Moments after Moscow and Kyiv agreed to a limited ceasefire following a one-hour call between US President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday said that a "lasting ceasefire" is in the works and that the two sides have never been closer to peace.
"Right now, we're at a partial ceasefire. But again, the President is sending his highly skilled, intelligent and experienced team to Saudi Arabia later this week to continue fighting for peace in this conflict. And I would just reiterate one more time: we have never been closer to peace than we are today," she said.
What started as a public fallout between Trump and Zelenskyy at the White House a few weeks ago ended in an hour-long phone call during which both leaders struck a positive tone, according to reports.
[Compared to their last interaction at the Oval Office in Washington DC](https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/trump-zelenskyy-vance-heated-white-house-meeting-diplomatic-fallout-us-ukraine-russia-war-2687295-2025-03-01), the exchange between the two leaders was in stark contrast, as they held what Zelenskyy described as a "positive, very substantive, and frank" phone call—away from media glare and attention.
So much so, that following the call, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt expressed confidence, hoping for a lasting peace deal soon. "We are now at that place where we are talking about that. So we've moved beyond just the economic minerals deal framework, and we're looking at a lasting ceasefire," she added.