What to know today
- ZELENSKYY IN D.C.: President Donald Trump held a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House for about an hour this afternoon to discuss a path to end the war in Ukraine.
- EUROPEAN LEADERS JOIN: Zelenskyy was later joined by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The European officials stressed the need for security guarantees in any peace deal with Russia.
- NEXT STEPS: After the talks ended, Trump said he is arranging a meeting between Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin, followed by talks with the two leaders that he would attend as well. Trump held a face-to-face meeting with Putin on Friday in Alaska.
- RUSSIAN ATTACKS: Russian state media has shared a video of what it claims is a U.S. personnel carrier "captured" from the Ukrainian military that is flying both Russian and U.S. flags. Meanwhile, Zelenskyy said seven people were killed in drone strikes in Kharkiv and three other people were killed in a missile strike in Zaporizhzhia.
Coverage of this live blog has ended. For the latest news, click here.
NATO Secretary General Rutte calls White House talks a 'very successful day'
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said tonight that today's meeting with Trump, Zelenskyy and European leaders was very successful, adding that he expects details about security guarantees as part of a potential peace deal to be discussed over the coming days.
In an interview on Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle," Rutte called Trump a “pragmatic peacemaker” and summed up the White House talks by saying, “This was a very successful day.”
On security guarantees, Rutte said, “The U.S. involvement will be discussed over the coming days.”
“But clearly for Ukraine to consider what to do next when it comes to territory, it is important to also know what the situation will be with the security guarantees to prevent Vladimir Putin from ever, ever trying again to invade parts of Ukraine,” he added.
Finland's president says Russia doesn't get to decide what security guarantees for Ukraine look like
Finnish President Alexander Stubb tonight discussed his meeting with Trump, Zelenskyy and other European leaders and the prospect of a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia.
On the topic of security guarantees, Stubb said it is not up to the Kremlin to decide what security guarantees Western allies provide for Ukraine.
“What we have agreed on is to work on European and American security guarantees, essentially, which will be secure from the European perspective, coordinated with the Americans. It’s us who decide what kind of security guarantees we put up for Ukraine, not the Russians,” Stubb told NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell in an interview.
Stubb also said he would prefer to first have a ceasefire in place.
“My personal preference would be to have a ceasefire, or call it a truce, because that would stop the killing. And usually in these types of negotiations, you first have a ceasefire and then you actually have the peace negotiations. But again, we have to live with the realities that we have,” he said.
Zelenskyy highlights security guarantees and return of missing children as key next steps
Zelenskyy highlighted security guarantees as "a starting point towards ending the war" on social media tonight after his talks with Trump and European leaders at the White House.
"We appreciate the important signal from the United States regarding its readiness to support and be part of these guarantees," Zelenskyy wrote on X.
He also pointed to concerns over missing Ukrainian children forcibly taken by Russia, as well as the release of prisoners of war and other civilians, writing that "we agreed to work on this."
Trump wrote on Truth Social tonight that he spoke with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen about "the massive Worldwide problem of missing children" and that he hopes to return missing kids "home to their families."
Responding to Trump's post, Von der Leyen wrote on X that "every single Ukrainian child abducted by Russia must be returned to their families."
Marco Rubio says both Ukraine and Russia must make concessions, potentially over land
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said tonight in discussing Trump’s meeting with Zelenskyy and European leaders that Ukraine and Russia would each need to “make some concessions” and that “obviously land” would be a part of the conversation.
“In essence, they have to believe that at the end of this war, they are in a position to never get invaded again. I think what’s also true, and I think it’s common sense, and I don’t know why it’s so hard for a lot of people to understand,” Rubio said about Ukraine in an interview on Fox News' "Jesse Watters Primetime."
“It is in any negotiation to bring about the end of a war, or any conflict, for that matter, it’s going to require both sides to receive, but also to give ... each side is going to have to make some concessions, and obviously land, or where you draw those lines, where the war stops, is going to be part of that conversation,” he added.
Zelenskyy has repeatedly said he is not willing to cede Ukrainian land as part of negotiations to end the war. “Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier,” he said in a Telegram message last week after Trump said land swaps would be included in a potential peace deal.
Some Democratic lawmakers keep up criticism of last week's Trump-Putin summit after today's White House talks
Some Democratic lawmakers are amping up Trump's treatment of Putin in Alaska last week in their reactions to today's White House meetings with Zelenskyy and European leaders.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., slammed Trump for having “rolled out the red carpet for Vladimir Putin, and now … rolling back his promise to impose consequences for Russia’s war.”
“If President Trump is serious about securing a just peace for Ukraine, he needs to act now to increase pressure on Putin’s war machine,” Warren said.
Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., said on social media after the meeting that Putin was “a dictator, a warmonger, and an extremist.”
“While Trump -- another warmonger-- bows to the whims of Putin, I stand with Ukrainians and demand an end to the war that upholds their sovereignty and safety,” Ramirez wrote.
Rep. Mike Levin, D-Calif., posted a video of Trump’s interview with Fox News on Friday after his meeting with Putin in Alaska, captioning it: “Trump boasts he could end Russia’s war in a day—but only if Ukraine surrendered its land to Putin. That’s not peace, it’s capitulation.”
“A president who rewards aggression projects weakness, and both Putin and the world see it,” Levin added.
Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., struck a more optimistic tone, reposting a report of Zelenskyy's saying he and Trump had a “good” meeting, adding, “President Zelenskyy and European leaders arrived in Washington today for what looked like a productive meeting with President Trump.”
Zelenskyy says no date yet for his meeting with Putin
Zelenskyy told reporters after today's talks at the White House that a date hasn't been set for his face-to-face meeting with Putin.
“Date? No, no, no. We don’t have any date. We don’t have any date. We just confirmed after this productive meeting with president and then with all our colleagues and partners who confirmed that we are ready for a trilateral meeting,” Zelenskyy said in response to a reporter's question.
He added that he is “ready” for any meeting format that involved leaders.
Missouri attorney general to be co-deputy director of FBI alongside Dan Bongino
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced on social media today that he has been hired to serve in a position that appears to put him on par with Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino.
Bongino posted a “welcome” message on X for Bailey, who said he will be co-deputy director of the bureau.
The Justice Department and the FBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment for more details about Bailey's new position.
NBC News has reported on Bongino’s concerns about the Justice Department's handling of files pertaining to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Macron spoke exclusively with "Meet the Press" moderator Kristen Welker about the talks for peace between Russia and Ukraine that took place at the White House. Macron shared his perspective on Trump’s hot mic comment about Putin's wanting to make a deal and the ongoing ceasefire efforts.
Texas Democratic legislator to stay in State Capitol after refusing law enforcement escort to leave
First, Texas House Democrats refused to meet in their legislative chamber in an act of resistance. Now, one of them won’t leave.
State Rep. Nicole Collier of Fort Worth today said she will remain locked in the Austin chamber until the House reconvenes Wednesday morning.
She is making the move after she refused Republican leaders' conditions that would have required her to sign off on a law enforcement escort before she was allowed to go home after today's session.
It’s another dramatic turn in the two-week saga involving Texas House Democrats who fled to other states this month, with most of them taking refuge in Illinois. The plan denied a quorum for Republicans to move forward during a special legislative session with a redraw of Texas’ congressional map, an act aimed at padding the GOP’s U.S. House majority.
Trump reignites his push to ban mail-in voting after meeting with Putin
Trump said today that he will “lead a movement” to end mail-in balloting in elections. The Constitution, Congress and the states figure to have their say, too.
The issue has re-emerged as a fixation for Trump when the most pressing business before him is his effort to mediate a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine. It appears to have been rekindled, or at least stoked, by Putin, who reinforced Trump’s unsubstantiated view that postal ballots “rigged” the 2020 election, at a summit Friday in Alaska.
In an interview with Fox News host Bret Baier on Friday, Trump relayed that “one of the most interesting things” Putin told him during the summit had to do with the unreliability of mail-in voting.
“He said: ‘Your election was rigged because you have mail-in voting. ... It’s impossible to have mail-in voting and have honest elections,’” Trump said, adding that Putin told him “no country” has mail-in voting.
