U.S., U.K., European Envoys Discuss Peace Deal in London
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio canceled plans to attend, casting fresh uncertainty over talks as reported disagreements loom over the U.S.-proposed terms of a deal; envoy Keith Kellogg will represent the United States in London today (NPR)
Rubio had threatened last Friday to walk away from peace efforts; in the days since, the leaders of Russia and Ukraine both said publicly they were ready for talks about ending the war (NYT)
U.S. Vice President JD Vance told reporters today that Washington has issued a “very explicit proposal” to Russia and Ukraine, and “it’s time for them to either say yes or for the United States to walk away from this process” (Bloomberg)
Ukraine has pushed for a full ceasefire first and negotiations second (Reuters)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko both called for Russia to accept a full ceasefire ahead of further negotiations to end the war (WaPo)
Zelenskyy also pushed back against a reported U.S. proposal for Washington to recognize Crimea as Russian as part of a peace settlement (X)
U.S. President Donald Trump posted that “nobody is asking” for Ukraine to recognize Crimea as Russian territory (Truth Social)
Putin Offers to Halt Fighting Along Current Front Line
Russian President Vladimir Putin is open to halting the invasion of Ukraine along its current front lines and giving up claims to the portions of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia that Russia does not control, unnamed sources told the Financial Times; Russia currently claims the entirety of those Ukrainian regions (FT)
Even as Moscow has signaled a willingness to talk, a Kremlin spokesperson downplayed hopes for a breakthrough, saying “it would be wrong to put some tight limits to it and try to set some short time frame for a settlement” (AP)
Washington has proposed acknowledging de facto Russian control over areas of those four regions, recognizing Russian ownership of Crimea, and allowing for a European peacekeeping force in Ukraine and a non-NATO force monitoring a demilitarized zone (Axios)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he had yet to receive a concrete proposal from U.S. President Donald Trump on ending the war, but that Ukraine would not recognize Russian control over Crimea (Politico;BBC)
Russia to Consider Thirty-Day Cease-Fire on Civilian Infrastructure
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Kremlin will review the proposal from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy internally (DW)
He also said Russia is open to direct peace talks with Ukraine; it was his first such proposal since the early days of the war (Reuters)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not respond directly but said that Ukraine was “ready for any conversation” that would halt the targeting of civilians (BBC)
Russia, Ukraine Claim Cease-Fire Violations
Both Ukraine and Russia accused each others forces of launching drone and missile attacks overnight, violating the thirty-hour truce declared by Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday (Deutsche Welle)
The U.S. Department of State issued a statement that the United States would welcome the extension of the cease-fire, despite Russia’s unwillingness (Reuters)
Meanwhile, an anonymous official told CNN that the Donald J. Trump administration is prepared to recognized Russian control of Crimea as part of a U.S. proposal to end the war (CNN)
Putin Declares “Easter Truce” in Ukraine
Russia President Vladimir Putin announced a unilateral cease-fire in Ukraine for “humanitarian considerations,” directing Russian forces to pause hostilities until midnight on Sunday (Reuters)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy indicated that Ukraine would follow suit but expressed skepticism over the sincerity of the truce, calling on Putin to extend the cease-fire for thirty days, per a U.S.-led proposal; Zelenskyy stated in an address, “…thirty hours is enough for headlines, but not for real confidence-building measures. Thirty days can give peace a chance” (CNN)
This follows statements yesterday from U.S. President Donald J. Trump indicating that a deal was not expected “in a specific number of days” and warning that the United States will “take a pass” on continuing negotiations if Russia and Ukraine do not make progress toward a peace deal (BBC)
Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine carried out their largest prisoner exchange of the war; 246 Russian service members were returned in exchange for 277 Ukrainian soldiers (AP)
United States, Ukraine Sign Memorandum on Minerals
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko signed a virtual memorandum of intent on a bilateral minerals investment deal yesterday; officials from both countries say they plan to finalize the full agreement next week (FT)
Separately, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in Paris today that the Trump administration would decide in “a matter of days” whether progress on ending the war in Ukraine is possible, and if not, “we need to move on” (NYT)
U.S. Officials Visit Paris, Discuss War
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris today to discuss the Russia-Ukraine war as concerns in Europe mount over the U.S. administration’s engagement with Russia (Reuters)
Meanwhile, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani is meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow; Qatar has attempted to mediate on the war in the past and also plays a role in U.S. negotiations with Iran (The National)
Russian Military Currently Relying on North Korean Artillery Transfers to Attack Ukraine
Russian military documents reportedly indicate that Russia acquired four to six million artillery shells from North Korea between September 2023 and March 2025, with North Korean munitions comprising at least 50 percent of those used this year (The Moscow Times)
Russia Claims Sumy Attack Targeted and Killed Ukrainian Soldiers
The Kremlin reported that two of its Iskander-M missiles targeted a meeting of Ukrainian soldiers and officers, killing sixty, while further alleging that Ukraine used its civilians as human shields since military events and facilities are located at the heart of Sumy (Reuters)
Shortly after, U.S. President Trump stated that Russia “made a mistake” in its strikes on Sumy, while also stating that former U.S. President Biden, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Russian President Vladimir Putin all shared blame for the war’s onset (Politico)
Meanwhile, European leaders stepped up condemnation over the attack, with France’s foreign ministry calling for the further tightening of EU sanctions against Russia (AP)
A day after the attack on Sumy, Russia struck Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, killing at least four civilians (Al Jazeera)
Russian Strike on Ukraine’s Sumy
A Russian attack on the city center in Sumy killed at least thirty-four people and wounded over a hundred, Ukrainian officials said; it was the deadliest attack of the war this year and came as Russia has stalled on U.S. efforts to facilitate a cease-fire (CNN)
Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday to discuss the war (BBC)
A Kremlin spokesperson said U.S.-Russia bilateral talks were going well but that “it is impossible to expect any instant results” (Reuters)
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called upon U.S. President Trump to visit Kyiv to see the damage Russian forces have inflicted on Ukraine, adding that “Russian narratives” continue to spread in the United States (NBC)
Ukraine’s “Reassurance Force” Meets
Defense ministers of about thirty countries hoping to provide security after a potential peace deal in Ukraine meet at NATO’s Brussels headquarters (EuroNews)
The meeting comes as Moscow has stalled on a proposed cease-fire deal backed by the United States (Al Jazeera)
Meanwhile, envoys from Russia and the United States are holding an Istanbul meeting that was slated to discuss the normalizing of their embassy operations and the potential return of direct flights; a U.S. State Department spokesperson said that Ukraine is “absolutely not on the agenda” (BBC)
Russia Begins New Spring Offensive in Ukraine’s Northeast
Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi stated that Russian attacks have increased over the past week as Ukraine’s foothold shrinks in the Russian Kursk oblast, which borders Ukraine’s northeast Sumy region; at the end of March, Zelenskyy warned that a new Russian offensive would likely target Ukraine’s northeastern regions of Sumy, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia (Reuters)
Ukraine Reports Chinese Fighters
Ukrainian forces captured two Chinese nationals fighting for Russia in eastern Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said (CNN)
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said that Beijing “asks its nationals to stay away from areas of armed conflict,” while unnamed Western officials told CNN they did not see “evidence of state sponsorship” (WSJ)
Separately, the United States said it would pull troops and equipment from a logistics hub in Poland used to supply Ukraine; Poland said other NATO allies would fill the United States’ role (Politico)
NATO Members Weigh Strategies for European Security in Brussels
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the ball is in Russia’s court regarding a truce; several European officials called for setting a deadline for Moscow to respond to a truce proposal (Reuters)
A group of mostly European countries, which has met outside of NATO forums in recent weeks to plan support for Ukraine after a peace settlement, has been studying the potential use of NATO’s command-and-control structure, unnamed officials told the Financial Times(FT)
Moscow Sends Envoy to Washington for Peace Negotiations
Russian diplomat Kirill Dmitriev will meet with U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff this week at the White House, which comes after Trump publicly expressed his frustration with Putin over negotiation difficulties (BBC)
Separately, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stated that NATO’s pledges to Ukraine for the first three months of 2025 totaled over $21 billion (Reuters)
Russian Pushback on Ukraine Truce
Moscow cannot accept the U.S. proposal for a cease-fire in Ukraine “in its current form” because it does not address “problems related to the root causes of this conflict,” state media quoted Russia’s deputy foreign minister as saying; separately, a Kremlin spokesperson said that the issue behind the war was “very complex.” (Reuters)
The comments came after Trump on Sunday criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin over Russia’s approach to the cease-fire and threatened tariffs on buyers of Russian oil (Guardian)
Putin Announces Conscription of 160,000 New Soldiers From April to Mid-July
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the new conscription order after Zelenskyy cited intelligence last week that Russia plans to launch new offensives in Kharkiv, Sumy, and Zaporizhzhia (Politico)
Trump Would Put Tariffs on Russian Oil if he Believes Russia Is at Fault for Continuation of Ukraine War
He told NBC he was “very angry” at Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s leadership (NBC)
However, later in the day, Trump told reporters he did not think Putin would “go back on his word” (Politico)
FT: New U.S.-Ukraine Draft Minerals Deal Includes Extensive U.S. Control of Ukrainian Assets Without Security Guarantees
The deal would reportedly give the United States veto power over a joint fund with mineral revenues (FT)
A senior official in Ukraine’s presidential office said consultations were still underway (Reuters)
Separately, after a Paris summit, French President Emmanuel Macron said that a more detailed plan for European “reassurance forces” would likely be ready “within three to four weeks” (FT)
Russia and Ukraine Agree to Black Sea Cease-Fire
Russia and Ukraine agreed “to ensure safe navigation, eliminate the use of force, and prevent the use of commercial vessels for military purposes in the Black Sea,” the White House said yesterday; it did not specify when the truce would begin (FT)
Kyiv said it would comply immediately, while Moscow said it would only do so after Washington lifted sanctions on certain Russian banks as well as some export restrictions (CNN)
Separately, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said yesterday that Washington had proposed a “comprehensive” new version of a critical minerals deal to Kyiv (FT)
Russia Plays Down Hopes of Quick Progress on Ukraine Truce Following Talks With U.S. Delegation in Saudi Arabia
The daylong session with U.S. negotiators yesterday followed a Sunday meeting in Riyadh between the United States and Ukraine (NYT)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin said in separate conversations with U.S. President Donald Trump in recent days that they agreed to a cease-fire on energy facilities, though Putin immediately listed further conditions for a full truce (FT)
A U.S. State Department spokesperson said the proposal on the table included a cease-fire in the Black Sea (FT)
Kyiv has provided Washington with a list of proposed sites to be protected in a limited cease-fire (NPR)
Separately, unnamed Ukrainian officials said that an unusual and systemic outage of the online ticketing system at Ukraine’s state rail service was a Russian cyberattack (Reuters)
A Ukrainian artillery attack on the Russia-controlled Ukrainian region of Luhansk killed six people including two journalists and their driver, Russian officials said (Reuters)
Russian Negotiators Meet With U.S. Delegation in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Envoys are discussing the technical details of a partial cease-fire; the U.S. delegation met with Ukrainian negotiators yesterday (Reuters)
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that attempts to halt further escalation of the war were “somewhat under control” (Politico)
Over the weekend, Russian strikes in Ukraine killed at least seven people, while Ukrainian strikes in Russia killed at least two, officials on both sides said (AP)
Today, Russian missiles targeted an industrial facility in the city center of Sumy in northeastern Ukraine but damaged a nearby school and residential areas, leaving children among those injured (Reuters)
UK Prime Minister Backs Away From Previous Proposal to Put Boots on the Ground to Secure Peace in Ukraine
At a meeting near London featuring military planners from thirty-one countries that support Ukraine, Keir Starmer shifted his position to favor providing air and seaborne military support to Ukraine instead of ground troops (FT)
French President Emmanuel Macron is due to host a Paris meeting of European leaders that includes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy next Thursday (Politico)
Separately, Zelenskyy pushed back against Trump’s comments that U.S. control of Ukrainian power plants was on the table (WaPo)
Trump and Zelenskyy Speak About Coordinating Monthlong Partial Truce to End Strikes on Energy Infrastructure
Trump said the process of aligning Russia and Ukraine on their requests and needs was “very much on track,” while Zelenskyy called the conversation “positive, very substantive, and frank,” saying U.S. and Ukrainian teams were ready to meet in Saudi Arabia in the coming days (Guardian)
Trump suggested that the United States could take control of Ukraine’s power plants to deter Russian attacks on the country’s energy infrastructure; however, Zelenskyy stated that Russia still carried out overnight drone strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure even after Putin’s call with Trump, while Moscow stated that Ukraine attacked a Russian pipeline (AP)
U.S. National Security Advisor Michael Waltz said Washington also agreed to help Kyiv identify air defense systems it could acquire, especially from Europe (Bloomberg)
Putin Commits to Month-Long Pause to Strikes on Ukraine’s Energy Infrastructure, but Stops Short of Agreeing to Full Cease-Fire
He spoke with Trump on a call that lasted more than two hours (WSJ)
Putin declined to endorse a U.S. and Ukraine-backed proposal for an unconditional halt in frontline fighting as well as air and sea attacks (Bloomberg)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Kyiv would also halt strikes on energy targets but that “only a real cessation of strikes on civilian infrastructure by Russia…can bring peace closer” (FT)
Russia’s readout of the call was longer than that of the United States and outlined several conditions for moving toward a peace settlement (FP)
A “key” condition would be a “total end to foreign military support and intelligence sharing with Kyiv,” the Russian readout said; Trump repeatedly told Fox News that aid to Ukraine was not discussed (Reuters)
Putin said that any deal to end the war should “remove the initial reasons for the crisis” (Guardian)
The White House said that further talks toward a “full cease-fire and permanent peace” would soon begin in the Middle East; it was not immediately clear if Ukraine would be present (NYT)