After days of speeches and private meetings in Munich, many officials said they were more confused than before they had arrived. Statements made by the U.S. defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, in his first effort at international diplomacy ran counter to statements made by Vice President JD Vance, also on his first international venture since his inauguration.

And European officials said they had tried, unsuccessfully, to extract from Mr. Trump’s national security team any plan for making sure that Mr. Putin did not simply use a cease-fire to rebuild his decimated military and, in a few years, return to take the rest of Ukraine.

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