Welcome to the digital edition of From the Politics Desk, a newsletter that presents the freshest insights and reporting from NBC News Politics on the White House, Capitol Hill, and the campaign landscape.

In this installment, Kristen Welker shares insights from her interviews today with Vice President JD Vance and prominent figures from Russia and Ukraine. Additionally, I explore how Democrats encounter a built-in disadvantage in the ongoing national redistricting battle, answering a reader’s question from this week.

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— am Wollner

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Where the Russia-Ukraine peace talks go from here

By Kristen Welker

In a Friday brimming with significant news, I had exclusive discussions with Vice President JD Vance, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and Ukraine’s first deputy foreign minister, Sergiy Kyslytsya.

Through it all, one thing struck me: how very far away from each other Vance and Lavrov seemed on talks to end the war in Ukraine.

In my early conversation with Lavrov, Russia’s chief diplomat emphasized that the timing isn’t right yet for a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He argued that Ukraine, not Russia, is hindering peace deal progress, often criticizing Zelenskyy for focusing on theatrics rather than substance.

“How can we meet with a person who is pretending to be a leader?” Lavrov said of Zelenskyy.

Kyslytsya took a slightly balanced stance. He admired the Trump administration’s efforts to bring the two nations to negotiations, dismissing some of Moscow’s heated statements. However, he accused Russia of attempting to manipulate the U.S. and noted there are “no indications that Putin is willing to engage in meaningful talks.”

Addressing a pivotal issue—the territorial discussion—Kyslytsya mentioned that Ukraine’s population is “staunchly against swapping land for peace” and stated, “when we discussed territorial matters, President Zelenskyy was clear he’s open to dialogue with President Putin on the topic, with the current contact line as the starting point for these talks.”

Vance sported the most optimistic tone of the three leaders.

Even as he conceded that negotiations can be a roller coaster, Vance praised both Russia and Ukraine for making significant concessions. He framed America’s role as one of a mediator, not trying to force one side to take terms they can’t stomach but one that tries to keep the door open to good-faith negotiating. And he framed the administration’s negotiating posture as persistent, willing to press on even if they hit a brick wall.

I hope you’ll join me Sunday morning on “Meet the Press” to watch more from our interviews with Vance and Lavrov.

More from the Vance interview: The VP confirmed the administration is “in the very early stages of an ongoing investigation” into former national security adviser John Bolton, whose house was searched this morning by the FBI. But Vance denied that the investigation was retribution for Bolton’s criticism of Trump. Read more →

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✉️ Mailbag: Democrats’ redistricting disadvantage

Thanks to everyone who emailed us! This week’s question is on the national redistricting battle:

“My question is if all the red states and all the blue states follow the redistricting solution, which party comes out on top? Just how many seats would be up for grabs?”

Republicans have a clear advantage in the redistricting arms race simply because there are more states where they have full power. And in the vast majority of those states, lawmakers are in charge of drawing the maps, furthering the GOP’s edge.

In total, Republicans have a trifecta — meaning they control the governor’s office and the Legislature — in 23 states, compared to 15 for Democrats, according to Ballotpedia.

In 18 of the 23 GOP-led states, the state Legislature has at least some role, if not a leading one, in drafting congressional boundaries. And across those 18 states, there are 44 districts represented by Democrats for Republicans to theoretically go after. As for the other five states, Republicans already have full control of their congressional delegations. Three are small states with single at-large districts, and two have independent commissions that draw their lines.

Included in the group of 18 are the states Republicans are currently targeting in their mid-decade redistricting effort: Texas (13 Democratic-held seats), Florida (8), Indiana (2), and Missouri (2). Also included is Ohio (5), where lawmakers are required by law to draw new maps since the last version was passed without bipartisan support.

As for the Democrats, they have far fewer targets as they scramble to counter the GOP’s push ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

In the 15 Democratic-controlled states, the Legislature is involved in drawing congressional maps in nine of them. Five of them have independent or political commissions that handle the lines, while the sixth, Delaware, has just one district.

Of the group of nine, Democrats have full control of the congressional delegation in five of them (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Mexico and Rhode Island). And in two of them (Maryland and Oregon) Republicans hold just one seat in each.

That leaves Illinois and New York. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has left the door open to redrawing the state’s map, but Democrats already represent 14 of 17 districts.

And in New York, where Republicans represent seven districts, the process comes with significant caveats. An independent commission initially draws the maps, which lawmakers can make changes to with supermajority support. Democratic legislators introduced a bill that would allow them to get around the commission and the state constitutional requirement that the maps only be drawn every 10 years. But it would need to pass through two consecutive legislative sessions and be approved by voters, meaning a new map wouldn’t go into effect until the 2028 election at the earliest.

This all explains why Democrats have turned their focus to California, where Republicans hold nine seats but an independent commission typically controls the redistricting process. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation Thursday setting up a special election this fall in which voters will be asked to approve a new congressional map that could net Democrats five more seats, potentially offsetting the GOP’s moves in Texas.

— am Wollner

Latest from Texas: Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett, the longest-serving member of the Texas congressional delegation, announced that he will retire if the state’s new map isn’t rejected in court after Republicans carved up his district. Read more →

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That’s all From the Politics Desk for now. Today’s newsletter was compiled by am Wollner.

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