Overview

• Zelensky said he would attend the planned Budapest meeting if invited, as Trump and Putin prepare a second summit aimed at discussing the war.
• Ukraine now reports about 28,000 households without power in Chernihiv region after a Russian strike on a Koriukivka energy site, with no casualties announced.
• Zelensky asked partners for 25 additional Patriot systems and said talks with defense contractors are underway to prepare a contract financed with frozen Russian assets.
• Trump declined Zelensky’s proposal to trade thousands of Ukrainian drones for U.S. Tomahawk cruise missiles, arguing deep strikes into Russia would escalate the conflict.
• EU officials said Putin’s presence in Budapest would be useful only if it delivers an immediate ceasefire, as a drone attack in Russia’s Belgorod region killed two civilians, according to the governor.