Vice President JD Vance told NBC News that it’s right to negotiate with Vladimir Putin because “if you go back to World War II, if you go back to every major conflict in human history, they all end with some kind of negotiation.”

Playbook: “Which was certainly news to WWII historians, given the total capitulation of the Germans and the Japanese.”

Playbook: “The silence from Putin is still deafening, 10 days on from his tête-à-tête with Trump in Alaska. Trump had initially hoped a follow-up summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky could happen within hours, then within days … Then last Friday he gave Putin a(nother) couple of weeks. But there have been no positive noises from the Kremlin.”

Putin’s top envoy Sergey Lavrov told NBC News there were no plans to meet with Zelensky.

“The Pentagon has for months been blocking Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles to strike inside Russia, limiting Kyiv from employing a powerful weapon in its fight against Moscow’s invasion,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“I’ll see whose fault it is. If there are reasons why, I’ll understand that. I know exactly what I’m doing. We’re gonna see whether or not they have a meeting. That’ll be interesting to see. And if they don’t, why didn’t they have a meeting? Because I told them to have a meeting. But I’ll know in two weeks what I’m gonna do.”

— Donald Trump, quoted by Mediaite, on ending the Russia-Ukraine war.

“President Donald Trump again threatened Russia with ‘massive sanctions’ over the war in Ukraine unless an agreement can be reached in about two weeks, swerving back to a tougher stance after an inconclusive meeting with President Vladimir Putin,” Bloomberg reports.

Said Trump: “I’m not happy about anything about that war — nothing, not happy at all. I think over the next two weeks, we’re going to find out which way it’s going to go. And I better be very happy.”

“President Trump on Friday said that Russian President Vladimir Putin may attend the 2026 FIFA World Cup being co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico, showing off a photograph in the Oval Office of the two leaders together,” The Hill reports.

Said Trump: “He may be coming and he may not, depending on what happens. We have a lot of things happening over the next couple of weeks.” 

“Canada removed many of its retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. on Friday, marking a significant step forward in the two countries’ relationship,” CNBC reports.

“President Donald Trump insinuated in a social media post that he is open to Ukraine launching more attacks on Russia, as the White House looks to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to a one-on-one meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky,” the South China Morning Post reports.

“The United States and European Union have agreed on a ‘joint statement’ providing additional details of the trade deal that they announced last month, but the two sides still face weeks or months of additional negotiations to iron out their remaining issues,” the Washington Post reports.

“The three-and-a-half page statement confirms that the U.S. will impose a 15 percent tariff on most European products. The U.S. now has agreed to lower its 25 percent tariff on imported cars to 15 percent for European vehicles once the E.U. introduces legislation to eliminate its already-low tariffs on American industrial products and to provide greater market access for some American farm goods.”

“Israel on Wednesday approved new settlements in the West Bank and announced that it was moving ahead with plans to take over Gaza City, bucking international criticism and defying growing support for the creation of an independent Palestinian state,” the New York Times reports.

“The moves raised questions about whether a new cease-fire proposal — which officials have said is similar to terms that Israel previously endorsed — could move forward.”

“Experts said the two moves suggested Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was bending to the ideologies of extremists in his coalition in order to remain in power — even at the cost of isolating Israel internationally.”

“Six months ago, President Trump said the European Union was formed to screw America. On Monday, he lavished praise on European leaders as they gathered around a table at the White House to discuss the war in Ukraine,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“He complimented German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s tan, told EU chief Ursula von der Leyen she was perhaps the most powerful of his guests at the table and described 57-year-old Finnish President Alexander Stubb as young and powerful.”

“The change in tone is the outcome of big, painful concessions Europe has made to Trump on trade and military spending. It is also the result of careful study, European officials say.”

French president Emanuel Macron said he was compelled to sue Candace Owens over her baseless claims that Brigitte Macron was born a man, the Times of London reports.

Said Macron: “It’s a matter of defending my honour.”

He added: “They advised us not to sue. But it has taken on such magnitude in the United States that we had to act.

“North Korea has a heavily fortified, covert military base that could house its newest long-range ballistic missiles, which are potentially capable of striking the U.S. mainland,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Tom Nichols: “Donald Trump loves to speak extemporaneously, and usually, he makes very little sense… Trying to turn his ramblings into a coherent message is like trying, as an old European saying goes, to turn fish soup back into an aquarium. But he is the president of the United States and holds the codes to some 2,000 nuclear weapons. When he speaks, his statements are both policy and a peek into the worldview currently governing the planet’s sole superpower.”

“This morning, the commander in chief made clear that he does not understand the largest war in Europe, what started it, or why it continues. Worse, insofar as he does understand anything about Russia’s attempted conquest of Ukraine, he seems to have internalized old pro-Moscow talking points that even the Kremlin doesn’t bother with anymore.”