DREW ANGERER, GAVRIIL GRIGOROV/ GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / POOL/ AFP
Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to a proposal by US President Donald Trump that Russia and Ukraine cease attacking each other's energy infrastructure for 30 days, the Kremlin said following a lengthy phone discussion between the leaders.
The two countries plan to begin negotiations "immediately" in the Middle East on a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, according to a readout from the White House.
"The leaders agreed that the movement to peace will begin with an energy and infrastructure ceasefire, as well as technical negotiations on implementation of a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, full ceasefire and permanent peace," the White House readout said.
Trump had been pressuring Putin to agree to a US-backed 30-day ceasefire that Ukraine has already accepted as part of a move toward a permanent peace deal to end Europe's biggest conflict since World War Two.
The war has killed or wounded hundreds of thousands of people, displaced millions and reduced entire towns to rubble.
Putin, whose forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022, said last week he supported in principle Washington's proposal for a truce but that his forces would fight on until several crucial conditions were worked out.
U.S. President Donald Trump fired General Timothy Haugh as director of the National Security Agency on Thursday, according to two officials familiar with the decision, and congressional Democrats denounced the removal of the nonpartisan official from a top security post.
Israel stepped up airstrikes on Syria, declaring the attacks a warning to the new rulers in Damascus as it accused their ally Turkey of trying to turn the country into a Turkish protectorate.
The Trump administration moved forward with the sale of more than 20,000 US-made assault rifles to Israel last month, according to a document seen by Reuters, pushing ahead with a sale that the administration of former president Joe Biden had delayed.
Russia launched a barrage of drones in an overnight attack on Ukraine on Friday, killing at least four people and injuring 35 in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, regional officials said.