Ukraine agreed to halt strikes on energy sites

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine agreed yesterday to Russia’s offer of a mutual pause in attacks on energy targets for 30 days as a step toward a broader cease-fire.

He accepted the pause in a phone call with President Trump, who described the conversation as “very good.” Zelensky called the talk “positive, very substantive and frank,” making clear that he had thanked Trump for America’s support.

The two leaders spoke a day after Trump’s conversation with Vladimir Putin, Russia’s leader. It was the first time Trump and Zelensky had talked since their disastrous Oval Office meeting last month.

Trump also floated the idea that the U.S. could take control of Ukrainian power plants — an idea that Ukrainian energy experts said was probably unworkable. The White House said teams would meet in Saudi Arabia “in the coming days” to discuss broadening the pause to cover activity in the Black Sea, “on the way to a full cease-fire.”

What’s next: Zelensky said that the agreement would require U.S. monitoring, and that Kyiv would prepare a list of sites that needed protection. “Just the assertion and the word of Putin that he will not strike energy sites is too little,” he said. “War has made us practical people.”

Analysis: Most of what Putin agreed to on the Tuesday call with Trump was spun as a concession, but the Russian leader didn’t really give ground.

More on the Trump administration

Canada moves closer to Europe

As Canada is threatened by President Trump, talks aimed at letting it join a project to expand the E.U.’s military industry are underway. An agreement would allow Canada to help build European fighter jets and other equipment at its own industrial facilities.

The goal is to strengthen Europe’s defense industry and offer Canada a credible alternative to the U.S. market, officials said. Canada’s new prime minister, Mark Carney, this week visited Paris and London in his first overseas trip since taking office, calling Canada “the most European of non-European countries.”

Background: Canada has been a regular U.S. contractor, and its factories produce munitions, tanks, aircraft, technological defense systems and naval ships. A review in 2022 found that the top destination of its military equipment, by far, was the U.S.

What’s next: The partnership, and the E.U. initiative, will take years to bear fruit. European defense has been falling behind because of underinvestment and U.S. dominance, a situation that became more apparent as the drive to arm Ukraine depleted E.U. members’ arsenals.

Israel seized territory in Gaza

Israeli forces pushed deeper into the Gaza Strip yesterday, seizing parts of a major corridor that divides it, in the most significant ground operation since the collapse of a fragile truce with Hamas.

Soldiers began “targeted ground activities” along the road, known as the Netzarim Corridor, to create a “partial buffer zone” in the territory between the north and south, the military said.

The operation followed wide-scale aerial bombardment in Gaza that began on Tuesday. Hamas has not responded militarily. In Jerusalem, thousands of Israeli protesters called for a renewed cease-fire.

Photos from Gaza: For two months, a cease-fire spared Palestinians the grim task of identifying bodies. Now they are back at it.

Yemen: President Trump said the Houthi militants would be “completely annihilated” by U.S. military strikes and warned Iran to “immediately” stop giving them military equipment and general support.

In Paraswara, a village in a rural corner of India, a dozen men were sworn in this month to form a local government. Half hadn’t been elected — their wives had.

The sidelining of women in rural Indian politics is nothing new, but some are starting to push back against “boss husbands.”

Lives lived: Anthony Dolan, who as Ronald Reagan’s chief speechwriter deployed the phrase “evil empire” in 1983 to describe the Soviet Union, died at 76.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

ARTS AND IDEAS

Why airline pilots don’t always seek help

In times of struggle, U.S. pilots face a high-wire calculation: stay silent, or receive the help they need and risk being formally diagnosed with a mental-health condition. Those who do may never fly again.

Troy Merritt, above, was struggling with thoughts of suicide when he eventually sought the care he needed. But taking antidepressants required a full 18 months away from his work as a pilot — and spending more than $10,000 on medical evaluations.

“Because a pilot’s work is safety-sensitive, they are held to a higher standard,” said Susan Northrup, the U.S. official flight surgeon since 2021. But the authorities may have inadvertently created a process so burdensome that it deters pilots from being honest.