Volodymyr Zelensky, in the next phase of talks to end the war in Ukraine, intends to draw a red line at the most contentious issue on the table: the Russian demand for Ukraine’s sovereign territory. As long as he remains the nation’s president, Zelensky will not agree to give up land in exchange for peace, Ukraine’s chief negotiator, Andriy Yermak, told me today in an exclusive interview.
In the list of campaign promises from Donald Trump, the one about the war in Ukraine stood out for the number of times he repeated it—“I’ll have that thing ended in 24 hours”—and for the undeniable way he failed to deliver. His self-imposed deadline, of course, passed in January, and the president has since admitted that the belligerents proved much harder to reconcile than he had expected. Still he continues to try.
Dan Driscoll kept everyone waiting. The United States secretary of the Army had been due to arrive earlier today at the U.S. ambassador’s residence in Kyiv to speak with diplomats from NATO member states. The guests were eager to hear about the 28-point peace plan Driscoll had delivered on behalf of the Trump administration to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. But what they heard when Driscoll finally got there left some of the Europeans infuriated.
Nicolás Maduro sounded remarkably chipper last week for a man about to face off with a United States armada. In his weekly television show—an hour of Maduro as host, lecturer, and interviewee—the Venezuelan president welcomed a question about his foreign allies. He singled out one in particular: Russia.
“We are like this,” he gushed, interlocking his fingers to show the closeness of the bond. “More united than ever.”
“Russia,” the interviewer said—“that great power, right?”
Maduro nodded.