The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | March 13th, 2025: Putin Pours Cold Water On Ceasefire Hopes & Houthis Threaten To Resume Attacks On Israeli Vessels

Episode Date: March 13, 2025

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:   First, U.S. officials have arrived in Moscow to try and sell the Kremlin on a 30-day ceasefire with Ukraine, but Russian President Vladimir Putin is already pushing back on the proposal, saying it does not go far enough. Later in the show, as the Iranian-backed Houthi militants of Yemen once again threaten to resume attacks on Israeli vessels operating in Mideast waters, the group is taking heightened measures to safeguard their leader from suffering the same fate as the chiefs of Hezbollah and Hamas. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Let's get briefed. Leading off, U.S. officials have arrived in Moscow to try and sell the Kremlin on a 30-day ceasefire with Ukraine. But Russian President Putin, well, he's already pushing back on the proposal, saying that it does not go far enough. I know. It's shocking that Putin wouldn't just quickly agree to a ceasefire when he believes he has the upper hand and Kiev isn't holding any cards. Later in the show, as the Iranian-backed Khatty militants of Yemen once again threatened to resume attacks on Israeli ships, the group is taking heightened measures to safeguard their leader from suffering the same fate as the leadership of Khazbalah and Hamas. But first, today's afternoon spotlight, U.S. officials are in Moscow today. to make a direct appeal to Russian leaders to agree to a temporary ceasefire with Ukraine,

but the talks may be doomed before they even get underway. As we noted on this morning's PDB, Kremlin officials appeared less than enthused about the recent U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine endorsed by leaders in Kiev, though they had yet to issue a formal response saying they wanted to hear more details from the Trump administration. Well, on Thursday, Russian President Putin gave a press conference where he said Moscow would not agree to an immediate end to the fighting in Ukraine, instead advocating for a deal that leads to a, quote, lasting peace and the elimination of the root causes of the war, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. But wait, I thought Russia was the root cause of the war.

Putin said that while Russia agrees with a proposal for a ceasefire in principle, well, there are nuances and also serious issues. that still need to be resolved before the process can move forward. Everything from nuances to serious issues. That pretty much covers the whole spectrum. He listed a number of these issues, including resolving the Ukrainian incursion in Russia's Kursk region and a clear plan for the West on how they plan to enforce the ceasefire and monitor potential violations.

Putin said, quote, the idea itself is good, and we, of course, support it, but there are questions we have to discuss, end quote. He suggested there would need to be additional negotiations to resolve these outstanding issues with the U.S. and U.S. allies, and hinted at holding a phone call with President Trump. Putin's response came as Trump's special envoy Steve Whitkoff arrived in Moscow to meet with the Russian leader and other Kremlin officials to try to move the needle on the ceasefire, though by all accounts he does have his work cut out for him. Meanwhile, President Trump quickly responded to Putin's press conference, telling reporters, orders at the White House that Putin's remarks were, quote, promising, but, quote, incomplete,

and that he was willing to speak with the Russian strongman to secure a ceasefire deal. Trump added, quote, hopefully Russia will do the right thing. Now, Putin's remarks echoed those made earlier in the day by his chief foreign policy advisor, Yuri Ushkov, who essentially dismissed the U.S. brokered proposal, saying it would give nothing to Russia, while allowing Ukraine to regroup at a time. when Keeves' military is on the back foot. It's according to our report from Reuters. He told Russian state television, quote, this is nothing other than a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military, nothing more.

It only gives the Ukrainians an opportunity to gain strength and to continue the same thing, and quote. Ushkhov added, quote, our goal is a long-term peaceful settlement that takes into account the legitimate interests of our country and our well-known concerns. And, quote, yes, they're all about peace. As we've been tracking on the show, Moscow's forces have been engaged in a renewed counteroffensive in recent days aimed at recapturing the Russian Kursk region from Ukraine. Ukrainian forces are losing ground fast, now controlling less than 60 square miles in Kursk,

down from the roughly 500 square miles of territory that they held last year. Putin even visited the region on Wednesday, calling for the total expulsion of Ukrainian troops from the territory. On Thursday, Russia claimed to have recaptured Sudzat, that's a key town in Kursk, and one of Ukraine's last strongholds in the region. Given the momentum of his military, it appears that Putin feels he has the stronger negotiating hand when it comes to these potential peace talks and will likely not agree to any deal that doesn't address his long-term security objectives and reflect Moscow's battlefield gains. These include demands for Ukraine to renounce their pursuit of NATO membership

and withdraw from four Russian-occupied regions in eastern Ukraine. Those are demands that leaders in Kiev strongly oppose. While President Trump appears eager to continue engaging with the Kremlin, he indicated on Wednesday that he is prepared to exert financial pressure to force Moscow to the table if need be. Trump said, quote, I can do things financially that would be very bad for Russia. I don't want to do that because I want to get peace. But in a financial sense, yes, we could do things that are very bad for Russia. It would be devastating for Russia, end quote.

Now, it's unclear at this stage what sanctions the White House may be referring to and how they would be enforced. Over the past three years, Moscow has managed to avoid the worst effects of existing sanctions through the support and input from primarily China, Iran, and North Korea. Okay, coming up next, the Iranian-backed Houthi militants of Yemen are once again threatening to resume attacks on Israeli ships operating in regional waters. I'll have those details when we come back. USAA knows dynamic duos can save the day, like superheroes and sidekicks or auto and home insurance. With USAA, you can bundle your auto and home and save up to 10.000.

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Find it all on ali.com. That's OLL.L.Y.com. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Welcome back to the afternoon bulletin. A source with Yemen's Khutti rebels say the terror group is taking extreme measures to safeguard its leader, as he and his Iran-backed organization renewed threats this week to target Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea via missile and drone strikes. Last week, Khuti leader Abdul Malik al-Hutti had set a four-day ultimatum, warning that naval operations

against Israel would resume, unless Jerusalem. lifted its blockade on aid shipments into Gaza. Well, that deadline has now expired. On Wednesday, Al-Houthi made good on his threat, announcing in a speech that the terror group would escalate attacks. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has been clear. Assistance to Gaza will remain restricted unless Hamas agrees to extend the current ceasefire terms under conditions favorable to a lasting peace. But for the Houthis, the blockade is a provocation, one that they view as a violation. One that they view as a violation of previous agreements. In a statement in Newsweek, a Houthis source doubled down on the group's stance, stating, quote, a siege for a siege until the siege on Gaza is lifted, end quote.

However, the Houthis in the past held a loose definition of what constitutes an Israeli ship suggesting that other vessels could be targeted as well. The threat of Israeli retaliation does loom large. Nanahu's government has already issued warnings with Israeli energy minister Eli Cohen previously suggesting how Houthi could suffer the same fate as the Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah leaders who have been assassinated. But the Houthis appear unfazed. According to the source, the terror group is bracing for the possibility of Israeli strikes, acknowledging the risk and stating, quote, as for targeting leaders in the policy of assassinations, we are proceeding with extreme caution. Yet the source added that simultaneously, the terror group is prepared to make

sacrifices and not turn away. Since Hamas launched its terror attacks on Israel back on 7 October 23, the Houthis entrenched themselves within Iran's axis of resistance. Since 7 October, they've carried out more than 100 attacks on commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea and Suez Canal, one of the world's most vital maritime corridors. Houthis strikes have rattled global trade, of course, driven up shipping costs and disrupted supply chains, with implications far beyond the Middle East. Unlike Hamas and Hezbollah, which suffered heavy senior leadership losses under Israeli bombardment, the Houthis have largely weathered American and Israeli air strikes, and this resilience, well, has only heightened U.S. concerns.

Just last week, as we reported here on the PDB, Secretary of State Marco Rubio formally designated the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization, and that's a move underscoring Washington's alarm over the group's expanding military reach and growing influence in the region. For the Houthis, this latest confrontation could bring them into even greater conflict with the West. Trump has demonstrated his willingness, of course, to target top adversaries, as seen in his first term, with the 2020 drone strike that killed Iranian Quds Force commander, Kassam Soleimani. Now, with tensions mounting, both President Trump and Israeli PM Netany, Yahoo may be weighing similar action against Houthi leadership.

And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Thursday, the 13th of March. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. And, of course, to listen to the show ad-free, it's very simple. Just become a premium member of the president's daily brief by visiting pdb premium.com. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool. Wireless can feel like a world of traps, but not with Visible.

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