Overview

• Ukraine reported one of the year’s largest overnight assaults with 574 drones and 40 missiles hitting multiple regions, prompting fresh calls from President Volodymyr Zelensky for tougher sanctions and tariffs on Moscow.
• NATO chiefs held a videoconference to shape possible guarantees and a post‑agreement security force, as President Donald Trump reiterated no U.S. ground troops but openness to U.S. air support and U.S. officials pressed Europe to carry most of the burden.
• Zelensky said Kyiv needs concrete security guarantees within 7–10 days before agreeing to a first meeting with President Vladimir Putin, with Switzerland, Austria and Turkey discussed as venues and Switzerland offering legal immunity to enable Putin’s travel.
• Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that deciding Ukraine’s security without Russia is “a utopia,” insisted any summit be thoroughly prepared, questioned Zelensky’s authority to sign a deal, and rejected any Western troop deployment in Ukraine.
• Kremlin conditions reported by Reuters include Ukraine renouncing NATO entry, ceding the Donbas and barring Western troops, with Moscow proposing to freeze current lines in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson while potentially relinquishing small footholds in Kharkiv, Sumy and Dnipropetrovsk.