First Thing: Zelenskyy says he told Trump that Putin was ‘playing games’ with Washington
In an exclusive interview, Ukraine’s president says he believes the war will be won when Russian society feels its impact. Plus, why California’s election count is taking so long (hint: it’s not fraud)
In the fifth year of Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine, Volodymr Zelenskyy says he is feeling upbeat and has been grateful for military support from the US, but has a pointed message for Washington.
Speaking to Luke Harding and Pippa Crerar in London, the Ukrainian president acknowledged that the priority of Trump’s second term in foreign policy had shifted away from Ukraine to conflict in the Middle East.
“It’s a pity,” he said, that compared with the help given to the US’s Gulf allies and Israel after the US-Israel war against on Tehran began, Ukraine had never received “that volume of support”.
What did Zelenskyy say about Trump’s relationship with Putin? He carefully praised US diplomatic efforts, despite his bruising encounter in the Oval Office and the fact that Trump has been willing to meet Vladimir Putin, saying: “I always said to President Trump that Putin is lying. He plays games with you, with the White House.”
Does he see any prospect of the war ending? The military situation was the most promising it had been for Kyiv for two and a half years, Zelenskyy ssaid. “We can’t say Russia is losing this war. But we can say they are losing the initiative each day, day by day,” he added. “Victory in this war is when Russian society recognises that the war is awful, that the war is a tragedy not for someone, somewhere, but for themselves.” To that end, Zelenskyy said the purpose of long-range strikes – drones buzzing above apartment blocks in greater Moscow and St Petersburg – was to make residents “feel” what war meant.
OpenAI confidentially files for initial public offering on US stock market
OpenAI has filed confidentially to go public on the US stock market, according to a company blogpost published on Monday. The artificial intelligence company’s debut on Wall Street is expected to be one of the most highly valued listings in market history, with a valuation at more than $850bn.
OpenAI’s approaching IPO will mark the culmination of a meteoric rise since its founding as a non-profit research lab in 2015, led by Sam Altman. After working on generative artificial intelligence in beta for several years, the company publicly released ChatGPT in 2022 and converted to a for-profit structure.
Which other AI companies are making market moves? In addition to Anthropic, which makes the popular Claude chatbot, Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which owns his artificial intelligence company xAI, is also imminently slated to go public at an expected valuation of $1.75tn.
Israel and Iran claim to have stepped back from renewed conflict after Trump plea
Israel and Iran say they have halted attacks on each other after an appeal from Donald Trump to “immediately stop shooting”.
The recent wave of Iranian ballistic missile attacks on Israel and retaliatory strikes by Israeli warplanes on Iran marked the most direct confrontation since an April ceasefire. Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels also fired at Israel and said they would target Israeli-affiliated ships in the Red Sea.
Any new “ceasefire within the ceasefire” is very fragile, analysts say, with multiple flashpoints that could lead to fresh exchanges of strikes and missile barrages at any moment.
What’s the bigger picture? Julian Borger, the Guardian’s senior international correspondent, argues that the complex relationship between Trump and Netanyahu continues to undermine the Middle East ceasefire.
In other news …
Nithya Raman, a progressive Los Angeles city council member, has advanced to the November runoff for LA mayor, edging out the former reality TV villain Spencer Pratt for the chance to face the incumbent mayor, Karen Bass.
The chief prosecutor of the international criminal court, Karim Khan, has been suspended after the conclusion of a disciplinary process triggered by sexual abuse allegations against him.
The online prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket will prohibit paid creators and affiliates from denying election results, as online creators have been spreading misinformation about California’s election.
Air passengers are putting lives at risk by filming emergencies and retrieving bags instead of evacuating planes, industry experts have said, with some suggesting fines could be needed.
Donald Trump was loudly booed when he was shown on the video screens at Madison Square Garden at the NBA finals. It capped a bad day for his personal image after the Kennedy Center removed his name from its website to comply with a US district judge’s order.
Stat of the day: World’s largest banks pledged $906bn to fossil fuel companies in ‘unfathomable’ increase in 2025
The world’s largest banks committed $906bn in financing to the fossil fuel industry last year, locking in years more of coal, oil and gas production, a report has found. The surge in new fossil fuel lending, up $64bn or nearly 8% on 2024, shows that the world’s largest 65 banks are making decisions incompatible with international agreements to restrain rising global temperatures.
Culture pick: ‘Absolutely wonderful’ – why everyone should be watching Widow’s Bay
Stuart Heritage waxes lyrical about the buzzy hit for Apple TV, which he says has a brilliantly modulated mix of horror and comedy. As he puts it, unless Apple has been directly paying everybody he knows to tell him how good it is, Widow’s Bay has become the biggest word-of-mouth success that television has had in years.
Don’t miss this: Why the California vote count is slow – and Trump’s fraud claims are bogus
Just days after the California primary, Donald Trump began claiming without evidence that Democrats were cheating in the state’s election. Cecilia Nowell explains what is actually going on.
Climate check: World’s first wind-powered, underwater datacenter opens in China
Traditional datacenters, the physical backbone of the AI boom, have come under scrutiny because of how much water they use. Now, the world’s first wind-powered underwater datacenter has started operations. Located more than 6 miles (10km) off the coast of Shanghai, the facility is submerged 10 metres below the surface, and, according to the Chinese government, reduces power consumption by more than one-fifth compared with land-based datacenters.
Last Thing: 100 years of Marilyn Monroe – in pictures
Still bewitching the world 100 years after her birth, a new exhibition in London shows how the woman once known as Norma Jeane became an inspiration for artists and photographers. Here are some of the highlights.
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