President Biden welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron to the White House Thursday evening for the first state dinner of Biden’s presidency. The formal state visit came after Macron met Biden in the Oval Office, where they discussed trade policy and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In a joint press conference after their meeting, President Macron said he planned to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the coming days. Biden said he would be ready to meet with Putin, but only if certain conditions were met.

President Joe Biden: “Bombing nurseries, hospitals, children’s homes — it’s sick, what he’s doing. But the fact of the matter is, I have no immediate plans to contact Mr. Putin. … I’m prepared to speak with Mr. Putin if in fact there is an interest in him deciding he’s looking for a way to end the war. He hasn’t done that yet.”

This comes as the Pentagon considers plans to send long-range missiles to Ukraine, including a proposal from Boeing to supply ground-launched small diameter bombs. Meanwhile, The Intercept reports the Biden administration is considering giving Kyiv one of the premier U.S. weapons of the war on terror: the Gray Eagle drone, the successor to the widely used Predator.