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SECRETARY RUBIO: If NATO is just about us defending Europe if they’re attacked, but them denying us basing rights when we need them, then that’s not a very good arrangement. That’s a hard one to stay engaged in and say this is good for the United States.

Putin fordert Trump öffentlich auf, für ihn den Krieg gegen Ukraine zu gewinnen, den er selbst nicht gewinnen kann. Q: Tass

“I’m always at your service”: leaked calls between Lavrov and Hungary’s FM Recordings of conversations between Sergey Lavrov and Péter Szijjártó suggest the Hungarian minister was willing to advance Moscow’s interests within the EU. In one call, Lavrov asks for sanctions on oligarch Alisher Usmanov’s sister to be lifted — Szijjártó responds that Hungary, together with Slovakia, is already preparing a proposal. She was later removed from the EU sanctions list. Before ending the call, Szijjártó also mentioned visiting Gazprom’s new headquarters and added: “I’m always at your service.” According to European intelligence officials, the tone of the exchanges resembles that of a “handler and source” rather than two equal officials. There have also been previous reports that Hungary shared details of closed EU discussions with Moscow.

Ingraham: We still have a lot of questions. For instance, was the president fully briefed on the risks of all of this from the beginning? And was he able to take it all in and understand how complex it could actually get—including the potential for casualties or other damage? Or was he told this would be relatively quick—an in-and-out operation?