TODAY’S WEATHER

☁️ It gets cooler today: overcast for much of the day but brightening later in Glasgow, while it’s cloudy and cooler for much of the day in Edinburgh and Aberdeen. London continues to have sunny spells. (Here’s the UK forecast).

THE BIG STORIES
Zelensky and Putin could meet within weeks | Reeves considers property tax | Swinney faces backlash

📣 Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin could meet within weeks to discuss an end to the war in Ukraine, after yesterday’s talks between the US, Ukraine and European leaders in Washington. European countries could also provide security guarantees, coordinated by the US.

But details on all this - and Russia’s willingness to participate - are still shrouded in uncertainty this morning, despite talk of “relief” among NATO states about US involvement, and the progress made.

• Takeaways from Trump’s meeting with Zelenskyy and European leaders: “Praise, security talks, more meetings”. (AP)

• Prime Minister Keir Starmer, present at the talks, said he was “very pleased” with the outcome and a “real sense of unity” among the leaders. (BBC)

• Putin has agreed to talks, although Moscow has not confirmed the meeting (Guardian)

• The Guardian offers some colour from Washington: “‘President Zelensky, you look fabulous in that suit,’ said Brian Glenn, a pro-Trump pundit and member of the White House press corps, who had attacked him for wearing military fatigues during the infamous Oval Office meeting in February. ‘I said the same thing,’ Trump added.”

• More analysis from the talks in Ideas, below ⬇️

📣 Rachel Reeves is considering a new property tax on houses worth more than £500,000 as part of changes to stamp duty and council tax. A new national property tax could replace stamp duty on owner-occupied homes, with a new local property tax then replacing council tax in the medium term, “to repair battered local authority finances”. (The Guardian has the exclusive).

📣 John Swinney is facing a “backlash” from SNP grassroots members after a plan for a push towards independence was blocked from debate at the party’s annual conference.

The plan would see a majority of list votes for pro-independence parties as a mandate for independence negotiations with Westminster.

Swinney’s position is that only a majority of seats at Holyrood for the SNP would deliver that mandate. (The Herald (£) has the exclusive)

IDEAS
An extraordinary summit brings vague outcomes

🗣️ It’s a measure of the way global affairs have been turned upside down that, only days after Donald Trump rolled out a literal red carpet for Vladimir Putin in Alaska and enjoyed laughter and a cordial session with the Russian dictator, the visit of Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House was a far more tense affair.

Zelensky - representing the people wrongly, murderously so, in all of this - is said by The Economist to have survived “another episode of the Trump show”. He wore a “suit-like garment” to the meeting, to avoid the issue “that had contributed to an acrimonious blow-up in the Oval Office in February” (when he wore a sweater). He said “thank-you” a lot, notes the BBC, to avoid the accusations of a lack of gratitude hurled at him by JD Vance during that last visit, too.

The Economist continues: “As he was hailed by the Europeans for his diplomatic efforts, Mr Trump announced that preparations were under way for a summit between Mr Zelensky and the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, to be followed by three-way talks with Mr Trump, too.”

That was the big takeaway from the day. The public discussions were vague on detail - the where, the when, any pre-conditions. But “the mood was surprisingly positive”.

And, overnight, some detail drifted out from the clutch of European leaders present.

The New York Times (🎁 gift link) reports that Trump broke out of discussions with European leaders in the White House’s East Room to call the Russian leader, and later “brought Zelensky and European leaders into the Oval Office to describe his discussion with Mr Putin, according to President Alexander Stubb of Finland.” But it’s still not clear what, if anything, Putin agreed to.

Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, told reporters Putin had agreed to a summit after that call. And, according to the Telegraph, Zelensky said Putin even proposed the format of the talks, with a bilateral meeting between them, then a sit-down with Trump.

But The Wall Street Journal (🎁 gift link) noted the Kremlin had issued a “more equivocal public statement”. And the Mail’s coverage is also pessimistic this morning, saying Moscow refused to commit to peace talks, and that the 40-minute call was only “frank” and “fairly constructive”.

The concern is Russia continues to pound Ukraine while the talking about talks continues: no ceasefire has been required of Russia, despite doubts expressed by France’s Macron that Putin is dealing in good faith, and Germany’s Merz arguing for a ceasefire before (in the words of the The New York Times) being “gently rebuffed” by Trump.

Zelensky was silent on the matter of a ceasefire. Perhaps he is playing a longer game, and seeking a bigger ask from the US, and his European allies: security guarantees, for the longer run, the sort of alliance and support that would form an effective deterrent against further Russian aggression. Behind closed doors, it’s clear such guarantees were a big topic of discussion.

In its summary of the “five takeaways” from the summit, The New York Times (🎁 gift link) notes Trump was vague on the detail of that support. He said the US would be involved, but didn’t directly answer the question of US troops being sent, or whether the guarantee would stretch to the extent of a NATO-style treaty. The US would “help them out”, he said, and certainly coordinate security support.

But, reports the BBC, Zelensky did say Ukraine would buy $90 billion of American arms, and the US would purchase drones from Ukraine, which is now thought to have world-leading technology in the field. But the details of that, like almost everything else from yesterday’s talks, remain undefined.

An awful lot is expected to be drafted out over the next 10 days. Away from the cameras and the bluster, diplomats across Europe, Ukraine and Russia will have some late nights ahead as they seek to define the new contours of this topsy-turvy world.

AROUND SCOTLAND

📣 Scottish prison authorities face a “daily game of chess" to keep violent rival gang members apart. (BBC)

📣 STV News has taken a deep look at cocaine use in Scotland: it finds use has become so widespread and “socially acceptable” it can be ordered more quickly and easily than a pizza. (STV)

📣 The use of hydrogen-based heating systems for Scottish homes is worth a longer look, a trade union claims today, with a pilot already underway in Fife. Many experts favour a push towards heat-pumps instead. (The Scotsman has the exclusive)

📣 Netflix’s Edinburgh-filmed detective drama, Dept. Q, will return for a second season (The Scotsman)

AROUND THE WORLD

📣 Hamas has agreed to a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal put forward by Egypt and Qatar, reports suggest. (BBC)

📣 India’s PM Nerendra Modi will meet China’s top diplomat today as long-standing tensions ease between the neighbours. (AP)

📣 “Ketamine Queen” Jasveen Sangha will plead guilty to supplying the drugs that ultimately killed Friends actor Matthew Perry. (BBC)

SPORT

⚽️ Rangers face Club Brugge in Glasgow tonight, in the first leg of a Champions League play-off that, with fans restless and £40 million in prize money at stake, is already taking on some importance for the future of beleaguered manager Russell Martin. (Scotsman)

• Martin has reassured his mum that he can handle the pressure (Record)

• The game will be shown on Amazon Prime (Tonight, 8pm)

⚽️ Scotland winger Ben Doak has moved to Bournemouth from Liverpool for “around £25 million” - and will now wear the name “Gannon Doak” on his back to reflect the names of both his parents. (Mail)