Welcome to The Hill’s Defense & NatSec newsletter{beacon} Defense &National Security Defense &National Security   The Big Story Little progress as Ukraine, Russia

A second round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine have ended without a major breakthrough, and only an agreement between the warring sides to swap more prisoners of war. The Ukrainian negotiators said Russia again rejected an "unconditional ceasefire" - a key demand by Kyiv and its allies in Europe and the US.

The second round of negotiations to resolve Europe’s largest land war since World War II ended with even less of an outcome than the first round.