The ball is now in Russia’s court. But Russia excels at grabbing the ball, pocketing it and debating the rules of the game before claiming the ball has in fact been stolen clean from them by the other team.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet with Ukrainian officials for the first time since the Oval Office blow-up between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky.

Kyiv is open to a cease-fire with Moscow, but that's only half of the equation. The Trump administration has to get Russia to stop attacking Ukraine. Ukraine signaled that it is ready to accept a US proposal for an immediate 30-day ceasefire with Russia,