Morning Report — The art of the Russia-Ukraine peace deal

Editor’s note: The Hill’s Morning Report is our daily newsletter that dives deep into Washington’s agenda. To subscribe, click here or fill out the box below.

In today’s issue:

Trump, Putin kick off Ukraine peace talks
Trump, Putin plan to meet
Gabbard takes helm of U.S. intelligence
Fragile Gaza ceasefire appears back on track

President Trump said he’s working to fulfil a campaign promise to end Russia’s three-year invasion of Ukraine, ushering in negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

After the two leaders spoke by phone, they agreed to “start negotiations immediately” about the war in Ukraine. Trump said he will also meet at some point with Putin in person, likely in Saudi Arabia. The president also is scheduled to attend a meeting of global financiers and tech executives hosted by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund in Miami later in February.

Ending a war Russia began with its invasion of Ukraine was a cornerstone of Trump’s campaign platform and he frequently said a deal was possible even before he took office on Jan. 20. He shifted that benchmark, conceding complexity while asserting possible peace within the first 100 days of his term.

On Wednesday, Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to give up hope of taking back all the land Russia has seized.

Zelensky described his conversation with Trump as “meaningful.”

“President Trump shared details of his conversation with Putin,” Zelensky wrote on social media. “No one wants peace more than Ukraine. Together with the U.S., we are charting our next steps to stop Russian aggression and ensure a lasting, reliable peace. As President Trump said, let’s get it done.”

The president has suggested possible conditions on continued U.S. support for Ukraine, favoring a trade of U.S. military aid for Ukraine’s critical minerals used in tech and manufacturing. He told Fox News on Monday that he wanted “the equivalent of like $500 billion worth of rare [earth minerals].” Ukraine had “essentially agreed to do that,” he said.

For Ukraine, it’s a hopeful sign that Trump, a longtime skeptic of American aid to Kyiv, might find a path to maintaining support. Zelensky said Wednesday during a press conference with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — in Kyiv to discuss the minerals — that he hopes to finalize a deal at the Munich Security Conference later this week.

“We will do everything so that our teams can quickly agree and sign this document,” he told reporters.

In Munich, Zelensky is set to meet with Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. But Trump on Wednesday would not say whether he considers Ukraine to be an “equal member” of efforts to end the war.

“I think they have to make peace. Their people are being killed, and I think they have to make peace. I said that was not a good war to go into, and I think they have to make peace,” Trump said of the war, which began in 2022 after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukrainian territory. “That’s what I think.”

Politico: NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Thursday said Ukraine should be involved in discussions about its own future.

At a NATO meeting in Brussels, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told his counterparts that Zelensky had no chance of kicking Russian forces out of Crimea and the east of the country and returning Ukraine to its pre-2014 borders. “Chasing this illusionary goal will only prolong the war and cause more suffering,” Hegseth said.

Hegseth warned that the U.S. will be pulling back from its commitments to European security, leaving European governments to bear the primary responsibility for defense — including that of Ukraine.

▪ CNN: The Pentagon secretary ruled out future NATO membership for Ukraine.

▪ The Hill: Trump uses the “art of the deadline” to flaunt his dealmaking prowess.

During an interview with The Guardian this week, Zelensky suggested that Russian-held territory in Ukraine could be swapped for Ukrainian-held territory as part of a peace deal. And he insisted that the U.S., and not just European countries, would need to be part of any security package to create lasting peace.

“Security guarantees without America are not real security guarantees,” the Ukrainian leader said.

SMART TAKE with NewsNation’s BLAKE BURMAN:

It's the opening argument, but the storyline is also just beginning. Democrats are emphatically criticizing Elon Musk and DOGE, but should they be focusing more attention elsewhere?

We learned Wednesday that inflation is hot, and while the White House is pinning it as the book end of Biden-era policies, the other reality is that this will be President Trump’s economy going forward.

I asked Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) if Democrats should focus more going forward on prices.

“The cost of eggs are going up,” Goldman said. “He's not doing anything, and yet he thinks he has some mandate to put Elon Musk in charge of the federal government when really he [Trump] won the election, as you pointed out, based on making life more affordable.”

According to Google Trends, there is a recent spike in searches for "egg prices," which likely gets more attention outside the Beltway than inside.

Burman hosts “The Hill” weeknights, 6p/5c on NewsNation.

3 THINGS TO KNOW TODAY:

▪ European allies are bracing at the Munich Security Conference for the answer to a question they’ve been dreading to ask: Can they count on the U.S. under Trump?

▪ American teacher Marc Fogel's freedom from Russia Tuesday was part of a swap agreement between the Trump administration and the Kremlin for crypto kingpin Alexander Vinnik, who has been imprisoned in the U.S.

▪ Swamps get a bad rep. But there’s a good reason why we should learn to love them.

LEADING THE DAY

© The Associated Press | John McDonnell

GABBARD IN CHARGE OF INTELLIGENCE: One of Trump’s most controversial Cabinet nominees cleared Senate confirmation and was sworn in on Wednesday, putting former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii in charge of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Sen. Mitch McConnell (Ky.) was the lone Republican to oppose Gabbard, faulting what he called her past lapses in judgment.

The nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be Health and Human Services secretary cleared a procedural hurdle in the Senate on Wednesday by a vote of 53-47, positioning him for confirmation this week.

GOP lawmakers warn that Trump's nominees to fill senior positions at the Pentagon and State Department face Senate confirmation hurdles, The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports. Republicans raise red flags about Elbridge Colby, selected by the president to be the Pentagon's policy chief, because Colby wants the U.S. to substantially reduce forces in Europe and the Middle East. Some GOP lawmakers have criticized Darren Beattie, named the acting undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs at State for some of his past controversial statements and social media posts attacking Republicans.

The Hill: Trump’s nominee to lead the Education Department, Linda McMahon, will field Senate committee questions this morning during a confirmation hearing that may begin and end with the president’s push to drastically shrink the federal education role in deference to the states.

Kash Patel, nominated by Trump to be FBI director, will receive a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation vote this morning.

Meanwhile in the Capitol, House Republicans released a budget blueprint on Wednesday, which they say they’ll use to advance Trump’s legislative agenda. It represents a breakthrough of sorts for a party that has struggled to forge consensus for weeks. But hardliners in the conference are withholding support.

The rollout of the GOP’s budget resolution in the House materialized ahead of today’s Budget Committee consideration, the first step in the budget reconciliation process.

The details went public just as the Republican-led Senate Budget Committee began marking up its own budget resolution. The two chambers are on a collision course over Trump’s agenda.

▪ The Hill: Trump's agenda: The Senate steps in.

▪ NBC News: When the pain hits home, some GOP lawmakers balk at Trump’s spending cuts and tariffs.

WHERE AND WHEN

The House will convene at 10 a.m.
The Senate meets at 10 a.m.
The president will sign executive orders at 1 p.m. Trump will greet Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India at the White House at 4 p.m., followed by meetings and a joint news conference at 5:10 p.m. in the East Room. The president will host Modi for dinner in the State Dining Room at 5:40 p.m.
Vice President Vance travels from France today to Germany for the annual Munich Security Conference, where he will speak on Friday.

ZOOM IN

© The Associated Press | Rod Lamkey Jr.

GOP HAILS MUSK, ASSAILS FEDERAL JUDGES: Members of a Republican-led House subcommittee joined Trump on Wednesday in praising the work of billionaire Elon Musk, the face of the president’s campaign to shrink spending and purge tens of thousands of civil servants.

“Billions and billions of dollars being thrown away illegally,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Wednesday while praising Musk and his team. The president criticized judges’ decisions to temporarily halt his orders and actions taken by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

“We're being hindered by courts,” Trump added. “I have to follow the law. All it means is that we appeal, but that gives people time to cover their tracks.”

“DELETE ENTIRE AGENCIES”: Musk, during a video Q&A today with a conference held in Dubai, said the U.S. federal overhaul he and his team are engineering can outlast the Trump administration.

“I think we do need to delete entire agencies, as opposed to leave part of them behind ... It’s kind of like leaving a weed,” Musk said. “If you don’t remove the roots of the weed, then it’s easy for the weed to grow back. But if you remove the roots of the weed — it doesn’t stop weeds from ever going back, but it makes it harder.”

Trump ally Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), chair of the new House Oversight Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency, praised Musk’s efforts at a hearing Wednesday and warned that those who throw up hurdles, including federal judges, are in the GOP’s crosshairs.

“Federal judges were not elected,” Greene said. “The Treasury [Department] bureaucrats were not elected, and they have failed to fix the problem that is enabling American taxpayers to be robbed.”

BUYOUTS MOVE FORWARD: Later on Wednesday, a federal judge ruled the administration’s buyout program for federal workers could move forward, allowing the White House to advance a critical part of its plan to reduce the federal workforce with voluntary resignations. The judge did not rule on the legality of the administration’s “Fork in the Road” program but said the plaintiffs in a lawsuit did not have standing to sue. The signup for the deferred resignation program closed Wednesday with about 75,000 participants who agreed to leave government service while being paid through September, the White House said.

Democrats accuse Musk of being an ominous figure with a tangle of conflicting business interests who bulldozes illegally into federal databases and government functions. They defend affected federal employees and targeted programs, such as the U.S. Agency for International Development, now effectively shuttered, and the watchdog Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, also dismantled by the president’s allies.

“We should in no way be cooperating with House Republicans who want to shut down the Department of Education and destroy Medicare and Medicaid. And [we] should not stand by as the richest man on the planet gives himself and his companies huge tax cuts while the American people can [do] absolutely nothing,” said Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) during Wednesday’s hearing.

▪ The Hill’s Niall Stanage in The Memo: Musk rivals Trump as most controversial figure on the political stage.

▪ The New York Times: Many groups promised federal aid still have no funds and no answers, despite judges’ orders to the administration to unfreeze previously approved loans and grants.

✂️ MEDICAL RESEARCH: Efforts by the Trump administration to reduce federal spending on medical research will render ongoing scientific advancements “non-viable,” researchers warn. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced last week it would curb funding. A federal judge temporarily stayed the reductions, leaving university medical researchers uneasy about the future, The Hill’s Joseph Choi reports.

The Hill: Trump would like to see Musk’s savings embedded in new law and Republicans may try to make that happen next month as part of a measure needed to avert a possible shutdown before March 14. One big hurdle: Democrats, whose votes are key to keeping the government’s lights on, also oppose Musk’s efforts to permanently turn them off in some agencies and departments. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) left the door open on Wednesday to a one-year stopgap spending bill.

🎭 TRUMP STEPS INTO THE ARTS: The president, who named himself chairman of the Kennedy Center board in Washington this week, appointed a new board, which fired the center’s president, Deborah Rutter, on Wednesday. A cascade of resignations among artists and entertainers who had served as Kennedy Center advisers followed.

The president’s criticisms of what he calls “woke” culture, familiar from his campaign, has sent shudders through the arts world, especially where federal funding potentially invites Trump’s direct influence. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts receives federal funds for building and grounds maintenance but not for programming.

Rutter said last month she planned to step down as president at the end of this year after serving for more than a decade at the Kennedy Center. Television producer and screenwriter Shonda Rhimes quit as board treasurer on Wednesday. She endorsed former Vice President Kamala Harris for president last year and supports diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs. Trump banned DEI in the government and among federal contractors.

ELSEWHERE

GAZA CEASEFIRE: Arab mediators scrambled overnight to save the fragile three-week ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. Hamas said today it would release Israeli hostages as planned, apparently resolving a major dispute that threatened the ceasefire. The group said Egyptian and Qatari mediators have affirmed that they will work to “remove all hurdles,” and that it would implement the ceasefire deal. Israel has reportedly sent a message to Hamas through the mediators that the deal will continue if the hostages are released Saturday.

Hamas on Monday threatened to suspend hostage releases as it accused Israel of violating the ceasefire by denying the entry of humanitarian aid to the enclave. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday threatened to withdraw from the ceasefire and resume “intense fighting” in the Gaza Strip.

NPR: Former U.S. Ambassador Dennis Ross discusses risks to the ceasefire in Gaza.

INDIA: Trump will meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House today. Modi is expected to bring offerings designed to ease any points of friction and preserve growing U.S.-India ties, avoiding the sort of trade war with which Trump has threatened other allied nations.

Indian officials have said that domestic companies are in talks to increase purchases of American energy supplies. And the two leaders are expected to discuss expanded spending on U.S. defense equipment.

OPINION

■ Vance is laying the groundwork, by Kristen Soltis Anderson, columnist, The New York Times.

■ Trump’s Gaza proposal is reckless. Here is a feasible plan, by Gilead Sher, opinion contributor, The Hill.

THE CLOSER

Take Our Morning Report Quiz

And finally … 💗 It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for this week’s Morning Report Quiz! Inspired by Valentine’s Day, we’re eager for some smart guesses about the February day of love.

Be sure to email your responses to asimendinger@thehill.com and kkarisch@thehill.com — please add “Quiz” to your subject line. Winners who submit correct answers will enjoy some richly deserved newsletter fame on Friday.

Which of the following did not influence the Valentine’s Day we celebrate today?

The ancient Roman ritual of Lupercalia, welcoming spring
Saint Valentine, who performed marriages for young lovers in secret despite a ban
The beginning of birds’ mating season
A Norman custom of giving heart-shaped leaves

When did commercially available Valentine’s Day cards become popular?

The 1790s
The 1840s
The 1910s
The 1660s

Flowers — especially roses — are a typical Valentine’s Day gift. Which country is the largest flower exporter to the U.S.?

Mexico
Colombia
Ecuador
Kenya

The National Retail Federation predicts record-breaking Valentine’s Day spending this year. How much money will Americans drop on the holiday?

$27.5 billion
$100 million
$5.5 billion
$36.5 billion

Stay Engaged

We want to hear from you! Email: Alexis Simendinger (asimendinger@thehill.com) and Kristina Karisch (kkarisch@thehill.com). Follow us on social platform X: (@asimendinger and @kristinakarisch) and suggest this newsletter to friends!

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