Putin suggests putting Ukraine under UN-sponsored external governance

Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed Friday to temporarily put Ukraine under external governance as part of efforts to reach a peaceful settlement, in remarks that reflected the Kremlin leader's determination to achieve his war goals.

In televised remarks broadcast early Friday, Putin reaffirmed his claim that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose term expired last year, lacks the legitimacy to sign a peace deal. Under Ukraine’s constitution it is illegal for the country to hold national elections while it's under martial law.

Putin claimed that any agreement that is signed with the current Ukrainian government could be challenged by its successors and said new elections could be held under external governance.

“Under the auspices of the United Nations, with the United States, even with European countries, and, of course, with our partners and friends, we could discuss the possibility of introduction of temporary governance in Ukraine,” Putin said. He added that it would allow the country to “hold democratic elections, to bring to power a viable government that enjoys the trust of the people, and then begin negotiations with them on a peace treaty.”

He said such external governance is just “one of the options,” without elaborating.

Zelenskyy dismissed Putin's suggestions, describing them as a “reason not to end the war.”

“He is afraid of negotiations with Ukraine,” said Zelenskyy during a briefing with journalists Friday. “He is afraid of negotiations with me personally, and by excluding Ukraine's (government), he is suggesting that Ukraine is not an independent actor for him.”

Putin's remarks came hours after the conclusion of a summit hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron that considered plans to deploy troops to Ukraine to cement an eventual peace deal. Macron said “several” other nations want to be part of the force alongside France and Britain.

Russia has warned it wouldn’t accept any troops from NATO members as part of a prospective peacekeeping force.

Macron and other participants of the Paris summit on Thursday accused Russia of only pretending to want a negotiated settlement.

“They are playing games and they’re playing for time,” said U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Zelenskyy hailed the outcome of the meeting, saying in Friday’s statement that “Europe definitely knows how to defend itself, and we are working together to ensure greater security for our country and all European nations.”

Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a tentative U.S-brokered deal to pause strikes on energy infrastructure but both sides have different views on when the deal to halt strikes came into effect. They have accused each other of violations, underscoring the challenges to negotiating a broader peace.

Zelenskyy said in the Friday briefing that it's also unclear how the ceasefire should be monitored.

“Who verifies it? Who is monitoring?” he said, adding that the American side said that it would hold consultations with its own team and other countries regarding their readiness to conduct monitoring.

“I don’t know the results of these conversations ... we have told them that it will not work without monitoring.”

Russia launched 163 drones at Ukraine late Thursday, according to the Ukrainian air force, which said that 89 of them were downed and 51 more jammed.

The drones damaged multiple residential buildings and injured a 19-year-old in Zaporizhzhia, regional head Ivan Fedorov said. Damage to buildings and infrastructure facilities was also reported by authorities in another five regions.

Ukraine’s state-run gas company, Naftogaz, said Friday that its facilities came under Russian fire.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Ukrainian forces struck a gas metering station in Sudzha in the Kursk region with U.S.-made HIMARS rockets, completely destroying the facility. It said another Ukrainian strike on an energy facility in Russia’s Bryansk region led to a power cutoff, and added that air defenses downed 19 Ukrainian drones that attempted to strike an oil refinery in Saratov.

The ministry said the strikes show that Kyiv’s pledge of adherence to a halt on strikes on energy facilities was just “another ruse by Zelenskyy to prevent the collapse of Ukrainian defenses and to restore military potential with the help of European allies.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a conference call with reporters that Russia will continue sticking to the halt on strikes on energy facilities but reserves the right to opt out of the deal if violations continue.

Ukraine’s military rejected Russia’s claims of Ukrainian strikes on energy facilities as fake, aimed at “discrediting Ukraine” and its diplomatic efforts.

The General Staff said that its army is “strictly adhering to the agreements,” emphasizing that the military only has struck Russia’s military targets.

It also accused Russia of striking energy infrastructure in the city of Kherson and Poltava region of Ukraine over the last 24 hours.

“The Russian tactic of dragging out the war remains unchanged,” Ukraine’s General Staff said.

Russian troops have made slow but steady gains in several sectors of the more than 1,000-kilometer (over 620-mile) frontline, and Zelenskyy warned Thursday that Russia was trying to drag out talks in preparation for bigger offensives.

Putin declared in overnight remarks that the Russian troops have "gained steam" and "are holding strategic initiative all along the line of contact.”

He noted that Russia is open to a peaceful settlement, but emphasized the need to “remove root causes that led to the current situation.”

Zelenskyy described the situation on the battlefield as “complicated” but under control. He also confirmed unofficial reports on social media about the presence of Ukrainian troops in Russia's Bryansk region, which borders Kursk in the north.

In recent weeks, Ukraine has lost a significant amount of ground in the Kursk region, but it is still present there, according to officials.

The president said the Ukrainian army had taken steps near the Kursk region to prevent Russians from launching an offensive in Ukraine's eastern Kharkiv and southern Zaporizhzhia regions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Leningrad Region Governor Alexander Drozdenko at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 28, 2025. (Vyacheslav Prokofyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Leningrad Region Governor Alexander Drozdenko at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 28, 2025. (Vyacheslav Prokofyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Leningrad Region Governor Alexander Drozdenko at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 28, 2025. (Vyacheslav Prokofyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

In this provided by Ukraine's 24th Mechanized Brigade press service, a serviceman of 3rd mechanized battalion, practices on the training ground at an undisclosed location in the east of Ukraine, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (Oleg Petrasiuk/Ukraine's 24th Mechanized Brigade via AP)

In this provided by Ukraine's 24th Mechanized Brigade press service, servicemen of 3rd mechanized battalion, practice on the training ground at an undisclosed location in the east of Ukraine, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (Oleg Petrasiuk/Ukraine's 24th Mechanized Brigade via AP)

In this provided by Ukraine's 24th Mechanized Brigade press service, servicemen of 3rd mechanized battalion, practice on the training ground at an undisclosed location in the east of Ukraine, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (Oleg Petrasiuk/Ukraine's 24th Mechanized Brigade via AP)

In this photo provided by Ukraine's 24th Mechanized Brigade press service, servicemen of 3rd mechanized battalion, practice on the training ground at an undisclosed location in the east of Ukraine, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (Oleg Petrasiuk/Ukraine's 24th Mechanized Brigade via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs the Security Council meeting via videoconference in Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 28, 2025. (Sergei Ilyin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

This photo taken from video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Friday, March 28, 2025, shows what it says is a blaze at a gas metering station in Sudzha after a Ukrainian strike in the Kursk region of Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

Volunteers for an air-defense unit stand on their position while Russian drone explodes during bombardment of Odesa region, Ukraine, Friday, March 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a press conference after the so-called "Coalition of the willing" summit, Thursday, March 27, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, center left, and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center right, depart a summit on Ukraine at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Thursday, March 27, 2025 . (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, 2nd left, visits the Atomflot, a service base for nuclear-powered fleet, in Murmansk, Russia, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (Sergei Karpukhin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a ceremonial ship launching for the nuclear-powered submarine Perm at the Atomflot, a service base for nuclear-powered fleet, in Murmansk, Russia, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (Sergei Karpukhin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, speaks with crew members of the nuclear-powered submarine Arkhangelsk at the Atomflot, a service base for nuclear-powered fleet, in Murmansk, Russia, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (Kirill Zykov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, speaks with crew members of the nuclear-powered submarine Arkhangelsk at the Atomflot, a service base for nuclear-powered fleet, in Murmansk, Russia, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (Kirill Zykov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, speaks with crew members of the nuclear-powered submarine Arkhangelsk at the Atomflot, a service base for nuclear-powered fleet, in Murmansk, Russia, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (Kirill Zykov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a press conference after the so-called "Coalition of the willing" summit, Thursday, March 27, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, speaks with crew members of the nuclear-powered submarine Arkhangelsk at the Atomflot, a service base for nuclear-powered fleet, in Murmansk, Russia, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (Kirill Zykov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin visits the Atomflot, a service base for nuclear-powered fleet, in Murmansk, Russia, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (Sergei Karpukhin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

President Donald Trump said “I’m not joking” about trying to serve a third term, the clearest indication he's considering ways to breach a constitutional barrier against continuing to lead the country after his second term ends at the beginning of 2029. “There are methods which you could do it,” Trump said in a telephone interview Sunday with NBC News from Mar-a-Lago, his private club.

The 22nd Amendment, added to the Constitution in 1951 after President Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected four times in a row, says “no person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.”

Here's the latest:

Calls from the U.S. to Roustan Hockey headquarters in Canada in recent weeks have been anything but routine, as bulk orders of name-brand sticks have suddenly become complicated conversations.

“These customers want to know: When their orders ship, will they have to pay an additional 25% tariff? And we respond by saying, ’Well, right now we don’t know, so they postpone their order or cancel their order because they want to know before they order what the cost is going to be,” said Graeme Roustan, who owns the company that makes and sells more than 100,000 hockey sticks annually to the U.S. market.

The prospect of 25% tariffs by Trump on Canadian imports, currently paused for some goods but facing full implementation Wednesday, has caused headaches if not havoc throughout the commercial ecosystem. The sports equipment industry is certainly no exception, with so many of the products manufactured for sports -loving Americans outside the U.S.

▶ Read more about the effects of possible tariffs on the price of sporting goods

U.S. immigration officials are asking the public and federal agencies to comment on a proposal to collect social media handles from people applying for benefits such as green cards or citizenship, to comply with an executive order from Trump.

The March 5 notice raised alarms from immigration and free speech advocates because it appears to expand the government’s reach in social media surveillance to people already vetted and in the U.S. legally, such as asylum seekers, green card and citizenship applicants – and not just those applying to enter the country. That said, social media monitoring by immigration officials has been a practice for over a decade, since at least the second Obama administration and ramping up under Trump’s first term.

▶ Read more about what the new proposal means and how it might expand social media surveillance

Elon Musk gave out $1 million checks on Sunday to two Wisconsin voters, declaring them spokespeople for his political group, ahead of a Wisconsin Supreme Court election that the tech billionaire cast as critical to President Donald Trump’s agenda and “the future of civilization.”

Musk and groups he supports have spent more than $20 million to help conservative favorite Brad Schimel in Tuesday’s race, which will determine the ideological makeup of a court likely to decide key issues in a perennial battleground state.

A unanimous state Supreme Court on Sunday refused to hear a last-minute attempt by the state’s Democratic attorney general to stop Musk from handing over the checks to two voters, a ruling that came just minutes before the planned start of the rally.

Two lower courts had already rejected the legal challenge by Democrat Josh Kaul, who argues that Musk’s offer violates a state law.

▶ Read more about Musk in Wisconsin

The group of Democrats, most of whom serve as their state’s top election official, is telling Congress the legislative proposal to add a proof of citizenship requirement when registering to vote could disenfranchise voters and upend election administration.

On Monday, the House Rules Committee is expected to consider the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, known as the SAVE Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote. The letter signed by 15 secretaries of state was sent Friday.

Voting by noncitizens is rare, but Republicans say any instances undermine public confidence. Last week, President Trump directed, among other things, an update to the federal voter registration form to require proof of citizenship. Legal challenges are expected.

In the letter, Democrats say it’s the “job of election officials to verify the eligibility of citizens to cast a ballot, not the job of citizens to convince the government that they are eligible to exercise their right to vote.”

Trump says Wednesday will be “Liberation Day” — a moment when he plans to roll out a set of tariffs that he promises will free the United States from foreign goods.

The details of Trump’s next round of import taxes are still sketchy. Most economic analyses say average U.S. families would have to absorb the cost of his tariffs in the form of higher prices and lower incomes. But an undeterred Trump is inviting CEOs to the White House to say they are investing hundreds of billions of dollars in new projects to avoid the import taxes.

It is also possible that the tariffs are short-lived if Trump feels he can cut a deal after imposing them.

“I’m certainly open to it, if we can do something,” Trump told reporters. “We’ll get something for it.”

At stake are family budgets, America’s prominence as the world’s leading financial power and the structure of the global economy.

▶ Read more about what you should know regarding the impending trade penalties

Trump will sign executive orders twice today, first at 1 p.m. ET and again at 5:30 p.m. ET, according to the White House.

Immigration remains a strength for Trump, but his handling of tariffs is getting more negative feedback, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

About half of U.S. adults approve of Trump’s approach to immigration, the survey shows, but only about 4 in 10 have a positive view of the way he’s handling the economy and trade negotiations.

The poll indicates that many Americans are still on board with Trump’s efforts to ramp up deportations and restrict immigration. But it also suggests that his threats to impose tariffs might be erasing his advantage on another issue that he made central to his winning 2024 campaign.

Views of Trump’s job performance overall are more negative than positive, the survey found. About 4 in 10 U.S. adults approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president, and more than half disapprove.

▶ Read more about the findings from the poll

Trump said Sunday that “I’m not joking” about trying to serve a third term, the clearest indication he is considering ways to breach a constitutional barrier against continuing to lead the country after his second term ends at the beginning of 2029.

“There are methods which you could do it,” Trump said in a telephone interview with NBC News from Mar-a-Lago, his private club.

He elaborated later to reporters on Air Force One from Florida to Washington that “I have had more people ask me to have a third term, which in a way is a fourth term because the other election, the 2020 election was totally rigged.” Trump lost that election to Democrat Joe Biden.

Still, Trump added: “I don’t want to talk about a third term now because no matter how you look at it, we’ve got a long time to go.”

▶ Read more about Trump’s comments on a third term

President Donald Trump talks to reporters as he walks on the South Lawn of the White House, in Washington, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

President Donald Trump walks down the stairs of Air Force One upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)