White House says Trump speaking with Zelenskyy now

US President Donald Trump is holding a phone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy on 19 March.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino did not provide details of the conversation between Trump and Zelenskyy but confirmed that it was "happening now" at the time of the news publishing.

Earlier, Zelenskyy announced the planned conversation with the US president to "discuss the details" of Trump’s call with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin the previous day.

On 18 March, following the phone conversation between Trump and Putin, it was reported that Putin once again rejected the idea of a 30-day ceasefire but instead agreed to refrain from attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

The parties also agreed to discuss "the safety of shipping in the Black Sea" and to set up Russian and American expert groups to discuss the "Ukrainian settlement".

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy stated that Putin had effectively rejected the proposal for a complete ceasefire by launching a large-scale drone attack on Ukrainian cities on the night of 18-19 March.