NATO chief holds phone talks with Trump on Ukraine

On the international front.

Ukraine was the center of talks between the heads of NATO and the White House on Thursday amid a fresh onslaught of aerial assaults by Russia in recent days.

Lee Seung-jae has the latest.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and U.S. President Donald Trump held phone talks on Thursday to discuss the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.

According to Rutte on X, he spoke with the U.S. leader to condemn Russia's recent large-scale airstrikes on Ukraine, and urged the U.S. and other allies to provide emergency support to Ukraine.

The phone talks come as Russia recently conducted airstrikes on Kyiv, killing two and injuring 25 others.

Meanwhile, U.S Secretary of State Marco Rubio held talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on Thursday in Malaysia.

During the talks, the two sides exchanged new ideas for peace in Ukraine.

"I think it's a new and a different approach. Again, I wouldn't characterize it as something that guarantees a peace, but it's a concept that I'll take back to the president today, as soon as I finish with you."

During the talks,.. Rubio reportedly expressed Washington's frustration that more progress has not been made on ending the war in Ukraine.

Rubio says he had expressed to his Russian counterpart, what President Trump has stressed about there not being enough flexibility on the Russian side to bring about an end to the conflict.

In the hopes of coordinating a multinational 'reassurance force' ready to help Ukraine after a potential ceasefire, a new headquarters in Paris will serve as the base for the western-led 'Coalition of the Willing' for one year.

The announcement comes as a virtual meeting of the member nations' leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and other European leaders took place on Thursday.

The headquarters in the French capital is led jointly by France and the UK, and will rotate to London after a year in order to allow for flexible military contributions from partner nations.

Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.