US President Donald Trump has ditched his call for a ceasefire in Ukraine, backing instead Russian President Vladimir Putin’s push for a permanent peace agreement. That has not stopped some European leaders from pushing for a temporary truce first, even though the US president has seemingly decided one is not necessary.

German Chancellor Merz broke with the generally optimistic tone at the European leaders meeting at the White House on Monday, stating a ceasefire is necessary for peace.

Her comments came after special envoy Steve Witkoff said following Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, that Russia had signaled it would agree to some kind of NATO-like Article 5 protections for Ukraine as part of a deal to end the war, but Ukraine could not join the alliance.

Meetings in Alaska and Washington were high on pomp and low on breakthroughs, but there were two potentially significant developments.

House GOP representatives nominate Donald Trump for Nobel Peace Prize, citing his efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war and other diplomatic achievements.

President Donald Trump made some false claims to the press while meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Monday – including a long-debunked claim that the US has given Ukraine more than $300 billion in wartime aid.

U.S. President Donald Trump says he has called Russian President Vladimir Putin and begun to arrange a meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a critical step toward bringing a possible end to Russia's war on Ukraine.