Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that he had agreed to hold a meeting with US president Donald Trump in the near future, as diplomatic efforts intensify to bring an end to Ukraine’s war with Russia. “A lot can be decided before the New Year,” Zelensky wrote on social media platform X.

Pope Leo XIV delivers Christmas message calling for peace in Middle East and Ukraine, urging world leaders to reject violence and embrace dialogue.

Pope Leo has urged Ukraine and Russia to find the "courage" to hold direct talks to end the war during his first Christmas remarks to crowds in St Peter's square.

The blueprint covers a broad range of issues, including territory, security guarantees and postwar reconstruction. But Russia has indicated little willingness to end the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signaled new willingness to make concessions on several key negotiating points that have threatened to stall a nascent peace process with Moscow, effectively putting the ball in Russia’s court.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has presented a draft agreement to end the war in Ukraine, after negotiations with US. It is now being reviewed by the Kremlin. The document includes security guarantees for Ukraine from the US,

Follow live updates from NBC News as Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at his annual year-end news conference on Ukraine, peace, war and Trump.

In his first Christmas homily, Pope Leo lamented conditions for Palestinians in Gaza and urged Ukraine and Russia to engage in direct talks to end their wr.

Strikes on four vessels signal that Kyiv is willing to expand the maritime theater of the conflict in an effort to crimp Moscow’s military funding.

David Silbey, associate professor, Cornell University said the Ukraine conflict in 2025 showed: “The static warfare of the First World War all over again. In that war, any visible movement was punished by a hail of machine gun and artillery fire, here it’s drones.