Russian President Vladimir Putin says that any foreign troops deployed to Ukraine, particularly while its invasion is still ongoing, would be considered "legitimate targets" by Moscow's forces. Putin's comments on Friday came hours after European leaders repledged their commitment to a potential peacekeeping force. Putin said that "we assume that they will be legitimate targets" if any foreign troops are deployed to Ukraine "especially now while fighting is ongoing." Putin made the remarks at an economic forum in the far eastern Russian city of Vladivostok. Putin also dismissed the idea of peacekeeping forces in Ukraine after any final peace deal.

A Ukrainian military official says Russia's invading forces have broken into an eighth region of Ukraine, seeking to capture more ground in their three-year war of attrition as U.S.-led peace efforts struggle to gain traction. Victor Trehubov, spokesman for local ground forces, told The Associated Press that some Russian troops have entered two villages in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region, a major Ukrainian industrial center next to the Donetsk region where fierce fighting has been taking place. Ukrainian troops are under severe strain as they try to hold back Russia's bigger army.

NATO defense chiefs have discussed potential security guarantees for Ukraine to help end Russia's three-year war. Italian Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone said 32 defense chiefs held a video conference and had a "candid discussion" amid a U.S.-led diplomatic push for peace. Ukraine is seeking military assurances against the threat of future Russian invasions. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov criticized the talks for excluding Moscow. An alliance official said U.S. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, NATO's supreme allied commander Europe, took part in the virtual talks Wednesday. U.S. Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also met with European military chiefs Tuesday evening in Washington .

The second Oval Office meeting in six months between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy went off smoothly, in sharp contrast to their disastrous encounter in February. European leaders joined the discussions in a show of transatlantic unity and both they and Zelenskyy repeatedly thanked Trump for his efforts to end Russia's three-year war on Ukraine. But despite the guarded optimism and friendly banter among the leaders, there was little concrete progress on the main obstacles to ending the war. That deadlock likely favors Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose forces continue to make steady, if slow progress on the ground in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin praised U.S. President Donald Trump's efforts to end the war in Ukraine, more than three years after Moscow launched its invasion, as the two leaders prepared for a pivotal U.S.–Russia summit Friday in Alaska. Putin made the remarks Thursday following a meeting with top government officials on the summit. He said in a short video released by the Kremlin that the Trump administration was making "energetic and sincere efforts" to stop the war. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders worked to ensure their interests are taken into account when Trump and Putin meet in Anchorage.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants Ukraine to withdraw from the remaining 30% of the Donetsk region that Ukraine controls as part of a ceasefire deal. Zelenskyy reiterated that Ukraine would not withdraw from territories it controls because it was unconstitutional and would only serve as a springboard for a future Russian invasion. Zelenskyy said Putin wants the remaining 9,000 square kilometers (3,500 square miles) of Donetsk under Kyiv's control, where the war's toughest battles are grinding on, as part of a ceasefire plan. Doing so would hand Russia almost the entirety of the Donbas, a region comprising Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland that Putin has long coveted.