Ukraine War

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he is ready to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin "personally" in Istanbul on Thursday for talks over ending the war.

His post on X came shortly after Donald Trump demanded Ukraine agree to Putin's offer of direct talks between the two countries in Turkey.

"There is no point in prolonging the killings. And I will be waiting for Putin in Türkiye on Thursday. Personally," Zelensky wrote.

He had earlier said his country was open to talks with Russia but only after a ceasefire was in place...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he is ready to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin "personally" in Istanbul on Thursday for talks over ending the war.

His post on X came shortly after Donald Trump demanded Ukraine agree to Putin's offer of direct talks between the two countries in Turkey.

"There is no point in prolonging the killings. And I will be waiting for Putin in Türkiye on Thursday. Personally," Zelensky wrote.

Friedrich Merz says Russian President Vladimir Putin's proposal for direct peace talks with Kyiv is insufficient. The German chancellor says a ceasefire with Ukraine should come first. 

Efforts towards securing an agreed ceasefire in Ukraine are moving in the right direction, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said on Friday, shortly after speaking with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and U.S. President Donald Trump.

Finland's Stubb was speaking after holding two conversations in the last 24 hours with Zelenskiy and one with Trump, as fighting continued on the ground.

For many months, President Biden has been rallying global leaders to provide more military aid to Ukraine and pressing Congress to pass a multibillion-dollar aid package to help the country beat back Russian aggression. Former President Donald J. Trump has been undermining that effort, pressing Republicans to thwart it.

But on Wednesday, Mr. Trump tried to flip the script, suggesting that he would do more to protect Ukraine than Mr. Biden, who he said would effectively cede Ukraine as a gift to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia...

Representatives from the United States and Ukraine say they signed a long-awaited deal that will create a joint fund to assist in Ukraine’s reconstruction and reportedly allow the U.S. some access to Ukraine’s minerals, after months of negotiations.

The United States and Ukraine have signed an “economic partnership agreement” that will give Washington access to Kyiv’s rare earth minerals in exchange for establishing an investment fund in Ukraine.

The US and Ukraine have been trying to hammer out the natural resources agreement since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January.

The deal comes after weeks of intense negotiations that at times turned bitter and temporarily derailed Washington’s aid to Ukraine.

Ukraine has signed a deal with the United States, giving the U.S. access to Ukraine's rare minerals as it continues to work with the Trump administration in an effort to end its three-year war with Russia. 

Ukrainian Economy Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko flew to Washington, D.C., Wednesday to help finalize the deal. 

Ukraine is ready to sign an agreement that would give the U.S. access to its valuable rare minerals in the hopes of ensuring continued American support for Kyiv in its grinding war with Russia, senior Ukrainian officials said Wednesday.

Ukraine’s economy minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, was in Washington on Wednesday to help sew up technical aspects of the deal, according to two senior Ukrainian officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly.