Ukraine accepts fighter jets from France, Netherlands

Ukraine Defense Minister Rustem Umerov on Thursday thanked France and the Netherlands for giving Kyiv Mirage 2000 and F-16 fighter jets. The jets, which have already arrived in Ukraine, will soon be participating in combat missions, Umerov said, according to Ukraine’s ministry of defense. They would increase Ukraine’s ability to counter Russian aggression, the defense minister said.

Have ceasefire discussions taken place? The White House has not yet reached out to Moscow to set up a discussion between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump about ending the war in Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday. Trump has said he wants to bring the war to an end, and Putin has signaled that he’s open to discussions about how to peacefully resolve the conflict.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday said that Putin was likely afraid to have a discussion about ending the war. Meanwhile, Ukraine was open to diplomatic discussions, he said. His administration is in constant communication with the United States, he added. Zelenskyy also expressed certainty that Trump would be able to force Putin to agree to end the war.

Dig deeper: Read my report in The Sift about an alleged pro-Kremlin crime boss’s death in an upscale Moscow apartment building.