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The President's Daily Brief
PDB Afternoon Bulletin | March 21st, 2025: Russia-Ukraine Ceasefire In Jeopardy & American Hostage Freed From Taliban's Clutches
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- [00:01]
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- [00:42]
Mike Baker
It's Friday 21st March. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, the Trump administration's hopes for a limited ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine appear to be at risk as Moscow and Kyiv accuse each other of sabotaging a Russian gas facility and the Kremlin continues its attacks on Ukraine's civilian infrastructure. Later in the show, following negotiations with the Trump administration and Qatari officials, the Taliban has released an American hostage after holding it for more than two years in Afghanistan. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. Kyiv and the Kremlin traded accusations on Friday of terrorism and deceit over the destruction of a Russian gas pumping station near Ukraine's border in the latest sign that even a limited ceasefire between the two will be difficult to maintain, regardless of the Trump administration's stated optimism about peace. As we've been tracking here on the pdb, both Russia and Ukraine tentatively agreed this week to adhere to a 30 day partial ceasefire halting attacks on energy infrastructure. But the details of the proposal still need to be ironed out next week in Saudi Arabia, where the US Will hold separate peace talks with Russian and Ukrainian officials. While questions remain about how it could be formally implemented and enforced, both Russian President Putin and Ukrainian President Zelensky said earlier this week that they had instructed their militaries by to cease attacks on energy sites. But both countries have already accused each other of failing to uphold their word. The latest incident came Friday when the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that Kiev's forces blew up a critical Russian gas transit station during their retreat from the Kursk region. That's according to a report from Reuters. Video emerged Friday of a massive blaze at the Sudza facility that's located inside Russia, just several hundred meters from the Ukrainian border. Russia's Investigative Committee said that they had opened a criminal investigation, calling the gas transit facility's destruction a, quote, act of terrorism. Well, now, that, of course, is a rather incredible statement since it's coming from the country that invaded and occupied another country. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, apparently in an attempt to show even less self awareness than the Russian Investigative Committee, later accused Ukraine of violating the moratorium on energy infrastructure attacks, claiming it was proof that Kiev couldn't be trusted to operate in good faith when it comes to peace talks. But leaders in Kiev quickly hit back, accusing Russian forces of deliberately shelling the energy station in what they described as a false flag provocation. A statement from the Ukrainian army general staff said, quote, the Russians continue to produce numerous fakes and seek to mislead the international community. President Zelensky's chief of staff later added, quote, russian attempts to deceive everyone and pretend that they are adhering to the ceasefire will not work, as the fake news about the strike on the gas station will not work, end quote. While details of the incident at the Sudza facility are still hard to verify, it comes after Russia launched a massive drone and missile bombardment early Wednesday morning that struck two Ukrainian hospitals and an energy substation in the eastern Donetsk region. And that was less than 24 hours after Putin claimed he'd given the orders to his military to cease attacks on Ukrainian energy sites. Ukrainian officials say the Russian strongman is talking out of both sides of his mouth and is trying to manipulate current diplomatic talks with the US to gain an advantage on the battlefield. At an EU summit in Oslo on Thursday, Zelenskyy said that, quote, nothing has changed since President Trump's phone call with Putin on Tuesday. He told the conference, quote, yesterday evening, another Russian strike hit our energy infrastructure. We in Ukraine face this every day and night. Despite Putin's words about allegedly being ready to stop the attacks, end quote. Still, President Trump has maintained optimism regarding next week's peace talks in Riyadh, telling reporters Thursday, quote, I believe we'll get it done. We'll see what happens. But soon after his remarks, Russia launched a large scale drone attack on the Ukrainian port city of Odessa, hitting multiple civilian targets, injuring three people and triggering multiple fires. Following the attack, Zelensky reiterated his skepticism regarding Putin's motivations for engaging in diplomacy with the US Saying, quote, the. The relentless aerial attacks exposed to the world Russia's true attitude towards peace. Coming up next, the Trump administration secures the release of an American hostage held for more than two years in Afghanistan by the Taliban. I'll be right back.
- [05:46]
Josh Hammer
Like a bull in a China shop, Donald Trump came in to drain the swamp in Washington, D.C. but with his bold reform and rejuvenation agenda comes so many legal questions. Nationwide injunctions Are they constitutional? What's the deal with birthright citizenship? What about the administrative state? Can he actually clean the deep state and end the politicization of the federal bureaucracy? I'm Josh Hammer, host of America on Trial with Josh Hammer. Subscribe to America on Trial with Josh Hammer for your daily updates on all of these questions and more. Like a bull in a china shop, Donald Trump came in to drain the swamp in Washington, D.C. but with his bold reform and rejuvenation agenda comes so many legal questions nationwide injunctions. Are they constitutional? What's the deal with birthright citizenship? What about the administrative state? Can he actually clean the deep state and end the politicization of the federal bureaucracy? I'm Josh Hammer, host of America on Trial with Josh Hammer. Subscribe to America on Trial with Josh Hammer for your daily updates on all of these questions and more.
- [06:47]
Mike Baker
Welcome back to the Afternoon Bulletin in a bit of good news. And we could all use some good news, right? An American citizen who spent more than two years being held hostage in Afghanistan by the Taliban was released on Thursday and returned to the U S to be reunited with his family. 65 year old George Glesman, who worked as a Delta Airlines mechanic, was abducted while visiting Kabul as a tourist. Yeah, tourism on December 5, 2022. That's roughly 16 months after the Taliban seized power in the country. And he languished in a Taliban detention facility for more than 800 days. Officials said he was held in a 9 foot by 9 foot cell and would often be placed in solitary confinement underground for months at a time. That's according to a report from Fox News. His release followed several weeks of negotiations led by Qatari mediators and US Hostage envoy Adam Bowler. Now, the US does not have any diplomatic presence in Afghanistan, having closed the US embassy in Kabul in August of 2021 after the Taliban's takeover. Instead, the US relies on Qatar to serve as an intermediary. As mentioned, Qatari mediators have been holding discussions with Taliban officials for weeks to secure Glesman's release. But the breakthrough in negotiations reportedly only came after hostage envoy Bowler met in person with the Taliban earlier on Thursday at Kabul International Airport. He traveled to the country alongside Qatari mediators and former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan Zalme Khalilzad. It was the first known time that the U S is directly engaged with Afghanistan's interim government since the group seized power. A spokesman to Qatar's prime minister told Fox News, quote, that was the first meeting of its kind and opened the door for a lot of dialogue on lots of issues, including the issues of detainees. Now, Glesman is the third U S Citizen to be freed from Afghanistan this year following the release of Ryan Corbett and William McKenty in a prisoner exchange in early January during the final days of the Biden administration. But this release differed in its diplomatic significance, with former Ambassador Khalil Zad saying, quote, the Taliban government agreed to free him as a goodwill gesture to the U.S. president and the American people, end quote. Meanwhile, U.S. secretary of State Marco Rubio praised Qatari officials for their assistance, saying they have, quote, consistently proven to be a reliable partner and trusted mediator, facilitating complex negotiations. Upon landing at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on Friday, Glesman embraced his wife and thanked the Trump administration for working to free him, saying, quote, I feel born again. Well, welcome home. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Friday, 21st of March. As always, if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at the first TV. And don't forget to set your alarms for 10pm tonight. It's Friday night when the latest episode of our extended weekend show, the PDB Situation Report hits the airwaves on the first tv. You can also catch it, of course, and previous episodes on our YouTube channel at President's Daily Brief, as well as podcast platforms everywhere. Great guests this weekend include Art Arthur from the center on Immigration Studies and Bill Rogio from the foundation for the Defense of Democracies. We're talking US Deportation policies, attacks on Yemen's Khuti rebels, the breakdown of the ceasefire in Gaza, and more. It's chock full of insight and information and, frankly, witty repartee. I'm Mike Baker and I'll be back over the weekend with the PDB Situation Report. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.
- [10:51]
Mike Slater
Hey, I'm Mike Slater. I have a podcast called Politics by Faith. We have a very simple mission. We take the news of the day and we filter it through a biblical worldview. So here's the big story of the day. What does the Bible say about it and how can we apply it? It's amazing. There's nothing new under the sun. The Bible has something to say about everything that's going on today. So basically, we thumped the Bible over on Politics by Faith. I think we ought to keep MAGA going. And I think the way to take it beyond just a political victory into a true rebuilding and awakening and revival in America is to make sure that this is all grounded in biblical principles. And that's what we do on the podcast Politics by Faith, and you can subscribe to Politics by Faith wherever you're listening to the show right now.