Overview
- At the White House, President Trump paused meetings with Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders to call Vladimir Putin, then said he is organizing a Putin–Zelensky bilateral followed by a trilateral.
- Putin told Trump he is ready to meet, according to AFP, and Germany’s Friedrich Merz said a bilateral could occur within about two weeks, while the Kremlin described the call as constructive.
- Trump said negotiations can proceed without a ceasefire, whereas France’s Emmanuel Macron and Merz pressed for a truce first, sought European inclusion in security guarantees, and rejected imposed territorial concessions on Ukraine.
- Trump said the United States will take part in security guarantees for Kyiv, not ruling out future U.S. troops, and the Financial Times reported a plan for Ukraine to buy about $100 billion in U.S. weapons financed by European partners; Moscow reiterated its opposition to any NATO troops in Ukraine.
- As diplomacy advances, Ukraine reported Russian strikes that killed 14 in Donetsk, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia, and issued a nationwide air alert after detecting a MiG‑31 and strategic bombers.