Overview
- President Trump shifted from seeking a ceasefire to pressing for a direct peace agreement when he met Vladimir Putin in Alaska last week and is putting the onus on Ukraine to make a deal.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly conditioned an end to the war on Kyiv ceding control of Donetsk and Luhansk and on freezing front lines in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
- Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rejected those demands as unconstitutional and is accompanying a European delegation to insist that Ukraine lead any discussions over its territorial integrity.
- U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and other officials have floated offering Ukraine Article 5-style security guarantees from the United States and its partners in lieu of NATO membership.
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer are in Washington to secure enforceable defense commitments for Ukraine.