Steelers will try to hold on to first in the AFC North when Joe Flacco and Bengals visit

Cincinnati (3-6) at Pittsburgh (5-4)

Sunday, 1 p.m. EST, CBS.

BetMGM NFL Odds: Steelers by 5 1/2.

Against the spread: Bengals 3-6; Steelers 4-5.

Series record: Steelers lead 71-41.

Last meeting: Bengals beat Steelers 33-31 on Oct. 16, 2025, in Cincinnati.

Last week: Bengals were off; Steelers lost to Chargers 25-10.

Bengals offense: overall (22), rush (32), pass (13), scoring (13).

Bengals defense: overall (32), rush (32), pass (30), scoring (32).

Steelers offense: overall (29), rush (30), pass (23), scoring (16).

Steelers defense: overall (28), rush (14), pass (32), scoring (20).

Turnover differential: Bengals minus-5; Steelers plus-6.

QB Joe Flacco. Expected to make his 200th career start, Flacco is averaging a league-high 313.5 passing yards over his four starts since being traded from Cleveland to Cincinnati on Oct. 7. The 18-year veteran passed for 342 yards and three touchdowns in the Bengals' 33-31 come-from-behind victory on Oct. 16. He has 30 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and an 86.7 passer rating in 23 regular-season games against the Steelers.

QB Aaron Rodgers. The oldest active player in the NFL looked his age (41) for the first time all season last week against the Chargers, when he completed just 16 of 31 passes for 161 yards with a touchdown and two picks, one of which wasn't his fault. The four-time MVP has rarely put up back-to-back clunkers during his Hall of Fame career and facing the NFL's worst defense might be just what he needs. Rodgers passed for 249 yards and four scores in Pittsburgh's first meeting with the Bengals.

Pittsburgh DBs Joey Porter Jr., James Pierre and Brandin Echols against Cincinnati WRs Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. Chase lit the Steelers up for a franchise-record 16 receptions in the first meeting, and Pittsburgh's secondary hasn't exactly distinguished itself in the interim, though it was a bit better in last week's loss to the Chargers. If the Steelers want to avoid a repeat of what happened in Cincinnati, the cornerbacks need to be more competitive against arguably the best wide receiver tandem in the league.

Bengals: Flacco is expected to play despite dealing with a sprained AC joint in his right throwing shoulder. ... QB Joe Burrow (left big toe) has opened his 21-day window to return, but has already been ruled out. ... DE Trey Hendrickson (hip) is likely to miss his second straight game and third in the last four. ... RB Samaje Perine (ankle) and DE Shemar Stewart (knee) are also likely to be inactive.

Steelers: OLB Alex Highsmith (pectoral) is out. This will be the third game Highsmith has missed with injury this season. ... CB Darius Slay (concussion) is out. There's a chance veteran CB Asante Samuel Jr., signed to the practice squad this week, could play. ... LG Isaac Seumalo (pectoral) is questionable after sitting out the Chargers game. ... S Jabrill Peppers (quadriceps) will be available . ... WR Scotty Miller (finger) is available after recovering from thumb surgery.

Cincinnati has won five of the last nine meetings after the Steelers ripped off an 11-game winning streak between 2015-20. ... Pittsburgh is 36-19 all-time against the Bengals at home. ... Rodgers' four touchdown passes against Cincinnati last month tied Ben Roethlisberger's franchise record for most scoring tosses in a single game vs. the Bengals, set in 2020. ... Pittsburgh's 31 points against Cincinnati in October marked the first time since 2005 that the Steelers had topped 30 points when facing the Bengals and lost.

The Bengals have lost two straight since beating Pittsburgh on Oct. 16, but could tighten up the AFC North by sweeping Pittsburgh. ... The Steelers have dropped three of four to see their once comfortable AFC North lead trimmed to one game over surging Baltimore. ... Flacco passed for a career-high 470 yards and four touchdowns on Nov. 2 against Chicago and became the oldest player in NFL history with at least 450 yards and four touchdowns in a game. ... RB Chase Brown has at least 100 scrimmage yards in his last three games. ... Chase leads the league in receptions (76) and is second in yards receiving (831). He had a franchise-record 16 catches in the first meeting. Chase has 44 receptions in the last four games. He has 6,256 yards receiving in his first five seasons and needs 91 to surpass Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerry Rice (6,346 yards receiving) for the fourth most by a player in their first five seasons in NFL history. ... WR Tee Higgins had a season-high 121 yards receiving and two touchdowns in Week 9. ... Cincinnati has allowed five 100-yard rushers, including three in the last three games. ... LB Barrett Carter is fifth among rookies in tackles with 54. ... CB DJ Turner leads the league with 14 pass deflections. ... WR Charlie Jones has two kickoff returns for touchdowns since the start of last season. ... Cincinnati set a team single-game record with 297 kick return yards against Chicago. ... Pittsburgh is 15-6 under Mike Tomlin in games following a loss of at least 15 points, though one of those setbacks came against Cincinnati last December, a week after getting blown out by Kansas City. ... Rodgers' 18 touchdown passes are the sixth-most through nine games in Steelers franchise history. Roethlisberger holds the first five spots, though Rodgers is on pace to threaten Roethlisberger's single-season touchdown pass record of 34 set in 2018. ... Rodgers' 36 career games with at least four touchdown passes are third in NFL history behind Drew Brees (37) and Tom Brady (39). ... The Steelers have failed to top 300 yards in six of nine games this season, but racked up a season-high 396 yards in the first meeting with Cincinnati. ... Pittsburgh RB Jaylen Warren had a career-best 158 yards from scrimmage in that game. Warren is averaging 5.0 yards per touch over Pittsburgh's last seven games but has not been getting a heavy workload. Warren hasn't had more than 20 touches since September. ... Steelers OLB Alex Highsmith has four sacks, a forced fumble and swatted down a pass over the last two games. Pittsburgh needs to put some pressure on Flacco, who was sacked just twice in 49 dropbacks in the first meeting. ... Steelers K Chris Boswell has been nearly automatic against the Bengals throughout his career, converting 46 of 49 field goals and all 42 extra point attempts vs. Cincinnati in 19 meetings.

While Chase will be hard-pressed to replicate his record-setting performance against Pittsburgh last month, expect him to be targeted early and often by Flacco until the NFL's worst pass defense shows it can stop him.

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Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jaylen Warren (30) is grabbed by Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Cam Hart (20) during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase (1) tries to catch a pass under pressure from Chicago Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson (29) during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Flacco (16) speaks after his team's loss to the Chicago Bears in an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)

Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Ladd McConkey (15) is taken down by Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback James Pierre (42) and cornerback Jalen Ramsey (5) during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Jessie Alcheh)

Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Bud Dupree (48) tackles Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

BERLIN (AP) — Russia has indicated it's open to Ukraine joining the European Union as part of a potential peace deal to end the war, U.S. officials said Monday.

The officials who briefed reporters after U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as well as British, French and German officials in Berlin over the last two days said that such an offer would be a major concession by Moscow. But Russia has previously said it does not object to Ukraine joining the EU.

The U.S. officials, who were not authorized to comment publicly by the White House and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that the U.S. has also agreed to provide unspecified security guarantees to Kyiv as part of the deal but that such an offer won’t be on the table “forever.”

The latest round of talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. envoys ended Monday as Kyiv faces Washington’s pressure to swiftly accept a U.S.-brokered peace deal while confronting an increasingly assertive Moscow.

Ukraine's lead negotiator, Rustem Umerov, said on social media that “real progress” had been achieved at the talks in Berlin with President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner as well as European officials. The talks lasted roughly 90 minutes, after a five-hour session Sunday.

The U.S. government said in a social media post on Witkoff’s account after Sunday's meeting that “a lot of progress was made.”

The search for possible compromises has run into major obstacles, including control of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, which is mostly occupied by Russian forces.

Zelenskyy has expressed readiness to drop Ukraine’s bid to join the NATO military alliance if the U.S. and other Western nations give Kyiv security guarantees similar to those offered to NATO members. But Ukraine’s preference remains NATO membership as the best security guarantee to prevent further Russian aggression however this option doesn’t currently have full backing from all allies.

Still, Ukraine has continued to reject the U.S. push for ceding territory to Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin wants Ukraine to withdraw its forces from the part of Donetsk region still under its control as one of the key conditions for peace.

Zelenskyy’s itinerary on Monday also included meetings with German and other European leaders. French President Emmanuel Macron’s office confirmed he would travel to Berlin later Monday.

“The issue of security in particular will ultimately determine whether this war actually comes to a standstill and whether it flares up again,” a spokesperson for German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Stefan Kornelius, told reporters.

The Russian president has cast Ukraine’s bid to join NATO as a major threat to Moscow’s security and a reason for launching the full-scale invasion in February 2022. The Kremlin has demanded that Ukraine renounce the bid for alliance membership as part of any prospective peace settlement.

Zelenskyy emphasized that any Western security assurances would need to be legally binding and supported by the U.S. Congress.

The Kremlin said Monday it expected to be updated on the Berlin talks by the U.S. side.

Asked whether the negotiations could be over by Christmas, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said trying to predict a potential time frame for a peace deal was a “thankless task.”

“I can only speak for the Russian side, for President Putin,” Peskov said. “He is open to peace, to a serious peace and serious decisions. He is absolutely not open to any tricks aimed at stalling for time.”

Putin has denied plans to attack any European allies.

In London, meanwhile, the new head of the MI6 spy agency was set to warn on Monday how Putin’s determination to export chaos around the world is rewriting the rules of conflict and creating new security challenges.

Blaise Metreweli was using her first public speech as chief of the United Kingdom’s foreign intelligence service to say that Britain faces increasingly unpredictable and interconnected threats, with emphasis on “aggressive, expansionist” Russia.

Russia fired 153 drones of various types at Ukraine overnight Sunday into Monday, according to Ukraine’s Air Force, which said 133 drones were neutralized, while 17 more hit their targets.

In Russia, the Defense Ministry on Monday said forces destroyed 130 Ukrainian drones overnight. An additional 16 drones were destroyed between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. local time.

Eighteen drones were shot down over Moscow itself, the defense ministry said. Flights were temporarily halted at the city’s Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports as part of safety measures, officials said.

Damage details and casualty figures were not immediately available.

Madhani contributed from Washington. Pietro De Cristofaro in Berlin, Illia Novikov in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England, contributed to this report.

Follow the AP’s coverage of Russia's war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy smiles during a visit of the German federal parliament, Bundestag, in the Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (Christoph Soeder/dpa via AP)

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, center right, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center left, President of Ukraine, leave the Bellevue Palace in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (Kay Nietfeld/dpa/dpa via AP)

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier welcomes Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Bellevue Palace in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Maryam Majd)

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrives at the Bellevue Palace for talks with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Steve Witkoff, Special Envoy of the United States, center, exits from the American Embassy in Berlin, Monday Dec. 15, 2025. (Fabian Sommer/dpa via AP)

Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, exits from the American Embassy in Berlin, Monday Dec. 15, 2025. (Fabian Sommer/dpa via AP)

Steve Witkoff, special envoy of the United States, leaves through a hotel garage for talks between representatives of the U.S. and Ukraine in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz,stands in his office in the chancellory in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Maryam Majd)

Steve Witkoff, special envoy of the United States, arrives for talks between representatives of the U.S. and Ukraine, at the Hotel Adlon, in Berlin, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (Kay Nietfeld/dpa via AP)

Jared Kushner, entrepreneur and former chief adviser to President Donald Trump, arrives for talks between representatives of the U.S. and Ukraine at the Hotel Adlon, in Berlin, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (Kay Nietfeld/dpa via AP)

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, right, watches Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arriving at the chancellory in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Maryam Majd)