Overview

• President Trump said the United States will stop spending money for Ukraine, called Volodymyr Zelensky “not totally innocent,” asserted only he can end the war, and confirmed renewed conversations with Vladimir Putin.
• Reuters reports U.S. and Russian officials discussed energy inducements tied to talks, including a potential Exxon Mobil return to Sakhalin-1, U.S. equipment for Russian LNG projects, and even nuclear icebreaker purchases, with ideas raised during envoy Steve Witkoff’s Moscow visit and the Anchorage summit.
• Moscow signaled no readiness for a direct Putin–Zelensky meeting, with Sergey Lavrov saying an agenda is not prepared, even as Trump claimed Putin does not want to meet the Ukrainian leader.
• Ukraine reported another large overnight attack, saying Russia launched 104 drones and 76 were shot down or neutralized, alongside civilian casualties in Sumy and Kharkiv regions.
• Europe reiterated support under strain: Germany vowed continued backing and participation in security guarantees, Sweden committed budget aid, Poland said it cannot keep paying for Starlink, and U.S. and Ukrainian teams plan talks this week on a security framework as Berlin’s Friedrich Merz warned of added pressure if diplomacy stalls.