Good evening. I'm Jeff Bennett.

And I'm Amna Nawaz. On the news hour tonight, the White House pushes Russia for direct talks with Ukraine, but signs of compromise are still elusive.

Competing claims from the Trump administration and D.C. city leaders about crime levels as more federal troops are deployed to patrol the nation's capital.

And at the height of wildfire season, thousands of firefighters face frontline dangers, including toxic smoke, with little to no protection.

If the Forest Service were to allow firefighters to wear masks, it would mean admitting that smoke is dangerous.

And that could cause a huge rethinking of the whole way the agency works right now.

Welcome to the News Hour.

The White House press secretary said today that Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed to President Trump that he would soon meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose country Russia invaded. And White House officials say one possible location for the summit is Hungary, led by

Viktor Orban, a longtime Putin ally and critic of the Western coalition that's backing Ukraine.

Orban has repeatedly blasted both NATO and the European Union, which Hungary belongs to

for what he calls their overly aggressive support of Ukraine's

defense. Nick Schifrin begins our coverage again tonight.

In eastern Ukraine today, firefighters rushed to Russia's target of choice, a residential

apartment building, where not everyone got out in time.

200 miles to the west, the blood-orange sky

of a Ukrainian sunrise mixed with the smoke of a city besieged. Russia bombarded Ukraine once again

today, leading Ukrainians, even in Kyiv's quieter streets, to distrust diplomatic efforts

to find peace.

It seems to me there will be some agreements, but I don't think it will be possible to say

this is the end of the war.

Even if there is a truce, this enemy will not stop within the borders he has now.

We will give them very good protection, very good security.

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