NATO chief reaffirms support for Ukraine during a visit to the port city of Odesa

ODESA, Ukraine (AP) — NATO’s support for Ukraine remains “unwavering,” the alliance’s secretary-general said Tuesday, emphasizing that more than 20 billion euros — over $22 billion — in security assistance has already been pledged by NATO allies in the first three months of the year.

Mark Rutte spoke on Tuesday in Ukraine's port city of Odesa, where he met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

His visit came days after two Russian ballistic missiles struck the city of Sumy on Palm Sunday morning, killing at least 35 people, including two children, and injuring 119.

The attack on the northeastern city, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from Ukraine’s border with Russia, marked the second large-scale attack in just over a week to result in significant civilian casualties. Earlier this month, about 20 people were killed, including nine children, after a Russian ballistic missile struck Zelenskyy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih on April 4.

“I’m here today because I believe Ukraine’s people deserve real peace, real safety and security in their country, in their homes,” Rutte said during a joint news conference with Zelenskyy. The two met with wounded Ukrainian soldiers at a hospital in Odesa.

This is Rutte’s first trip to Ukraine since U.S. President Donald Trump assumed the lead in ceasefire negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow, which have included several rounds of talks in Saudi Arabia.

“These discussions are not easy, not least in the wake of this horrific violence,” Rutte said, referring to the recent strikes. “But we all support President Trump’s push for peace.”

Ukraine has endorsed the broader U.S.-proposed cease-fire deal, though Russia has effectively stalled the process by attaching far-reaching conditions.

Meanwhile, Ukraine and its European partners are continuing to develop the infrastructure for the “coalition of the willing,” which is expected to act as a long-term security guarantee aimed at deterring future Russian aggression after a ceasefire is in place.

Amid that uncertainty and U.S. warnings that Europe must take care of its own security and that of Ukraine in the future, the multinational force is seen as a first test of the continent’s willingness to defend itself and its interests.

Zelenskyy said Turkey could play a significant role in providing future Black Sea security guarantees for Ukraine.

“This is not about ending the war, unfortunately,” Zelenskyy said, commenting on the security meeting being hosted by Turkey on Tuesday and Wednesday. “It’s about what comes after — the security guarantees for Ukraine following a ceasefire.”

He said military representatives from Ukraine, France, the United Kingdom and Turkey are discussing the presence of a military contingent in the Black Sea as part of those guarantees.

“The fact that these talks are ongoing, that we are preparing for this hopeful, soon-to-be achieved eventuality — NATO tries to steer that in the direction we think would be advisable,” Rutte said.

The meeting in Turkey comes less than a month after the United States announced that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to “eliminate the use of force” in the Black Sea. However, key details remained unresolved, and the Kremlin has tied the deal to the lifting of certain Western sanctions.

Commenting on ongoing negotiations with the U.S. over a revised draft of an agreement that would give the U.S. access to Ukraine’s valuable mineral resources, Zelenskyy described last week’s technical talks in Washington as positive, with more consultations expected in the coming days.

He said the meeting was a technical session for expert teams and that “both sides concluded the meeting on a positive note.” Zelenskyy added that discussions — both online and in person — will continue throughout the week, and once the teams are ready, they will present the outcomes of their work.

Meanwhile, residents of Sumy were still mourning their loved ones killed in Sunday's attack. Among the dead was Olena Kohut, pianist and a solo organist at the regional philharmonic, and a farewell ceremony was held in the local theatre where she often played.

Dozens came to say goodbye to the gifted musician and piano teacher, who was killed while on her way to rehearsals. Mourners wept, holding red roses, as they approached her coffin at the local theatre where she taught piano and mentored young musicians. The crowd then clapped in respect as her coffin was driven away and out of sight.

“The Sumy region lost a lot with her,” said Serhiy Dorofieiev, 39, director of the theater where Kohut worked.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

This photo, released by the Government of Kursk region official telegram channel, on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, shows an apartment building damaged by a Ukrainian drone in Kursk, Russia. (Government of Kursk region official telegram channel via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte watches as Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy awards a military medic with a state award in a hospital in Odesa, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 15, 2025.(Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, left, and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shake hands before their joint press conference in Odesa, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Shtekel)

Municipal workers clean a street in front of a University building destroyed by a Russian missile strike in Sumy, Ukraine, Monday, April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, shakes hands with a wounded Ukrainian soldier during his visit to a hospital in Odesa, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 15, 2025.(Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

This photo, released by the Government of Kursk region official telegram channel, on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, shows an apartment building damaged by a Ukrainian drone in Kursk, Russia. (Government of Kursk region official telegram channel via AP)

Kateryna Sitak, 23, a teacher, cries while laying flowers and toys on a site of a Russian missile strike in Sumy, Ukraine, Monday, April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, center, and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, visit a military hospital in Odesa, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 15, 2025.(Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte answers media questions during his joint press conference with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Odesa, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Shtekel)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, left, and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, centre, pose for photo with a wounded Ukrainian soldier during their visit to a hospital in Odesa, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 15, 2025.(Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Smoke rises from an explosion following a Russian drone strike on Sumy, Ukraine, Monday, April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, pose for a photo during their meeting in Odesa, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 15, 2025.(Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

PHOENIX (AP) — Closing arguments began Monday afternoon at the Arizona trial for Lori Vallow Daybell, the Idaho woman with doomsday religious beliefs who’s charged with conspiring to murder her estranged husband in suburban Phoenix.

Vallow Daybell, who isn’t a lawyer but has chosen to defend herself, didn't call any witnesses or put on any evidence in her defense. Jurors heard testimony from prosecution witnesses for seven days.

She is accused of conspiring with her brother, Alex Cox, to kill Charles Vallow at her home in Chandler in 2019 so she could collect money from his life insurance policy and marry her then-boyfriend Chad Daybell, an Idaho author who wrote several religious novels about prophecies and the end of the world.

Prosecutor Treena Kay told the jury in her closing argument that was the motive behind the crime: “Chad and money."

Cox, who claimed he acted in self-defense when he fatally shot Vallow, died five months later from what medical examiners said was a blood clot in his lungs. Cox’s account was later called into question.

Kay said Cox waited 47 minutes before calling 911 after the shooting “to stage the scene." The jury on Monday also listened to a recorded conversation between Vallow Daybell and the life insurance company.

In the recording, Vallow Daybell says that Vallow had been shot and that “it was an accident.”

Vallow Daybell has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, she would face a life sentence without the possibility of release until serving at least 25 years.

In her opening statement, Vallow Daybell had said during the encounter inside the house, Vallow chased her with a bat, and Alex shot Vallow in self-defense after she left the house.

She has already been convicted in Idaho of killing her two youngest children and conspiring to murder a romantic rival, for which she was sentenced to life in prison.

Last week at the Arizona trial, Adam Cox, another brother of Vallow Daybell, testified on behalf of the prosecution, telling jurors that he had no doubt that Vallow Daybell and his brother Alex were behind Vallow's death.

Adam Cox said Vallow’s killing occurred just before he and Vallow were planning an intervention to bring Vallow Daybell back into the mainstream of their shared faith in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He testified that before Vallow’s death, his sister had told people her husband was no longer living and that a zombie was living inside his body.

Four months before he died, Charles Vallow filed for divorce from Vallow Daybell, saying she had become infatuated with near-death experiences and had claimed to have lived numerous lives on other planets. He alleged she threatened to ruin him financially and kill him. He sought a voluntary mental health evaluation of his wife.

The trial over Vallow’s death will mark the first of two criminal trials in Arizona for Vallow Daybell. She’s scheduled to go on trial again in early June on a charge of conspiring to murder Brandon Boudreaux, the ex-husband of Vallow Daybell’s niece, Melani Pawlowski.

Maricopa County Superior Court building shown, Monday, April 21, 2025, in Phoenix, where the Arizona murder trial of Lori Vallow Daybell who's charged with conspiring to murder her estranged husband, is being held. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

The assembled media are set up for live shots in front of Maricopa County Courthouse where the murder trial of Lori Vallow Daybell, who is charged with conspiring to murder her estranged husband, is being held Monday, April 21, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Colby Ryan arrives at Maricopa County Superior Court for the murder trial of Lori Vallow Daybell, his mother, who's charged with conspiring to murder her estranged husband, Monday, April 21, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)