It's a Busy Day for the Ukraine War

Tuesday already has brought big developments in the Russia-Ukraine war—the two nations traded heavy drone attacks as Ukraine and US officials were meeting in Saudi Arabia. Details:

• Biggest yet: Ukraine launched its biggest drone attack of the war on Moscow, with the Russian defense ministry saying it shot down nearly 100 around the capital and more than 200 others in several other regions. Reuters reports the strikes killed two workers at a meat warehouse in Moscow. Ukraine, meanwhile, said it shot down more than 100 Russian drones over its capital of Kyiv.

• The talks: A US delegation led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio has begun meeting a Ukrainian delegation in Saudi Arabia to flesh out a possible framework for an end to the war, reports the AP. Russian officials are not present, but a Kremlin spokesman says Moscow will be briefed by US officials afterward. Rubio struck an upbeat tone, flashing a thumbs up and answering "good" when asked about his expectations.
• Infamous meeting: Rubio spoke with reporters about the contentious Oval Office meeting in which President Trump and Vice President JD Vance sparred with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky. "I couldn't believe what I was seeing," he said, per NBC News. "I was like, 'This can't be real,' but it was, but we have to move on."
• Expectations: Rubio sought to downplay expectations of a major breakthrough on Tuesday. "I'm not going to set any conditions on what they have to or need to do," he said. "I think we want to listen to see how far they're willing to go and then compare that to what the Russians want and see how far apart we truly are."

(More Russia-Ukraine war stories.)