people dead and sparked anti-corruption protests.

Grief and shock have gripped the Balkan country since the fire at the Pulse nightclub in the town of Kocani on the night March 16, which was caused by a pyrotechnics accident during a hip-hop concert.

The youngest of the fire’s victims was just 16, while the oldest was 48. Three other victims were 17.

The government is yet to release a full list of names of the victims.

Apart from Kocani, around 80 kilometers east of Skopje, funerals were held in Stip, Cesinovo-Oblesevo, and Skopje, and some smaller towns.

'All Of Macedonia Is Crying'

Reporters for RFE/RL’s Balkan Service witnessed citizens form long lines in city squares to light candles and pay tribute to the deceased.

In Kocani, shops were shuttered, roads were closed, and residents appeared to be still reeling from the tragedy.

Authorities, who have come under pressure following the tragedy, published a protocol for the media and for the public attending the ceremonies, where hundreds of mostly black-clad mourners gathered.

Residents of Kocani, Skopje, and other North Macedonian cities staged protests in the aftermath of the disaster, demanding an end to the corruption that they say makes buildings across the country unfit for purpose.

"We expect our institutions to start working properly. We are overwhelmed. Ordinary people are suffering. Today Kocani is crying. All of Macedonia is crying," one protester told RFE/RL at a protest on March 18.

Protesters labeled the civic initiative “Who’s Next.”

Police said 15 people were detained in connection with the fire, while Kocani authorities confirmed the nightclub was operating without a license.

More than 170 people were forced to seek treatment in hospitals in North Macedonia and abroad after suffering injuries in the blaze.

Health Minister Arben Taravari said on March 20 that of the 20 people previously stated as being in critical condition, 10 were still in a serious condition, but no longer faced a threat to their lives.

Foreign Minister Timco Mucunski in recent days has visited victims recuperating in Greece, Bulgaria, and Croatia, where he met with counterparts and thanked them for their support.

“I am here as a representative of a state grieving for 59 lost lives. At this moment, there are no appropriate words that can be spoken,” Mucunski told journalists in front of a medical clinic in the Croatian capital, Zagreb, on March 20.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a delegation from Kyiv will hold talks with US officials in Saudi Arabia next week amid intense diplomatic efforts to bring an end to Europe's largest and deadliest conflict since World War II.

During a visit to Norway on March 20, Zelenskyy said Ukraine would prepare a list of buildings and facilities to make clear what it considers to be civilian infrastructure after Kyiv and Moscow agreed to a partial cease-fire.

During a phone call with US President Donald Trump on March 18, Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to halt strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure, only to violate it hours later.

"I don't want to have a different understanding of what the parties would agree to," Zelenskyy said, adding the Ukrainian delegation would not hold face-to-face talks with a Russian group of officials who will also be in Saudi Arabia on March 24.

Trump and Zelenskyy spoke on March 19 to discuss the outcome of the US president's call a day earlier with Putin. Trump sought to get the Kremlin leader to agree to a 30-day cease-fire after having secured Zelenskyy's backing on condition that Russia do the same.

Putin rejected a full cease-fire but accepted a halt in strikes on Ukrainian energy and civilian infrastructure, according to a US readout of the call.

During his call with Zelenskyy, Trump promised to look into acquiring more Patriot air-defense missile systems for Ukraine. Meanwhile, Zelenskyy agreed not to target Russian energy assets for 30 days.

Ukraine has struggled to protect its cities from Russian attacks due to a lack of air defense, and Zelenskyy wrote that another wave of strikes overnight showed Putin's comments were just "propaganda."

"Russian strikes on Ukraine do not stop, despite their propaganda claims. Every day and every night, nearly a hundred or more drones are launched, along with ongoing missile attacks. With each such launch, the Russians expose to the world their true attitude towards peace," Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X on March 20.

Ukraine's air force said on March 20 that its air defenses shot down 75 out of 171 drones launched by Russia in an overnight attack, with 63 other drones redirected from their targets with the use of electronic warfare.

Ukraine's National Police said that at least 10 people were injured in an overnight air attack on the central Ukrainian city of Kropyvnytskiy, including four children.

The strike damaged residential buildings and private homes. Several of the injured were hospitalized after receiving emergency medical care.

Russia, meanwhile, said that it had downed 132 Ukrainian drones overnight, with authorities in the Saratov region confirming that an airfield close to the town of Engels, which hosts a strategic bomber base, had been set on fire.

Ukraine's military confirmed it had launched an attack against the base.

Russia's aviation authority Rosaviatsia also said arrivals and departures at the Samara and Saratov airports had been temporarily suspended.

Zelenskyy arrived in Norway as the intensity of peace talks continues to gain momentum.

"Norway supports Ukraine in its fight to defend itself and is contributing to the effort to achieve a lasting, just peace in the country. I look forward to constructive discussions on how Norway can best provide assistance to Ukraine in both the short term and the long term," Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Store said at a press conference with Zelenskyy.

Trump suggested during his call with Zelenskyy that the United States take ownership of Ukraine's power plants as he seeks to bridge a wide divide between Moscow and Kyiv and secure a full cease-fire.

Trump told Zelenskyy that US ownership of Ukraine's electrical supply and nuclear power plants "would be the best protection for that infrastructure," according to a White House readout of the March 19 call.

The proposal reflects Trump's belief that US ownership of Ukrainian assets would effectively serve as a security guarantee for the embattled country because Russia would presumably refrain from targeting them out of fear of escalation with the United States.

Zelenskyy said he and Trump discussed the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine during the phone call. He said he told Trump that Kyiv would be ready to discuss US involvement in modernizing and investing in the plant if it is returned to Ukraine.

Zelenskyy, however, on March 20 dismissed the idea that the plant could be owned by the US, adding that the critical facility is officially a property of the Ukrainian people.

"If it's not under Ukrainian control, it wouldn't work for anybody. It's illegal [...] If the Americans want to take it from Russia, invest in it, and modernize it -- that's a different question," he told journalists in Norway.

Kyiv's demand for security guarantees lies at the heart of the shuttle diplomacy between Ukraine, Russia, and the United States to secure a peace deal. Zelenskyy wants any final peace deal to include Western security guarantees for Ukraine to deter Russia from invading again, but Trump has so far refused to commit the United States to the country's defense.

Zelenskyy Has 'Positive' Contact With Trump

Trump has made ending the war in Ukraine, which has killed or wounded more than a million people, a top priority for his administration.

However, Moscow and Kyiv remain so far apart on key issues -- such as land exchanges and security guarantees for Ukraine -- that the Trump administration will need to use various carrots and sticks if it hopes to bring them together.

In a social media post, Trump said the goal of his call with Zelenskyy was "to align both Russia and Ukraine in terms of their requests and needs."

Putin has agreed to continue talks with the United States toward achieving a full cease-fire. US negotiators will meet with Ukrainian and Russian counterparts in the coming days to work on extending the partial cease-fire to the Black Sea.

In a show of good faith by both sides, Russia and Ukraine on March 19 each swapped 175 prisoners in one of the largest exchanges of the war.

Experts say that Putin has not given up on his goals of subjugating Ukraine and will seek to drag out the talks while his forces have the advantage on the battlefield. Russia wants to fully control the four regions of Ukraine it claims to have annexed in 2022. It would fall short of that goal were it to agree to a full-cease fire now.

Trump has threatened to impose tough sanctions and tariffs on Russia if it obstructs the path toward peace deal, but experts question whether the US president would come down hard on Russia considering he values his relationship with Putin.

“Trump has shown that he can pressure Zelenskyy. Is he willing and able to pressure Putin? If not, then what is he going to do? Putin is making it clear that he’s not changing his goals,” Mark Katz, a Russia expert and professor emeritus of government and politics at George Mason University, told RFE/RL.

Russia has regularly targeted Ukraine's power infrastructure with missiles and drones in an attempt to break the will of the Ukrainian people by denying them light and heat in the winter.

Ukraine has often retaliated against the strikes on its power system by targeting Russian oil assets, such as refineries and storage facilities. Russia's war machine is heavily dependent on oil export revenues, which account for about a third of federal budget revenues.

Residents of Kyiv told RFE/RL that they did not put much faith in the agreement between Washington and Moscow.

Zelenskyy has said Ukraine is ready to send a team for further cease-fire discussions with the United States, while reiterating Kyiv will not recognize Russian sovereignty over any occupied Ukrainian territory -- a condition for any peace agreement that Putin has voiced several times.

With reporting by Reuters and AP

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu has been detained by Turkish authorities days before he was expected to be nominated as the opposition candidate running in the 2028 presidential election, a move the European Union called "deeply concerning."

Imamoglu, who is widely seen as a key rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was detained at his home early on March 19. His party said the move showed how strong a candidate he would be if he were to run against Erdogan.

Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency says the Istanbul mayor is among nearly 100 people, including businessmen and journalists, whose arrest warrants have been issued. The charges run the gamut from leading a criminal organization and extortion to bribery and illegally accessing personal data.

Prosecutors specifically accused Imamoglu of being "the leader of a criminal organization" who allegedly extorted businessmen and laundered money.

Ozgur Ozel, chairman of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), slammed Imamoglu's detention as an "attempted coup against our next president."

Several European countries voiced concern over the developments in Istanbul, saying they feared the consequences on democracy over the move.

“The arrest of the mayor is deeply concerning,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, told reporters in Brussels.

“Turkey must uphold the democratic values, especially the rights of elected officials.”

Erdogan, the nation's premier leader since 2003, has been accused of rolling back democracy, jailing opponents, independently launching foreign interventions, and has crossed swords with EU member states, and deepened ties with Putin.

"Erdogan in Turkey is using all the tactics employed by authoritarians to maintain his power. For example, before elections, he eliminates opposition leaders or strong potential rivals by imprisoning them or removing them in some way. These are well-known tactics, in fact," Ilhan Uzgel, a CHP deputy chairman, told RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service.

The CHP is scheduled to hold its presidential candidate selection on March 23, and Imamoglu is the only person running.

Imamoglu posted a video on social media early on March 19 vowing to "continue fighting against" Erdogan.

"Those who are trying to usurp the will of our nation have involved my dear police officers," he said, appearing to suggest he was about to be placed in custody.

"We are facing great tyranny. But I want you to know that I will not give up," he added.

Netblocks, which monitors the connectivity of Web services, said Turkey had restricted access to multiple social media platforms following Imamoglu's detention. The blocked platforms include X, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.

It has been a difficult week for Imamoglu. On March 17, his alma mater Istanbul University invalidated his diploma, alleging irregularities when he transferred from a university in Turkish-controlled Northern Cyprus in 1990.

A university degree is a prerequisite for running in elections in Turkey, which is why Imamoglu's supporters argue the decision to nullify his diploma is politically motivated. The Istanbul mayor himself said the move was illegal, charging the university did not have the authority for the annulment.

"This is not about me. This is about our future. No matter the challenges we face, we will not waver. We will not allow democracy to be undermined. We will not allow the will of the people to be overruled," he wrote on X after the annulment of his diploma.

Imamoglu secured a second term as Istanbul's mayor last year, marking a significant victory for his CHP party in local elections. The party also won key cities like Ankara, dealing a historic blow to Erdogan's Justice and Development Party.

This marked the first time since Erdogan's rise to power 22 years ago that his party lost nationwide elections.

The defeat was particularly personal for Erdogan, who began his political career as Istanbul's mayor.

President Donald Trump suggested during a call with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the United States take ownership of Ukraine's power plants as he seeks to bridge a wide divide between Moscow and Kyiv and secure a full cease-fire in Europe's largest war in decades.

Trump told Zelenskyy that US ownership of Ukraine's electrical supply and nuclear power plants "would be the best protection for that infrastructure," according to a White House readout of the March 19 call, which preceded another night of Moscow and Kyiv exchanging drone strikes and hostilities on the battlefield.

The proposal reflects Trump's belief that US ownership of Ukrainian assets would effectively serve as a security guarantee for the embattled country because Russia would presumably refrain from targeting them out of fear of escalation with the United States.

Zelenskyy told reporters in an online briefing on March 19 that he and Trump discussed the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine during the phone call. He said he told Trump that Kyiv would be ready to discuss US involvement in modernizing and investing in the plant if it is returned to Ukraine.

Kyiv's demand for security guarantees lies at the heart of the shuttle diplomacy between Ukraine, Russia, and the United States to secure a peace deal. Zelenskyy wants any final peace deal to include Western security guarantees for Ukraine to deter Russia from invading again, but Trump has so far refused to commit the United States to the country's defense.

During the call, which the White House described as "fantastic," Trump promised to look into acquiring more Patriot anti-air missile systems for Ukraine, while Zelenskyy agreed not to target Russian energy assets for 30 days.

Ukraine has struggled to protect its cities from Russian attacks due to a lack of air defense.

Early on March 20, Ukraine's air force said that its air defenses shot down 75 out of 171 drones launched by Russia in an overnight attack, with 63 other drones redirected from their targets with use of electronic warfare.

Ukraine's National Police said that at least 10n people were injured in an overnight air attack on the central Ukrainian city of Kropyvnytskiy, including four children.

The strike damaged residential buildings and private homes. Several of the injured were hospitalized after receiving emergency medical care.

Russia said that it had downed 132 Ukrainian drones overnight, with authorities in the Saratov region confirming that an airfield close to the town of Engels, which hosts a strategic bomber base, had been set on fire.

Russia's aviation authority Rosaviatsia said arrivals and departures at the Samara and Saratov airports had been temporarily suspended.

Zelenskyy Has 'Positive' Contact With Trump

Zelenskyy described his first official contact with the US president since a disastrous meeting in front of the press on February 27, as "substantive and positive."

But Ukrainian political analyst Petro Oleshchuk told Current Time that it is not clear whether the idea of US ownership of Ukrainian energy assets is something to take seriously or just another "innovative idea" on the part of Trump.

"On the other hand this is perhaps a further development of the idea that was earlier proposed in the context of critical rare earths," said Oleshchuk, referring to the Trump-proposed deal over access to Ukrainian critical minerals that Zelenskyy left without signing during that visit to Washington.

"It is clear Trump and his circle are looking for profitable things in Ukraine in order to justify for themselves and their partners the need for a US presence in Ukraine. But Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant is currently controlled by Russia. And it is hard to imagine how Trump is going to persuade Russia to get out of there," said Oleshchuk.

Trump has made ending the war in Ukraine, which has killed or wounded more than a million people, a top priority for his administration.

However, Moscow and Kyiv remain so far apart on key issues -- such as land exchanges and security guarantees for Ukraine -- that the Trump administration will need to use various carrots and sticks if it hopes to bring them together.

In a social media post, Trump said the goal of his call with Zelenskyy was "to align both Russia and Ukraine in terms of their requests and needs."

So far, Trump has mainly leaned on Ukraine, temporarily halting military assistance until Zelenskyy agreed last week to a 30-day unconditional cease-fire. Putin rejected the cease-fire proposal during a March 18 call with the US president, settling instead for a temporary halt in energy and infrastructure strikes, the first de-escalation step of the war. Zelenskyy subsequently reciprocated.

Putin agreed to continue talks with the United States toward achieving a full cease-fire. US negotiators will meet with Ukrainian and Russian counterparts in the coming days to work on extending the partial cease-fire to the Black Sea.

Experts say that Putin has not given up on his goals of subjugating Ukraine and will seek to drag out the talks while his forces have the advantage on the battlefield. Russia wants to fully control the four regions of Ukraine it claims to have annexed in 2022. It would fall short of that goal were it to agree to a full-cease fire now.

Trump has threatened to impose tough sanctions and tariffs on Russia if it obstructs the path toward peace deal, but experts question whether the US president would come down hard on Russia considering he values his relationship with Putin.

“Trump has shown that he can pressure Zelenskyy. Is he willing and able to pressure Putin? If not, then what is he going to do? Putin is making it clear that he’s not changing his goals,” Mark Katz, a Russia expert and professor emeritus of government and politics at George Mason University, told RFE/RL.

Putin's Promise

Shortly after Putin agreed not to target Ukrainian energy facilities and infrastructure during the partial cease-fire period, Russia stuck two hospitals and a railway power station, injuring several people.

Russia has regularly targeted Ukraine's power infrastructure with missiles and drones in an attempt to break the will of the Ukrainian people by denying them light and heat in the winter.

Zelenskyy said earlier that Russia had launched 150 drones at targets that also included energy facilities in the hours that followed the call between Trump and Putin.

Russian troops late on March 19 carried out massive air strikes on Kupyansk that damaged critical infrastructure and caused fires at civilian structures, according to Kharkiv Governor Oleh Synehubov.

Residents of Kyiv told RFE/RL that they did not put much faith in the agreement between Washington and Moscow.

Luke Coffey, an analyst at the Hudson Institute, called Putin's concession on energy infrastructure strikes "the bare minimum" he could offer Trump.

"With warmer weather in Ukraine, Putin likely would have scaled back strikes on energy regardless," he said in a tweet, adding that the Kremlin leader "remains the primary obstacle to peace."

The Kremlin's readout from the talks suggested the scope of their agreement was limited to a pause in strikes on energy infrastructure, while the wording of the White House's statement differed slightly, referring to an "energy and infrastructure cease-fire."

"There must be checks over Putin's words. And the United States could lead that monitoring.... We will write up a list of buildings and structures hit by Russian drones and missiles. If the Russians stop targeting our buildings, we will stop our strikes on Russian territories," Zelenskyy said.

"There is a long path to reach first the cease-fire, and then a long-term peace," he added.

The Kremlin has claimed that it halted any targeting of Ukrainian energy facilities immediately after the call with Trump, and instead accused Kyiv of launching attacks on equipment near one of its pipelines in spite of the agreement.

Ukrainian drones struck an oil depot in Russia's Krasnodar region overnight, igniting a fire and damaging a pipeline connecting storage tanks, Russian emergency officials confirmed, adding that there were no casualties.

Ukraine has often retaliated against the strikes on its power system by targeting Russian oil assets, such as refineries and storage facilities. Russia's war machine is heavily dependent on oil export revenues, which account for about a third of federal budget revenues.

For this reason, argued Oleschuk, the analyst, adhering to the agreement prohibiting such strikes might handicap Kyiv just as much as it does Moscow.

"People here say that the “sanctions of the drones” are often working more effectively against Russia’s oil and gas industry than the sanctions of the Western partners," Oleschuk told Current Time.

While Trump described his call with Putin as "very good and productive," Zelenskyy expressed disappointment with the outcome, saying it showed Putin isn't interested in peace and was determined "to drag out the war."

US envoy Steve Witkoff told Fox News on March 18 that fresh talks with Russia on the Ukraine war will now take place on March 23 in Jeddah.

"The devil is in the details. We've got a team going to Saudi Arabia, led by our national-security adviser and our secretary of state, and I think, you know, we've got to figure out those details," Witkoff said.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine is ready to send a team for further cease-fire discussions with the United States, while reiterating Kyiv will not recognize Russian sovereignty over any occupied Ukrainian territory -- a condition for any peace agreement that Putin has voiced several times.

With reporting by Reuters and AP

WASHINGTON -- Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)said it has sued the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), along with USAGM officials Kari Lake and Victor Morales, to block their attempt to terminate RFE/RL’s federal grant, which provides the broadcaster with funds to operate.

The complaint, filed on March 18, argues that denying the funds Congress has appropriated for RFE/RL violates federal laws and the US Constitution, which gives Congress exclusive authority over federal spending.

The suit was filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.

"This is not the time to cede terrain to the propaganda and censorship of America's adversaries," RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus said.

"We believe the law is on our side and that the celebration of our demise by despots around the world is premature," he added.

Morales is acting CEO of USAGM, while Lake is a senior adviser to Morales.

Word of the suit comes as European Union politicians said they are continuing their push into possible support for RFE/RL after the US government moved to cut the Prague-based broadcaster's funding amid concerns its closure would be a blow to pro-democracy media.

Czech European Affairs Minister Martin Dvorak told reporters in Brussels that several nations have supported the initiative so far but that the bloc must act quickly as "it would be a big mistake to let this institution die."

"We must initiate some interest and meet with commissioners and some states. At this point, that initiative has been supported by seven other nations, and after we make the initiative public at the General Affairs Council, more countries will join us," Dvorak said, adding the issue needs to be resolved in a matter of "several weeks."

At the initiative of the Czech Republic, a meeting of foreign ministers from the bloc's 27 members on March 17 addressed the issue with the future of RFE/RL unclear due to the cutting of its Congress-approved funding by the administration of President Donald Trump over the weekend.

EU Countries Voice Support Of RFE/RL

While Dvorak said he did not want to reveal the names of the countries that have voiced their support for the move, diplomatic sources told RFE/RL that Germany, Austria, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, Slovenia, Poland, the Czech Republic, and the three Baltic nations are among those who support the initiative.

In a show of solidarity and support, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said in a statement on March 19 that it is "deeply concerned" by the U.S. government’s move to end funding for RFE/RL and "close down an important source of reliable news in multiple languages for many millions of people."

“We stand in solidarity with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and hundreds of journalists at risk – and also with their audiences who depend on their independent reporting and broadcasting,” said Liz Corbin, director of news at the EBU.

“For many years, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has contributed valuable content and context to the Eurovision News Exchange from some of the most difficult places for news media to work. In the face of propaganda, censorship and manipulation, every outlet that serves the public good with trusted information must be protected and properly funded.”

RFE/RL's Cold War History

Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski has also voiced support for RFE/RL, recalling how his father listened to the station as well as the Voice of America broadcaster during the Cold War.

"It's how we learned the basic facts about our own countries because communist propaganda was so tightly controlled," he told reporters. "And these institutions continue to do similar work for autocracies today."

Trump signed an executive order late on March 14 that aims to reduce seven federal agencies -- including USAGM, which oversees RFE/RL and other federal broadcasters.

The order, which also targets agencies that deal with homelessness, labor disputes, and community development, gave the heads of each governmental entity named seven days to submit a report confirming full compliance.

Hours after the executive order was published, a letter from USAGM said the Congress-approved grant that funds RFE/RL had been terminated.

RFE/RL chief Capus said canceling the grant agreement would be "a massive gift to America's enemies," a point that was echoed by many media rights watchdogs, democracy advocates, and politicians.

"Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is an important source of independent and fact-based news. We echo Czechia's call for joint EU support to make sure RFE/RL can continue its operations - promoting democratic values and press freedom, and countering foreign information manipulation," Caspar Veldkamp, foreign minister of the Netherlands, said in a social media post on March 19.

'Critical Lifeline'

US Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said: "The Trump administration's latest effort to dismantle entities established and funded by Congress that provide accurate, unbiased information to hundreds of millions of people in countries where press freedom is under attack undermines the US commitment to democracy."

“If President Trump gets his way, those who depend on US-supported independent media as alternatives to Chinese and Kremlin run media outlets and those living under authoritarian regimes will lose a critical lifeline."

The USAGM is an independent US government agency that oversees the broadcasting of news and information in almost 50 languages to some 361 million people each week.

The total budget request for the USAGM for fiscal year 2025 was $950 million to fund all of its operations and capital investments.

This includes media outlets such as RFE/RL, Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (Radio Marti), Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN), and the Open Technology Fund.

The 2025 budget request for RFE/RL itself was about $153 million, according to USAGM documents.

RFE/RL operates in 23 countries and 27 languages across Central and Eastern Europe, the Near East, and Central Asia.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Rikard Jozwiak

A US federal judge ruled that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) likely violated the Constitution when it attempted to shut down the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and it ordered DOGE to cease further action against the agency.

US District Judge Theodore Chuang in Maryland, in a preliminary ruling, ordered President Donald Trump's adviser Elon Musk and the agency he leads to restore access to USAID's computer systems for its direct and contract employees -- including thousands who had been placed on leave in late February.

The ruling was in response to a suit filed by current and former USAID employees who claimed Musk and DOGE had no authority to close down the congressionally mandated entity, created in 1961.

"Today’s decision is an important victory against Elon Musk and his DOGE attack on USAID, the US government, and the Constitution,” said Norm Eisen, head of the State Democracy Defenders Fund and a lawyer representing the 26 anonymous plaintiffs in the suit.

The White House blasted the court decision.

"Rogue judges are subverting the will of the American people in their attempts to stop President Trump from carrying out his agenda," spokeswoman Anna Kelly said.

"The Trump administration will appeal this miscarriage of justice and fight back against all activist judges intruding on the separation of powers."

In comments to Fox News, Trump confirmed that he plans to appeal the ruling.

Chuang said there was evidence that Musk exercised significant authority legally reserved for an organization's officer while serving in a continuing government position.

The White House contends that Musk was not in a government position but only serving as an adviser to Trump.

Chuang also found that Musk and DOGE lacked authorization by Congress to take steps toward dismantling the agency.

"There is no statute that authorizes the Executive Branch to shut down USAID," he wrote

USAID is the primary US government agency responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. It operates in more than 100 countries, distributing billions of dollars in foreign aid annually, and employs about 10,000 people around the globe.

The Trump administration has criticized USAID programs as inefficient and misaligned with U.S. interests, arguing that some of the agency’s functions could be handled by the State Department. Critics also contend that certain social and cultural programs funded by USAID do not align with its core mission.

Since 2022, USAID has provided Ukraine with billions of dollars in humanitarian aid, development assistance, and direct budget support. Ukraine's crucial agriculture sector has been a key beneficiary. USAID said that, since 2022, it helped a third of Ukrainian farmers and provided them with seeds, fertilizer, and financing.

Democratic members of Congress have challenged the Trump administration's attempt to fold USAID into the State Department, a move that calls into question funding for aid programs around the world, including billions of dollars in development aid to Ukraine.

A recent report from the Congressional Research Service (CRS) said USAID in fiscal year 2023 managed more than $40 billion in combined appropriations to support projects in around 130 countries. The top three recipients of aid were Ukraine, Ethiopia, and Jordan. Afghanistan is also one of the top 10 recipients of USAID funding.

With reporting by AP and Reuters

BUDAPEST -- Hungary's parliament has passed an amendment that will ban the annual LGBT Pride march on the grounds that it could be considered "harmful to children."

The amendment to the country's assembly law was fast-tracked through parliament by the ruling right-wing Fidesz party of Prime Minister Viktor Orban and passed with 136 votes in favor, 27 against, and no abstentions.

The amendment explicitly prohibits assemblies that violate the prohibition set out in the Child Protection Act, that "promotes and displays deviations from the gender identity corresponding to the sex at birth, gender change, and homosexuality."

Hungary’s annual Pride march, which is part of the Budapest Pride Festival, usually takes place on the first Saturday of July.

The newly amended law will target not only the organizers of Pride gatherings but also participants.

Under the amended law, violators could face misdemeanor charges and fines of up to 200,000 forints (around $540). The amendment also authorizes the use of facial-recognition systems to identify participants at prohibited rallies.

During the debate in parliament, Fidesz deputies, which have a majority in the National Assembly, argued the amendment would protect children's interests and was necessary to prevent potential abuse.

Organizers Say Pride Will Still Take Place

The amendment follows a statement Orban made in February suggesting the organizers of Pride should not bother preparing this year's parade and calling it "a waste of money and time." Several officials from the ruling party, which has been in power since 2010, also called for banning the Pride parade altogether.

In response to the parliamentary amendment, Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony, who is in opposition to Fidesz, declared on Facebook that "Pride will happen! It may even be bigger than ever."

He emphasized that Budapest will protect those who stand up for "their self-esteem, their community, for freedom, and for the power of love."

The session in parliament was disturbed by protests from deputies from the center-left Momentum party, who filled the chamber with red, white, and green smoke -- the colors of the Hungarian flag -- played the Soviet anthem and distributed photo-montages that depicted depicting Orban and Putin embracing.

Despite the ban, however, Pride organizers have said they are still planning to go ahead with the march.

European Union politicians said they are continuing their push into possible support for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty after the US government moved to cut the Prague-based broadcaster's funding amid concerns its closure would be a blow to pro-democracy media.

Czech European Affairs Minister Martin Dvorak told reporters in Brussels on March 18 that several nations have supported the initiative so far but the bloc must act quickly as "it would be a big mistake to let this institution die."

"We must initiate some interest and meet with commissioners and some states. At this point, that initiative has been supported by seven other nations, and after we make the initiative public at the General Affairs Council, more countries will join us," Dvorak said, adding the issue needs to be resolved in a matter of "several weeks."

At the initiative of the Czech Republic, a meeting of foreign ministers from the bloc's 27 members on March 17 addressed the issue with the future of RFE/RL unclear due to the cutting of its Congress-approved funding by the administration of President Donald Trump over the weekend.

EU Countries Voice Their Support Of RFE/RL

While Dvorak said he did not want to reveal the names of the countries that have voiced their support for the move, diplomatic sources told RFE/RL that Germany, Austria, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, Slovenia, Poland, the Czech Republic, and the three Baltic nations are among those who support the initiative.

"The financial challenges faced by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty put independent journalism at serious risk in regions where the free press is silenced, from Russia and Belarus to Iran and Afghanistan," Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said in a post on X.

" If RFE/RL disappears, disinformation and propaganda will fill the void. That would a direct win for those who seek to undermine democracy.... Europe cannot let that happen. Protecting a free press means protecting democracy. Access to fact-based reporting is not just a principle, it is a necessity for security and fundamental freedoms," he added.

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said after the March 17 foreign ministers meeting that he sensed "a certain interest" from other EU members in his country's initiative, and that "it is our responsibility to seriously deal with this issue."

Radio Free Europe's Cold War History

Lipavsky's Polish counterpart, Radek Sikorski, also voiced support for RFE/RL, recalling how his father listened to the station as well as the Voice of America broadcaster during the Cold War.

"It's how we learned the basic facts about our own countries because communist propaganda was so tightly controlled," he told reporters. "And these institutions continue to do similar work for autocracies today."

Trump signed an executive order late on March 14 that aims to reduce seven federal agencies -- including the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and other federal broadcasters.

The order, which also targets agencies that deal with homelessness, labor disputes, and community development, gave the heads of each governmental entity named seven days to submit a report confirming full compliance.

Hours after the executive order was published, a letter from USAGM said the Congress-approved grant that funds RFE/RL, headquartered in the Czech capital, Prague, had been terminated.

RFE/RL President and Chief Executive Officer Stephen Capus said canceling the grant agreement would be "a massive gift to America's enemies," a point that was echoed by many media rights watchdogs, democracy advocates, and politicians.

Added US Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee: "The Trump administration's latest effort to dismantle entities established and funded by Congress that provide accurate, unbiased information to hundreds of millions of people in countries where press freedom is under attack undermines the US commitment to democracy."

'Critical Lifeline'

“If President Trump gets his way, those who depend on US-supported independent media as alternatives to Chinese and Kremlin run media outlets and those living under authoritarian regimes will lose a critical lifeline."

The USAGM is an independent US government agency that oversees the broadcasting of news and information in almost 50 languages to some 361 million people each week.

The total budget request for the USAGM for fiscal year 2025 was $950 million to fund all of its operations and capital investments.

This includes media outlets such as RFE/RL, Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (Radio Marti), Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN), and the Open Technology Fund.

"Sweden has cosigned a Czech initiative to look for ways in which the EU and its member states can support Radio Free Europe and its role as a voice of freedom, where it is needed the most," Swedish EU Affairs Minister Jessica Rosencrantz said.

Trump, who has taken several moves to slash government spending since taking office for a second term in January, clashed with the USAGM over editorial independence and the direction of programming during his first term.

He has reiterated those concerns again since retaking office. Supporters of the broadcasters say they are an important arm of US diplomacy.

RFE/RL operates in 23 countries and 27 languages across Central and Eastern Europe, the Near East, and Central Asia.

The chairperson-in-office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Elina Valtonen, demanded respect for Bosnia-Herzegovina's constitutional framework during a visit to Sarajevo on March 18, as a political crisis centering on the country's Bosnian Serb entity Republika Srpska deepens.

Valtonen, who is also the Finnish foreign minister, was visiting the country at a time when Republika Srpska's under-pressure, pro-Russian President Milorad Dodik appears to be pushing his territory ever closer to secession while ignoring arrest warrants for him and other top politicians issued by Bosnia-Herzegovina's Prosecutor's Office.

"I call on all political leaders to respect the constitutional framework and to refrain from any actions that could lead to further destabilization of the country. Constructive dialogue is very important for moving forward," Valtonen said.

Valtonen additionally stressed the importance of the Dayton Accords, an agreement that ended war in Bosnia three decades ago and now underpins a complicated system of governance wherein the Bosniak-Croat Federation coexists with the ethnic Serb-dominated Republika Srpska under a weak central government.

Valtonen said the country should continue to pursue reforms that she called "a fundamental element on the path to EU integration."

Dodik, a veteran of the political scene in Republika Srpska, was once seen as a moderate who advocated for cooperation with the international community and supported Dayton.

But over time he has cultivated a more nationalist image, often confronting both Bosnia's central government and the Office of the High Representative for Bosnia-Herzegovina -- a position established under Dayton in order to oversee the implementation of civilian aspects of the agreement.

Bosnia's current crisis stems from Dodik's conflict with Hans Christian Friedrich Schmidt, the diplomat who has occupied the role of high representative since 2021.

It has accelerated toward a breaking point ever since the state Bosnian Court sentenced Dodik to jail over his failure to execute Schmidt's decisions in a first-degree verdict on February 27.

Since then Republika Srpska has passed laws barring state-level law enforcement and judicial organs from the entity while adopting the draft of a new constitution for the territory.

The last of those steps is arguably the most radical of all, aiming to redefine the Serb entity as a state of the Serbian people, grant it the right to self-determination, and establish its own national army.

Valtonen was appearing in Sarajevo alongside Elmedin Konakovic, Bosnia's Foreign Minister, who blasted Dodik and Republika Srpska's Prime Minister Radovan Viskovic for escalating the standoff.

"This best describes the current state of the country: On one side, we have threats called Dodik, Viskovic, and others, and on the other side, we have opportunities to develop our economy and provide prospects for the people of Bosnia," Konakovic said, stressing the country's desire for integration with the EU.

Dodik had the right to reman in office and appeal against the February 27 verdict that sentenced him to a year in jail and barred him from political activity.

But instead he ignored a court summons, triggering the arrest warrants issued for him, Viskovic, and parliamentary speaker Nenad Stevandic by state-level prosecutors on March 12.

"We will not respond.... If they think the solution is to see Dodik in handcuffs, that is their prerogative, but that does not mean they can do it. I will do my job and I will never leave Republika Srpska," Dodik vowed at a press conference.

The OSCE said the recent moves made by the Respublika Srpska leadership directly violate the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The laws passed by the entity's parliament in recent weeks have also earned condemnation from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, and several foreign embassies in the country.

WASHINGTON -- Mainstream Washington has often fretted over encounters between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, President Vladimir Putin.

The US leader has shown an affinity for the authoritarian Kremlin ruler that has stumped critics and even some allies, leading many to wonder whether the crafty former KGB colonel may use flattery and other means to get his way on issues.

Now, as Trump prepares to speak with Putin in a high-stakes call on March 18 about ending the war in Ukraine, the world is waiting to see whether he will stand his ground and demand an unconditional temporary cease-fire or acquiesce to some of Russia's demands.

For Ukraine, much is at stake, including its territorial integrity.

"It is important that President Trump stick to his guns and insist on a clean cease-fire. And if the Russians don't, he needs to be ready to implement the promises he made to increase pressure on Moscow," John Hardie, the deputy director of the Russian Program at Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told RFE/RL.

Ukraine on March 11 accepted Trump's proposal for a 30-day, unconditional cease-fire, putting the ball for halting the more than three-year full-scale war squarely in Putin's court.

In a news conference in Moscow three days later, the Russian leader sought to politely punt the ball over to Trump, telling the world that while he agreed with the US president's proposal in principle, he wanted certain issues addressed before agreeing to any deal.

Putin said he is concerned Ukraine could use the pause in fighting to mobilize, train, and rearm at a time when his forces have the advantage on the battlefield.

He also questioned how the more than 1,000-kilometer front would be monitored during a cease-fire and wanted peace talks to consider the "reality on the ground," namely Russia's control of Ukrainian land.

Experts have been warning for some time that Putin is only interested in ending the war on his terms, including fully occupying four Ukrainian territories Russia claims to have annexed in 2022, disarming Kyiv, and keeping the country out of NATO.

Speaking at an annual geopolitical conference in New Delhi on March 18, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha stated Kyiv's belief that it could "achieve long-lasting, just peace" with Trump's leadership and was waiting for an "unconditional yes for a cease-fire" from Russia.

"Our approach: Now is a time for diplomacy, for strong diplomacy," Sybiha said.

In an interview with Current Time, Ukrainian political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko said that a potential negative outcome from the Putin-Trump phone would be if Putin persuaded Trump to exert "a new wave of pressure on Ukraine, with the aim of extracting more concessions from Ukraine before beginning the negotiations."

At the same time, said Fesenko, it will be a priority for Putin "to preserve the potential for future negotiations with Trump," giving him an incentive for talks that show progress.

"What is important to understand: political declarations about readiness for a cease-fire or the beginning of talks on a cease-fire does not mean a cease-fire itself," Fesenko said.

"For a cease-fire you don’t need politicians to sit around a table and say something, but rather military representatives from both warring countries, with mediators of course, [who] should agree on the line of contact. And that is very difficult when the front is very unstable – it is changing every day in some sections."

Trump has made ending the war as soon as possible a top priority for his administration and, with Moscow and Kyiv so far apart in their demands, some fear Trump could pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to make more compromises than Putin.

Prior to starting cease-fire talks, the US president said he objected to Ukraine's NATO membership and said Kyiv will have to forfeit land -- seemingly conceding to Putin on two key demands -- though Trump has not agreed to them as a precondition for the cease-fire deal.

The Russian leader believes he is winning the war and that time is on his side, so he will seek to drag out talks on a cease-fire rather than reject the proposal outright so as not to irritate Trump, experts have said.

Nonetheless, Trump has expressed optimism about the upcoming call, telling reporters late on March 16 that "a lot of work's been done over the weekend" to achieve a cease-fire.

Trump dispatched his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, to Moscow to meet with Putin last week in preparation for the March 18 call.

Trump said he would be discussing with Putin both "land" and "power plants," the latter a possible reference to Europe's largest nuclear power plant that Russia controls in Ukraine.

"I think we have a lot of it already discussed very much by both sides, Ukraine and Russia. We're already talking about that, dividing up certain assets," Trump said.

"I think we have a very good chance" to bring the war to an end, he said.

John Herbst, the former ambassador to Ukraine from 2003-06 and an analyst at the Atlantic Council, told RFE/RL that the rhetoric coming from the Kremlin doesn't jibe with the upbeat view from the White House.

Russia hasn't given any signs it is ready to make concessions, Herbst said.

'A Good Thing'

Ian Bremmer, founder of the political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, said in a March 17 video statement posted on X that Trump's push for a cease-fire was an "important thing to do" considering Ukraine's struggles on the battlefield.

Russia has been on the march in eastern Ukraine since late 2023 -- following Ukraine's failed counteroffensive -- despite large-scale losses in men and material. With Russia possessing a significant manpower advantage, some military experts say they don't see a path for Ukraine to regain its territory.

"We would be better off today had [former President Joe] Biden been more willing to push Zelenskyy and push the European allies and show that America recognized that Ukraine was weakening in their position vis-a-vis Russia, and that the war was only leading to more expense and more lives being lost on both sides," Bremmer said.

Using Trump's terminology, Bremmer said the US president with the backing of allies holds the cards in these negotiations but cautioned that Putin can play a weak hand well.

Hardie shared that concern, saying Putin will try to use the call "to shape" Trump's views of the conflict with disinformation. He pointed out that Trump last week repeated Putin's exaggerated claim that Ukrainian forces in Kursk were surrounded by Russian forces.

It wasn't the first time Trump uttered a Putin talking point following conversations with the Kremlin leader.

At the same time, Trump has also talked tough on Russia. He has threatened to impose tariffs and sanctions on the country if the Kremlin did not agree to the cease-fire. But he has not publicly stated a time frame, giving the Kremlin some wiggle room to negotiate.

Chief among the tools in his box are oil sanctions, Hardie said.

Trump could lower the $60 price cap imposed by the United States and European Union in 2022 on Russian oil exports shipped using Western vessels or insurance. The US president could also sanction more of Russia's own oil tanker fleet. Oil exports fuel Russia's economy and defense spending, accounting for about a third of federal budget revenues.

Trump heavily criticized US military aid to Ukraine on the campaign trail, potentially limiting his ability to use weapon deliveries as leverage should Russia refuse the cease-fire proposal.

But Trump could tap the $3.8 billion for military support to Ukraine remaining from the $61 billion aid package passed last April, Hardie said. The US president could also structure aid as a loan, he said.

More than 300 people were reported killed after Israel launched deadly air strikes in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, and southern Syria in what it said were targeted attacks against extremists planning terror assaults, reigniting tensions that threatened to engulf the region in a new, bloody conflict.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he instructed the military to take "strong action" against Iran-backed Hamas -- deemed a terrorist organization by the United States and EU -- in response to the Islamist group's refusal to release all remaining hostages and its rejection of new cease-fire proposals.

"Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength," Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

The strikes represent the biggest escalation in the conflict since the cease-fire was reached in mid-January.

Citing medical officials under the control of Hamas, several media outlets reported that the death toll across the Gaza Strip had reached at least 326 people from the attacks.

The information could not independently be confirmed.

The United Nations' Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory called the strikes "unconscionable" and demanded an immediate reinstatement of the ceasefire.

"People in Gaza have endured unimaginable suffering. An end to hostilities, sustained humanitarian assistance, release of the hostages and the restoration of basic services and people’s livelihoods, are the only way forward," Muhannad Hadi said in his statement.

Israel's military said the Gaza strikes targeted mid-level Hamas commanders and leaders and the group's infrastructure.

Along with the strikes against Hamas in Gaza, the Israeli military said it conducted air strikes in southern Lebanon and southern Syria as well.

It said it was prepared to continue attacks against Hamas for as long as necessary and would expand the campaign beyond air strikes. Israeli tanks and soldiers operated extensively in Gaza during the previous retaliatory action.

The White House was consulted by Israel in its latest strikes on Gaza, a White House spokeswoman told Fox News.

"As President [Donald] Trump has made it clear -- Hamas, the Houthis [in Yemen], Iran, all those who seek to terrorize not just Israel, but also the United States of America, will see a price to pay. All hell will break loose," press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox.

Trump on March 5 warned Hamas that there would be “hell to pay” if it does not immediately release all hostages after the White House confirmed that it had conducted secret talks with the extremist group.

Reuters quoted a senior Hamas official as saying that Israel is "unilaterally ending" the Gaza cease-fire agreement and that the action put the fate of the remaining Israeli hostages in jeopardy.

The violence comes amid disputes between Israel and Hamas over ways to maintain the three-phase cease-fire that began on January 19, including the exchange of remaining hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Two weeks ago, Israel cut off all food, medicine, fuel, electricity and other supplies to the territory’s around 2 million people to pressure Hamas to accept a new proposal to extend the cease-fire.

Much of Hamas's leadership was killed during Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza following the extremist group’s bloody cross-border attack in Israel on October 7, 2023.

The Hamas-led militants' attack on settlements in southern Israel killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, with 251 hostages being taken to Gaza. Some two dozen remain in Hamas control.

Israel struck back by launching a devastating war in the Palestinian enclave that has killed tens of thousands of people, according to local authorities, and displaced most of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents.

Following the cease-fire agreement – which led to the release of numbers of hostages and prisoners -- the Israeli military has often conducted attacks against Hamas as well as strikes against Hezbollah locations in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah has also been designated a terrorist organization by the United States, while the EU has deemed its armed wing but not its political section as a terror group. Much of its leadership was also killed during Israel's 14-month war against the group prior to a US-brokered cease-fire in November.

In the renewed attacks, Israel said it struck two Hezbollah leaders in the southern Lebanese town of Yohmor. It said the men were “observation operatives.”

The military said other, unspecified strikes were carried out against Hezbollah sites in Lebanon.

In Syria, Israel has seized a buffer zone in the south after the collapse the brutal autocratic regime of Bashar al-Assad in December. It described the move as a preemptive measure against the former Islamist insurgents who overthrew Assad and now control Syria.

On March 17, Syrian authorities said Israeli strikes hit a residential area in the southern city of Daraa, killing three people. The report could not be verified.

Israeli said it was targeting military command centers and weapons sites in southern Syria belonging to remnants of Assad’s forces and that they posed a threat to Israel.

Assad fled Syria and in December and was reported to be in Russia, which along with Iran, was a major backer of his regime. Assad assumed power in 2000 upon the death of his father, Hafez al-Assad.

With reporting by Reuters and AP

A court in Tbilisi has found jailed former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili guilty of illegally crossing the country's border, sentencing him to an additional four years and six months in prison.

Since Saakashvili had already been sentenced to nine years in previous cases, Judge Mikheil Jinjolia in the Tbilisi City Court ruled that the former president would now serve a total of 12 years and six months behind bars.

According to this ruling, Saakashvili will remain imprisoned until April 1, 2034.

Speaking via video link from the Vivamedi clinic in Tbilisi during a separate trial, Saakashvili strongly condemned the ruling.

"This verdict is meant to destroy me in prison, to eliminate me physically," he said.

He declared that he remained a threat to his political opponents, whether behind bars or even in death.

"You cannot destroy the idea of Georgia's freedom or the soul of Saakashvili. We are fighting and will win," the former president declared.

Saakashvili had been wanted by Georgian authorities and secretly returned to Georgia on September 29, 2021, after years of self-imposed exile. Two days later, on October 1, he was arrested. Prosecutors charged him with illegal border crossing.

Last week, the Tbilisi City Court's Judge Badri Kochlamazashvili sentenced Saakashvili to an additional nine years in prison for the large-scale embezzlement of public funds. He ruled that the term would be served concurrently with the six-year prison term Saakashvili was already serving for abuse of power.

Saakashvili, president of Georgia from 2003 to 2013, has consistently denied all the charges.

His steadfast denial of his guilt, echoed by the opposition United National Movement and several other political groups, has garnered sympathy and support among many Georgians. Many argue that the case was driven by political retribution.

Governor In Ukraine

Saakashvili's presidency was marked by ambitious reforms to curb corruption and modernize the country, including significant changes in the police force and the judiciary.

After leaving office, he became involved in Ukrainian politics, serving as the governor of Odesa from 2015 to 2016 before falling out with Ukrainian authorities.

He had been convicted in absentia on charges related to abuse of power, including granting a presidential pardon to individuals involved in the murder of banker Sandro Girgvliani and the beating of opposition lawmaker Valeri Gelashvili. These charges are part of a series of legal battles he has been facing since leaving office.

Since his arrest, he has been held in detention and is currently receiving medical treatment at the Vivamedi Clinic.

Additionally, Saakashvili is still facing trial for his role in the crackdown on protests on November 7, 2007. The trial is seen as a continuation of the legal challenges he has been facing since leaving office.

The arrest of Saakashvili, a key Western ally and a symbol of democratic reforms in Georgia, has sparked international concern over his health and treatment in detention.

The United States has launched extensive air strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, aiming to curb their threat to shipping while also signaling a warning to Iran.

In a statement announcing his directive on March 15, US President Donald Trump also warned Iran to “immediately” end its support for the Houthis and vowed to hold Tehran “fully accountable” if it threatened Americans or shipping lanes.

On March 17, Trump turned up the heat, posting on his Truth Social platform that “the hundreds of attacks made by the Houthi, who are hated by the Yemeni people, emanate from, and are created by, Iran.”

"Any further attack or retaliation by the 'Houthis' will be met with great force, and there is no guarantee that the force will stop there,” he wrote.

The strikes come as Iran is weighing its response to a letter by Trump on direct talks over Tehran’s nuclear program, and possibly its regional activities and missile development.

Michael Horowitz, head of intelligence at the Bahrain-based Le Beck International consultancy, said he believes the attack on Houthi targets may well have something to do with Iran’s opposition to direct talks with the Trump administration.

“There is a message being sent in the type of weapons used, including sea-launched missiles,” he told RFE/RL. “Nuclear negotiations haven’t started, and Trump is threatening to use force if diplomacy doesn’t work. This is a way to show that he is serious.”

How Are The Attacks Different From Past Strikes?

Designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, the Houthis, who are formally known as the Ansarallah movement, seized power in Yemen in 2014 by toppling the internationally recognized, Saudi-backed government.

Soon after the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, the Houthis began launching attacks on Israel and targeting ships in the Red Sea believed to be sailing to or from Israel. The group said this was in solidarity with the Palestinians.

The attacks stopped after a fragile cease-fire went into force in January, but the Houthis have threatened to resume their attacks if aid does not flow into Gaza.

Last year, US and British militaries carried out multiple air strikes against the Houthis, but the new wave of attacks seems to be different.

Horowitz said the administrations of former US President Joe Biden was focused on defensive and pre-emptive strikes, targeting weapon depots and weapons just before they were launched.

“Trump appears to have widened the scope of those strikes to include Houthi officials and offices. I would not discount that we’ll even see a campaign of targeted assassinations,” he added.

The Houthis have vowed to retaliate and claimed to have launched 18 drones and missiles against USS Harry S. Truman on March 16. The United States has not commented on the claim, but reports citing unnamed US officials say the drones were intercepted and the missiles did not reach the warship.

The Yemeni group claims US strikes have killed dozens of people, including children. But White House national-security adviser Mike Waltz said on March 16 that the United States “took out” multiple Houthi leaders.

How Has Iran Responded To The US Air Strikes?

The X account of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on March 16 posted a quote from the top Iranian decision-maker dating back to 2020, in which he insisted that the “nation of Yemen is definitely victorious.”

“The only path is that of resistance. That which has caused the US and its allies to panic today is the fact that the Muslim nations are standing firmly and that this resistance will prove to be effective,” the post read.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi criticized the Trump administration for demanding that Tehran cut ties with the Houthis, saying that US government “has no authorities or business dictating Iranian foreign policy.”

Meanwhile, Hossein Salami, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), rejected assertions that Iran influences the Houthis, insisting that Tehran “has no role” in the Houthis’ decision-making process.

The Houthi movement is a key member of the Iran-led "axis of resistance," a network of non-state actors that has suffered major setbacks over the past year. The movement has particularly risen in stature as a defender of the Palestinian cause since it started hitting Israel and alleged Israeli-linked vessels.

Horowitz said the Houthis’ rising profile within the axis of resistance gives them some level of autonomy, but they are ultimately an Iranian proxy.

“They are still extremely dependent on Iran for weapons they use regularly so they will follow Iran's lead in my opinion,” he added.

The European Union is looking into the possible support of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty after the US government moved to cut the broadcaster's funding, sparking concern over the silencing of pro-democracy media.

At the initiative of the Czech Republic, a meeting of foreign ministers from the bloc's 27 members in Brussels on March 17 addressed the issue with the future of RFE/RL unclear due to the cutting of its Congress-approved funding by the administration of President Donald Trump over the weekend.

A diplomatic source with knowledge of the discussion told RFE/RL that the Czechs, along with Poland and the three Baltic countries -- Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania -- immediately expressed support for the idea, saying a halt in RFE/RL's operations would "be a gift to Europe's adversaries" and its dissolution would be "irreparable for democratic aspirations around the world."

"It has been a beacon of democracy and very valuable," Kaja Kallas, the EU's top diplomat, told journalists after the meeting.

"It is sad to hear that the US is withdrawing its [RFE/RL's] funding. Now the question for us is can we come in with our funding to leave or fill the void that the US is leaving?" Kallas added.

Kallas said the question of funding doesn't have an automatic answer, but there was "really a push from the foreign ministers to discuss this and find the way."

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said he sensed "a certain interest" from other EU members in his country's initiative, and that "it is our responsibility to seriously deal with this issue."

Lipavsky's Polish counterpart, Radek Sikorski, also voiced support for RFE/RL, recalling how his father listened to the station as well as the Voice of America broadcaster during the Cold War.

"It's how we learnt the basic facts about our own countries because communist propaganda was so tightly controlled," he told reporters. "And these institutions continue to do similar work for autocracies today."

Sikorski also voiced support for Lipavsky's initiative to seek alternative avenues of funding for the US broadcasters.

"We will take a look at what can be done," he said. "We are at the stage of brainstorming, but clearly these are worthy institutions whose mission should continue."

Trump signed an executive order late on March 14 that aims to reduce seven federal agencies -- including the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and other federal broadcasters.

The order, which also targets agencies that deal with homelessness, labor disputes, and community development, gave the heads of each governmental entity named seven days to submit a report confirming full compliance.

Hours after the executive order was published, a letter from the USAGM said the Congress-approved grant that funds RFE/RL, headquartered in the Czech capital, Prague, had been terminated.

RFE/RL President and Chief Executive Officer Stephen Capus said canceling the grant agreement would be "a massive gift to America's enemies," a point that was echoed by many media rights watchdogs, democracy advocates, and politicians.

Added US Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee: "The Trump administration's latest effort to dismantle entities established and funded by Congress that provide accurate, unbiased information to hundreds of millions of people in countries where press freedom is under attack undermines the US commitment to democracy."

“If President Trump gets his way, those who depend on US supported independent media as alternatives to Chinese and Kremlin run media outlets and those living under authoritarian regimes will lose a critical lifeline."

Belarus opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya is one of those who has seen firsthand how an authoritarian regime works to negate unbiased and fact-based news from outlets such as RFE/RL.

In an August 2020 presidential election, her husband, Syarhey Tsikhanouski, announced he would run as an opposition candidate to authoritarian ruler Aleksandr Lukashenko. He was jailed before the campaign even started and eventually sentenced along with four others to lengthy prison terms.

She ran in his place and claims, along with most Western governments, that she won. Election officials, however, declared Lukashenko the winner, touching off peaceful mass protests that turned deadly when security forces launched a brutal crackdown.

"For us, nations living under tyranny, RFE/RL and VOA News are symbols of the free world -- voices of truth," Tsikhanouskaya, who fled her country fearing for the safety of her family, said in a post on X.

"Many, like [RFE journalist] Ihar Losik, are in prison for working with them. For the United States, they are powerful tools of soft power, making America stronger and safer. Losing them would be a grave mistake."

Losik, a blogger and contributor to RFE/RL's Belarus Service, was convicted in December 2021 on multiple charges, including "organizing and preparing actions that grossly violate public order," and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

He is one of four RFE/RL journalists and contributors -- along with Vladyslav Yesypenko, Nika Novak, and Farid Mehralizada -- who are currently imprisoned on charges related to their work.

Last year, the Russian government designated RFE/RL an "undesirable organization," a label that effectively banned the broadcaster from working in Russia while also exposing anyone who cooperates with the outlet to potential prosecution.

"We urge the EU to stand up for media freedom by supporting Radio Free Europe," Renew Europe, a pro-European and centrist political group in the European Parliament, said in a statement.

The USAGM is an independent US government agency that oversees the broadcasting of news and information in almost 50 languages to some 361 million people each week.

The total budget request for the USAGM for fiscal year 2025 was $950 million to fund all of its operations and capital investments.

This includes media outlets such as RFE/RL, Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (Radio Marti), Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN) and the Open Technology Fund.

"We see these media outlets really as beacons of truth, of democracy, and of hope for millions of people around the world. And of course, at an age of unmoderated content and fake news, journalism, freedom of press...are critical for democracy, and this decision risks benefiting our common adversaries," European Commission spokesperson Audia Paula Pinho said on March 17.

Trump, who has taken several moves to slash government spending since taking office for a second term in January, clashed with the USAGM over editorial independence and the direction of programming during his first term.

He has reiterated those concerns again since retaking office. Supporters of the broadcasters say they are an important arm of US diplomacy.

In addition to the USAGM, the order targets Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in the Smithsonian Institution, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund; and the Minority Business Development Agency.

Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed during talks with US President Donald Trump to halt strikes on Ukraine's energy sector and infrastructure for 30 days as a step toward reaching a full cease-fire.

But the first concession by Russia since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three ago still fell short of Trump's goal of an immediate cease-fire across all theaters of the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy quickly expressed his disappointment with the outcome of the March 18 call, saying the result showed that Putin isn't interested in peace and was determined "to drag out the war." He accused Russia of stepping up infrastructure attacks following the call.

A White House statement on the call said Trump and Putin "agreed that the movement to peace will begin with an energy and infrastructure cease-fire."

Russia has devastated Ukraine's power infrastructure in an attempt to demoralize the country's citizens by depriving them of electricity and heat in the dead of winter.

On his Truth Social platform, Trump described the call as "very good and productive."

"We agreed to an immediate Ceasefire on all Energy and Infrastructure, with an understanding that we will be working quickly to have a Complete Ceasefire and, ultimately, an END to this very horrible War between Russia and Ukraine," he wrote.

"Many elements of a Contract for Peace were discussed, including the fact that thousands of soldiers are being killed, and both President Putin and President Zelenskyy would like to see it end," Trump added.

But Putin put forward preconditions for any further steps, including a halt of military aid and intelligence to Ukraine, demands that Kyiv will almost certainly reject. Ukraine last week agreed to Trump's immediate cease-fire pending Russia's acceptance of the same terms.

Trump and Putin said their respective diplomats will continue discussions to arrive at a full cease-fire, something that could take months. In the meantime, Russia will continue to pursue its invasion of Ukraine on the ground and in the air.

Trump envoy Steve Witkoff later told Fox News that new talks are planned between US and Russian representatives on March 23 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, although he added that details were still to be finalized.

Trump has made ending the war in Ukraine a priority since taking office two months ago, but Moscow and Kyiv are so far apart on key issues such as territorial control and security guarantees that bridging the gap will be difficult. Trump so far has leaned heavily on Ukraine.

The Kremlin said in its readout of the call -- which lasted more than 90 minutes -- that Putin raised a number of issues including effective monitoring of a possible cease-fire along the entire line of combat contact as well as a halt to Ukrainian mobilization and Western military assistance for Kyiv.

"It was emphasized that the key condition for preventing the escalation of the conflict and working toward its resolution through political and diplomatic means should be the complete cessation of foreign military aid and the provision of intelligence information to Kyiv," the Kremlin said.

In comments later to Fox News, Trump said that aid to Ukraine was not discussed in the call.

The Kremlin also said peace talks need "to take into account the absolute need to eliminate the root causes of the crisis, and Russia's legitimate interests in the area of security," a reference to NATO expansion and other issues Moscow uses to justify its invasion.

Speaking to reporters from Finland, where he is on a working trip, Ukraine's Zelenskyy said Putin's demands show he is not interested in a cease-fire but in undermining Ukraine's armed forces.

"When Putin talks about the end of mobilization, he does not speak out of [humanitarian] positions, but in an effort to make our army smaller and weaker - the same is to be said about his demands to stop providing military aid and intelligence to us," Zelenskyy said.

"But one thing he is not talking about is a cease-fire -- as straightforward as that -- without various many issues attached to it," he said.

Zelenskyy later said Russia's continued attacks on infrastructure -- including, he said, at least 40 drone strikes late on March 18 following the call -- showed the need to continue pressure on Russia for "the sake of peace."

"Today, Putin effectively rejected the proposal for a complete cease-fire," Zelenskyy said on Telegram. "It would be right for the world to reject in response any attempts by Putin to drag out the war."

Andriy Yermak, Zelenskiy's chief of staff, posted on Telegram that "Russia is attacking civilian infrastructure and people right now," adding that a hospital had been hit in Sumy. The report could not immediately be confirmed.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin said Ukrainian forces were attempting a cross-border attack in Russia's Belgorod region, where the governor called the situation "difficult."

Experts largely expected Putin to reject Trump's proposal for full-cease fire because the Kremlin leader believes he is winning the war and that time is on his side.

Russia continues to grind forward in eastern Ukraine, but it still doesn't fully control the four regions -- Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson -- that it claims to have annexed in 2022.

A cease-fire now would likely leave Putin short of that goal.

The readout made no mention of security guarantees for Ukraine. Zelenskyy has often stressed that for Kyiv to accept any peace deal it must come with security guarantees for Ukraine from its Western partners, including eventual NATO membership.

"I have insisted [on Ukraine's membership in] NATO, but you know what the answers have been," he said in February, suggesting the path to joining the Western military alliance remains obstructed.

In Berlin, Germany's outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron said they welcomed the vow to end attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, but they said it is only the first step on the road to peace.

"The next step must be a complete cease-fire for Ukraine and as quickly as possible. Of course. it is clear that we both agree on this too," Scholz told a joint news conference with Macron.

Zelenskyy said he had spoken to the German and French leaders following Trump's call with Putin. The British government said Zelenskyy had also spoke with Prime Minister Keir Starmer following the call.

With reporting by Reuters