NATO defense chiefs held a “candid discussion” Wednesday about what security guarantees they could offer Kyiv to help forge a peace agreement

For Ukraine to withdraw from western Donetsk would mean the grievous loss not just of land, with the prospect of a new exodus of refugees, but the fall of a bulwark against any future Russian advance. Here we look at why the territory matters so much.

The Trump administration has trumpeted a breakthrough in talks with Russia this month, claiming that Mr. Putin had accepted a proposal for the West to provide security guarantees for Ukraine as strong as Article 5 of the NATO charter, which stipulates that an attack on one alliance member is considered an attack on all.

After a pair of historic summits, President Trump continues to push for a path to the end of the war in Ukraine. NBC News White House Correspondent Monica Alba, NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel and former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul discuss the next phase of talks.

Retired Gen. Wesley Clark, former NATO supreme allied commander, discusses possible future security guarantees for Ukraine that could help forge a peace agreement.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said any Western security guarantees for Ukraine in an eventual peace deal could only be enacted with Moscow’s cooperation—essentially rendering them useless against another Russian invasion.

Turkey supports efforts to establish a permanent peace in Ukraine with the participation of all parties, President Tayyip Erdogan told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in a phone call on Wednesday,

Ivo Daalder, former U.S. permanent representative to NATO, unpacks the ongoing negotiations to end the Russia-Ukraine war.