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WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump started the week declaring a diplomatic breakthrough in his bid to prod Moscow and Kyiv closer to peace, announcing he had begun arranging for direct talks between Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Four days later, the Republican president’s optimism has diminished. Russia’s top diplomat made it clear Friday that Putin won’t meet with Zelenskyy until the Ukrainians agree to some of Moscow’s longstanding demands to end the conflict. It’s a stinging setback for Trump, who had been touting his diplomatic blitz as resulting in indisputable momentum for a deal to halt...

In the last few minutes, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has given his first reaction to the announcement of a Trump-Putin meeting next week, saying Ukraine "will not give their land to occupiers". In a statement on the messaging app Telegram, Zelensky says any solutions without Ukraine will be "solutions against peace". This comes after US President Donald Trump announced a few hours ago that he will be meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday 15 August to discuss the war in Ukraine. Trump signalled that Ukraine may have to cede territory in a peace deal with Russia, telling...

-snip- According to Orbán, the fact that there is still no peace in Ukraine constitutes a serious economic disadvantage for Hungary, and he went on to explain why he thinks the situation has turned out this way. “I thought that the US president would be strong enough to get European leaders to toe the line, whether they liked it or not. And then everyone would have to dance to the same tune. But he wasn't strong enough. So I don't see the Russians or the Ukrainians being the problem, because things have always been this way with them, but rather...

The Kremlin is reportedly set to offer concessions on the Ukraine war to U.S. President Donald Trump to avoid imminent sanctions on the country. Bloomberg detailed on Tuesday that one such proposal could include an air truce. Quoting Russian officials, it added that U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff's visit to Russia this week presents a chance to reach an agreement. The official is expected to go to the country as soon as Wednesday and could potentially meet with Putin. -snip- Bloomberg noted that despite Putin's willingness to continue fighting, two-thirds of Russians favor ending the war at the current positions. A...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is under fire from the House Committee on Ethics for misrepresenting her fiancé, Riley Roberts, as both her “spouse” and “non-spouse” on official filings—allowing him to receive perks reserved exclusively for congressional spouses. Last month, the Ethics Committee’s July 2025 report revealed that Ocasio-Cortez listed Roberts as her “spouse” on travel documents related to her controversial appearance at the 2021 Met Gala, despite not being legally married to him. The same report highlighted that she failed to list him as a spouse on her required financial disclosures, which would have triggered mandatory reporting of Roberts’ financial assets....