The announcement was made ahead of an expected prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia on Friday – an outcome of last week’s face-to-face talks in Turkey, the first time the two countries have held direct talks at any level in three years.

President Trump has said the U.S. could step away from Russia-Ukraine peace talks if they prove futile. VP Vance took it a step further by saying the U.S. is totally open to doing so.

It follows Donald Trump saying Russia and Ukraine will "immediately" start negotiating, after a two-hour phone call with Vladimir Putin.

Gold prices eased on Tuesday, as a slightly firmer dollar and optimism over a potential ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine dampened investor demand for safe-haven assets.

Russia has battered Ukraine overnight with its largest drone attack since the war began, Ukraine’s military said Sunday, as Moscow intensified its military assault despite holding direct peace talks with Kyiv Friday.

Ukrainian officials and analysts say Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has few options but to draw U.S. President Donald Trump’s ire against Vladimir Putin, while depending on Europe’s support

European leaders are viewed as “quietly sabotaging” President Donald Trump’s efforts to negotiate a compromise end to the war in Ukraine. -While Trump’s approach is transactional and realist, focused on stopping the killing by recognizing Ukraine’s limited leverage and Russia’s need for a sellable “victory,

Ukraine will appeal to the European Union next week to adopt new large-scale measures to isolate Russia, including the seizure of assets, the imposition of secondary sanctions against buyers of Russian oil and changes to the voting procedure for sanctions.