The high-stakes Trump-Putin phone call is shaping up to be the make-or-break moment for the U.S.-led ceasefire push in Ukraine. While Mr. Putin has said he wants peace, Russian forces doubled down ahead of the call with a wave of drone attacks on Kyiv over the weekend — strikes Ukrainian officials described as the largest since Russia invaded in February 2022.

The Trump administration has portrayed Mr. Trump’s one-on-one interactions with Mr. Putin as the only pathway remaining to an elusive ceasefire. Mr. Trump is personally intervening amid growing White House frustration toward Russia’s attacks and Mr. Putin’s refusal to meet face-to-face with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Mr. Zelenskyy met with Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Rome on Sunday. Photos posted on the Ukrainian president’s X account captured an atmosphere that looked distinctly different from the tense, antagonistic Oval Office meeting that Mr. Zelenskyy had with Mr. Trump earlier this year.

Israel continues to pound targets of the Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen, despite a halt in U.S. strikes against the group. The Israeli Air Force launched a wave of airstrikes Friday that analysts say were retaliation for continued missile and drone attacks that the Houthis have carried out against Israel, despite reaching a ceasefire with Washington.

Friday’s strikes targeted the Houthi-controlled Red Sea ports of Hudaydah and Salif. The Israeli military said the ports were used to transfer weapons and were a further example of the Houthis’ “systematic and cynical exploitation” of civilian infrastructure in Yemen to advance their terrorist goals.

Israel carried out Friday’s attack with 15 jet fighters that dropped more than 30 bombs. “If the Houthis continue to fire missiles at the State of Israel, they will suffer painful blows,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said.

Seoul and Washington agreed during a high-level meeting in South Korea Friday of the 21-member Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum to pursue further discussions toward potentially exempting South Korea from the 25% tariffs the Trump administration has threatened to impose starting in July.

Japan and Korea, together with Australia, Britain and India, are the five “preferred nations” prioritized by Washington for tariff agreements. Washington Times Asia Editor Andrew Salmon reports that Japan, which also faces 25% tariffs, has been more confrontational on the issue.

Tokyo officials did not attend Friday’s meeting in South Korea and have warned that Japan’s massive holding of U.S. debt is a “card” it can play against Washington. The meeting was a stage-setter for the 2025 APEC leaders summit during which VIPs, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Mr. Trump, are expected to gather in South Korea in September.

Retired Army Gen. Charles Flynn, until last year the commander of U.S. Army Pacific forces, warned lawmakers on Capitol Hill last week that “the threat of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan is no longer distant or theoretical” and “the urgency to restore credible deterrence in the Indo-Pacific has never been greater.” The remarks came during a bipartisan hearing of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.

Retired Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery testified that a conflict across the Taiwan Strait would draw devastating Chinese cyberattacks on critical U.S. infrastructure, along with economic and information warfare. The former officers were joined by former Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, the Biden administration’s point man on China policy, who also warned that greater military and diplomatic steps are needed to prevent a conflict.

With the anniversary of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te’s inauguration Tuesday, it is “worth reaffirming Taiwan’s strong and enduring commitment to safeguard regional peace and prosperity by working closely with the United States and other global partners,” writes Wen Lii, a spokesperson for Mr. Lai.

“In fact, standing firm on Taiwan’s self-defense against Beijing’s stated objective of annexation is not an act of provocation,” Mr. Wen writes in an op-ed for The Times. “Neither are actions to improve Taiwan’s legal and institutional measures against China’s mounting espionage attempts.”

“Defending Taiwan’s democracy against China’s unprovoked aggressions should not be deliberately misconstrued as “pushing the envelope” on Taiwanese independence,” he writes, “especially when Taiwan’s long-standing policy is to uphold the cross-strait status quo.”

• May 20 — Saudi Arabia in 2025: Vision 2030 Progress Update and U.S.-Saudi Relations, Atlantic Council

• May 21 — AI and Intelligent Transformation of Organizations: An Insightful Conversation with Dr. Feiyu Xu, Stimson Center

• May 22 — U.S.-China Rivalry in the Middle East Conference, Hudson Institute

• May 30-June 1 — IISS Shangri-La Dialogue (Singapore), International Institute for Strategic Studies

• June 3 — CNAS 2025 National Security Conference | America’s Edge: Forging the Future, Center for a New American Security 

• June 25 — The New IC, Intelligence and National Security Alliance