PDB Afternoon Bulletin | May 2nd, 2025: Ukraine Willing to Cede Territory? Trump Envoy Drops Bombshell & Israel Strikes Near Syria's Presidential Palace In Latest Warning
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It's Friday, the 2nd of May. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker. Your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right.

Let's get briefed. First up, President Trump's special envoy for Ukraine claims that Kyiv is prepared to cede territories occupied by Russia in order to secure a comprehensive ceasefire, though the reported breakthrough comes as the Trump administration signals that they'll step back from their involvement in peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.

Later in the show, Israel fires a shot across the bow at Syria's new Islamist leaders, striking near the presidential palace in Damascus on Friday after issuing a stern warning regarding sectarian attacks. But first, today's afternoon spotlight.

We'll begin with a flurry of updates regarding negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, efforts that, well, appear to be crumbling despite a breakthrough concession from leaders in Kyiv. Retired Army Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg, President Trump's special envoy for Ukraine, claimed in an interview with Fox News on Thursday that Kyiv is prepared to cede territories currently occupied by Russia, though not in an official capacity, to secure a comprehensive ceasefire.

Kellogg said a meeting held in London late last week attended by European and Ukrainian representatives resulted in 22 concrete terms that Ukraine has agreed to regarding a potential 30-day truce, one that Kellogg hopes could help pave the way for a permanent accord.

While there's no official word from Ukraine, if Kellogg's understanding is accurate, it would represent a major concession from the leaders in Kyiv, who've previously said even temporarily ceding Crimea and the four eastern Ukrainian regions currently under Russian military occupation is not an option that they'll consider.

Kellogg said, quote, they're willing to give up the land, not de jure, fancy diplomatic term, not forever, but de facto, because the Russians actually occupy that land. They've agreed to that, he said, and they told me that last week, end quote. Now, he continued, quote, they know that if they have a ceasefire in place, which means you sit on the ground that you currently hold, that's what they're willing to go to, end quote.

It's a somewhat, well, contradictory development, as last Wednesday, Ukrainian President Zelensky publicly rejected a Trump administration proposal that would grant Russia control over Crimea. That same proposal would have also permanently shut the door on Ukraine's NATO aspirations. But as we've been tracking, a lot has changed in the past week.

Tensions between Trump and Zelensky began to thaw during an encounter between the pair at the Vatican last weekend, after which Trump said he thought Zelensky was willing to unofficially cede Crimea for the time being to secure an end to hostilities.

Since then, Trump approved the sale of $50 million or more worth of weapons and other defense-related products to Ukraine, the first direct military aid granted by Trump to Kyiv since his return to the Oval Office. Also on Wednesday, Kyiv and Washington finally inked a long-anticipated economic partnership agreement that will grant the U.S. access to Ukraine's extensive mineral resources in exchange for establishing an investment fund to help rebuild the war-torn country.

Still, while Ukraine may be ready to compromise to secure peace, Russian strongman Vladimir Putin remains unmoved. Russia has rejected multiple offers from the Trump administration, including ones viewed as heavily favoring the Kremlin's interests, instead opting to stick to their maximalist demands.

Putin's position led Vice President J.D. Vance to conclude on Thursday that the war in Ukraine is, quote, not going anywhere. It's not going to end anytime soon, end quote.

It appears President Trump feels the same way and has lost his patience with the peace process entirely. State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters that late Thursday that the U.S. will be stepping back from its role as mediator in peace talks, citing frustration over Putin's stalling tactics. Bruce said, quote, We will continue to help, but we will no longer fly around the world at the drop of a hat to mediate meetings. Now it is up to the two sides."

The time has come, she said, when they must present and develop concrete ideas on how to end this conflict. It's going to be up to them, end quote. It's cute how some folks still seem to think that Putin is interested in ending his war against Ukraine. All right, coming up next, Israel takes aim at Syria's new Islamist leaders over ongoing sectarian violence. I'll be right back.

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Welcome back to the Afternoon Bulletin. As brutal sectarian violence continues to plague post-Assad Syria, leaders in Israel are stepping up their efforts to ward off further bloodshed against the war-torn country's religious minorities.

Early Friday, Israel's air force bombed an area adjacent to Syria's presidential palace in Damascus, in what leaders in Jerusalem called a clear warning to Syria's new Islamist-led government to do more to protect the Druze community from Islamic extremist violence.

there were no immediate reports of casualties. The strike was the second warning shot by Israel in Syria this week, following days of clashes between Sunni Muslim pro-government gunmen and members of the Druze community that left more than two dozen people dead, that's according to a report from the Associated Press.

The Druze are an Arab minority sect that branched out from Islam with followers in Syria, Lebanon, and Israel, including some 24,000 that live in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights near the Syrian border. In a joint statement, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said Friday's strike was a, quote, "...clear message to the Syrian regime. We will not allow Syrian forces to deploy south of Damascus or pose any threat to the Druze community."

Israel has previously stated their intention to enforce a demilitarized zone in southern Syria near the Golan Heights to protect their border from Islamist extremist groups.

Israeli leaders remain deeply mistrustful of the Sunni Islamist government that replaced the regime of Assad after his overthrow in December this past year. The interim government is led by former al-Qaeda member Ahmed al-Sharah, who, despite renouncing his past ties to terrorism and pledges to unify the war-fractured country's religious minorities, he's struggled to maintain stability.

The latest episode of sectarian bloodshed was triggered on Tuesday in the Damascus suburb of Jarrahmana after a recording allegedly insulting the Prophet Muhammad surfaced on social media, falsely attributed to a prominent Druze leader. The clip provoked anger in nearby Sunni-majority towns where armed men quickly mobilized and stormed Jarrahmana, killing at least six Druze fighters. Three Syrian Druze citizens were later evacuated to Israel for medical treatment.

More than two dozen people in towns around Damascus were killed in subsequent clashes, which began spreading further south on Thursday towards a predominantly Druze province. Druze community leaders and Syrian government officials met late Thursday to attempt to defuse tensions, and they did strike a tentative deal.

A government statement said Syria's internal security forces would deploy alongside local Druze gunmen to protect their provinces, adding that they reject "division, separation or secession."

The interim Syrian government also denounced Israel's airstrike, calling it a "dangerous escalation." As a reminder, the latest violence follows brutal clashes between Assad loyalists from the Alawite community and the new government's security forces in March, which spiraled into mass vigilante killings that left hundreds dead.

And that, my friends, is the PDB Afternoon Bulletin for Friday, the 2nd of May. Now, if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdbatthefirsttv.com. Now, as a public service announcement, remember that at 10 p.m. this evening, as with every Friday evening, a new episode of our PDB Situation Report hits the airwaves on the First TV. You can also find it

On our YouTube channel, just check out at President's Daily Brief on YouTube and all podcast platforms. We cover a lot of ground in this weekend's show with excellent guests Steve Yates from the Heritage Foundation and former senior defense official Frank Gaffney. Check it out. It's informative and insightful with just a touch of whimsy.

I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back over the weekend with the PDB Situation Report. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.