President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Friday he’s discussing a potential free-trade agreement with the US as part of a broader prosperity package aimed at propelling the country’s recovery after the war.

Kyiv’s mayor made an unprecedented call to residents to seek temporary refuge outside the Ukrainian capital after a Russian aerial barrage triggered widespread shortages amid frigid temperatures.

Russia carried out a strike near Ukraine’s western border with an intermediate-range ballistic missile known as Oreshnik, sending a threatening signal to Kyiv’s allies amid a widespread air attack that targeted energy infrastructure and damaged apartment buildings.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his team will move on to discuss the “most difficult issues” with Donald Trump’s envoys after negotiators secured a breakthrough on security guarantees for Kyiv.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy proposed a trusted ally and technology booster to serve as Ukraine’s defense minister, saying his task will be to strengthen wartime drone capabilities.

European leaders held a call to discuss Ukraine after Russia said it would revise its negotiating position, claiming Ukrainian drones targeted a residence of President Vladimir Putin.

Russian forces hit Ukraine’s capital and key energy facilities with a massive airstrike on the eve of talks between Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Donald Trump aimed at nailing down a plan to end Moscow’s war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will meet with US President Donald Trump on Sunday in pursuit of a deal to end Russia’s nearly four-year invasion, though the latest comments from Moscow raise doubts about how close a final agreement really is.

US negotiators offered more significant security guarantees to Kyiv as part of President Donald Trump’s renewed push to end the Russia-Ukraine war, but the effort still appeared part of a bid to pressure President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on territory.

Ukraine said its naval drones damaged a Russian submarine in the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, in a special operation it claimed was the first such attack.

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko ordered the release of 123 political prisoners, pushing high-profile opponents into exile hours after a US envoy announced that Washington will lift sanctions on the country’s potash industry.

The US will remove sanctions on Belarusian potash fertilizers, the key source of foreign-currency revenue for the Russia-aligned nation before Western restrictions stifled their flow.

A coalition of Ukraine’s allies will discuss a bid to move swiftly on US President Donald Trump’s peace proposal on Thursday as Kyiv’s forces carried out their first-ever attack on Russian Caspian Sea oil production.

Ukrainian negotiators will join a new round of talks in Florida as Russian President Vladimir Putin said some of the points in a US-backed peace plan were unacceptable to him, the latest sign an agreement likely remains distant.

Hungary said oil flows from Russia via the key Druzhba oil pipeline continued after it came under attack by Ukraine.

Ukraine’s parliament has passed the 2026 state budget, a key step toward securing a new loan from the International Monetary Fund.

The European Union’s top diplomat expressed concern that US attempts to push Ukraine into a lopsided peace plan would only encourage Russia’s warmongering as Kyiv’s allies brace themselves for a week of talks to end Moscow’s invasion.

The resignation of Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s chief of staff leaves the Ukrainian president deprived of his most important adviser at a critical moment in the fight against the Russian invasion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s powerful chief of staff resigned after becoming ensnared in a corruption investigation.

Ukraine plans to hold high-ranking talks in Switzerland with US officials on the potential parameters for a peace agreement with Russia, according to a senior Ukrainian official.