U.S. lawmakers are pushing back hard against Ukraine’s dramatic request for nuclear weapons and fast-track NATO membership, warning that such demands could ignite a direct clash with Russia. Senator Lindsey Graham slammed former Ukrainian General Valerii Zaluzhny’s proposed security plan—calling it “unreasonable” and far beyond anything the U.

A source with direct knowledge of the Florida talks tells CNN the intensive negotiations were a “step forward” and “built on progress in Geneva.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio plans to skip a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels next week, two U.S. officials said, in a highly unusual absence of the top U.S. diplomat from a key transatlantic gathering.