“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pushed back on a U.S. proposal to recognize Russia’s control of Crimea as part of a cease-fire agreement, throwing into doubt President Trump’s efforts to bring an end to the war,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Said Zelensky: “Ukraine will not legally recognize the occupation of Crimea. There’s nothing to talk about here. This is against our constitution.”

Bloomberg: Vance says territory concessions needed for Ukraine-Russia deal.

Axios: Trump’s “final offer” for peace requires Ukraine to accept Russian occupation.

New York Times: Rubio skipping Ukraine talks as Zelensky rebuffs U.S. on Crimea.

“The Trump administration has been engaged in a concerted effort to undo initiatives aimed at holding Russia and its leaders and allies accountable for alleged war crimes in Ukraine,” the Washington Post reports.

“Vladimir Putin has offered to halt his invasion of Ukraine across the current front line as part of efforts to reach a peace deal with President Donald Trump,” the Financial Times reports.

“The White House is closing in on general agreements with Japan and India to stave off massive U.S. tariffs, but they are likely to leave many of the thorny details to be hashed out at a later date,” Politico reports.

“In the absence of full-fledged trade deals, administration officials are working to ink what three people close to the White House described as ‘memorandums of understanding’ or a broad ‘architecture’ for future deals.”

“It ‘may take months to hammer out the final deals,’ said one of the people, conceding, ‘these things are complicated.'”