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What recent developments have occurred in U.S.-Russia relations?
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On the web at theschmidt.org. Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman. President Trump posted on social media today that his phone call with Russian President Volodymyr Zelensky was very interesting and cordial. The conversation between the two leaders comes as Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin are planning another in-person meeting. Ampere's Deepa Shivram reports.
Trump says that he has told both Zelensky and Putin that it's time to make a deal to end the war. The president has been adamant that there's momentum to end the war after he brokered a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
The war in the Middle East was far more complicated. We got that one done. I think we have a good chance. I think President Zelensky wants it done, and I think President Putin wants it done.
He and Zelensky discussed the U.S. providing Ukraine Tomahawk missiles, which Trump has said could put pressure on Putin to come to the negotiating table. But he seems to have walked that back after the chat with Putin. No decision has been made about providing those weapons. Trump says he plans to meet with Putin in Hungary in the next two weeks. Deepa Shivaram, NPR News, the White House.
A Navy admiral is leaving the U.S. Southern Command because of concerns about deadly U.S. strikes against alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean. That's according to a U.S. official not authorized to speak publicly, as NPR's Quill Lawrence reports.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced that Admiral Alvin Halsey would retire after 37 years in the military. But it's almost unheard of for an officer not to finish the full three years of a command like this, especially in the middle of a military buildup.
Thousands of US troops have moved into position off the Venezuelan coast, and the US has destroyed several vessels the White House claims were carrying narcotics. Critics say those strikes amount to execution without trial.
A US official told NPR that Halsey recently met with Hegseth at the Pentagon to express his concerns about these strikes, and that his resignation was announced by Hegseth shortly after. Quill Lawrence, NPR News.
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