Looks like Yermak spoke to Axios too soon. Trump says he’s sending Steve Witkoff to meet with Putin and Dan Driscoll to meet with the Ukrainians. And that he’ll only meet with Zelensky *and* Putin “when the deal to end this war is final or in its final stages.”

However, issues concerning Europe and NATO are not off the table. Finland’s Alexander Stubb says, “Any decision falling in the remit of EU or NATO will be discussed and decided by EU and NATO members in a separate track.”

Trump’s back to the rhetoric of the Oval Office meeting in February, claiming Ukraine’s leadership “has expressed zero gratitude for our efforts.”

And there you have it: Putin came all the way to Alaska just to give the same spiel he’s been repeating since starting the full-scale invasion of Ukraine — just from a bigger podium. meduza.io/en/live/2025... @meduza.io

Meduza’s Andrey Pertsev has learned that the Kremlin is advising media outlets not to raise Russians’ hopes about the Trump–Putin summit’s outcomes. “It’s a warm-up, so there aren’t any special expectations, so there won’t be disappointments.” meduza.io/en/live/2025... @meduza.io

⚡️Trump has announced that Armenia and Azerbaijan plan to sign a U.S.-brokered peace deal Friday.

Three U.S. officials told @apnews.com the deal includes establishing a transit corridor linking Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave — and naming it after Trump. apnews.com/article/arme...

Big update for The Beet: We now have our own landing page on @meduza.io! 🎉 Pay it a visit if you’re looking to subscribe to the newsletter or want to read any of our top reporting from the last year-ish. meduza.io/en/specials/...

I knew this reminded me of something. As @faridaily.bsky.social recalls, Putin announced a similar “Christmas ceasefire” back in 2023.