The White House seized a rare chance to undermine Russia and build up regional allies as it built a coalition to support the Ukrainians.

Ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s return to office, Ukraine’s future course is shrouded in uncertainty as Kyiv loses ground to Russia’s far larger military.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, one of the European leaders closest to Donald Trump, said on Thursday she believed the U.S. president-elect would defend Western interests once he took office and would not abandon Ukraine.

If Ukraine falls, it will be hard to spin as anything but a debacle for the United States, and for its president.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday said Donald Trump's return to the White House would open "a new chapter" and reiterated a call for Western allies to send troops to help "force Russia to peace".

Top European Union diplomat Kaja Kallas said Thursday the EU would be ready to take the lead on supporting Ukraine if the United States was no longer willing.

Ukraine's Western allies will gather with President Volodymyr Zelensky at a US base in Germany on Thursday in their last such meeting before Donald Trump returns to the White House in less than two weeks.

The disgraced former FBI informant who falsely accused President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden of taking a $10 million bribe from Ukraine was sentenced Wednesday to six years in federal prison, according to court records.

The United States warned on Wednesday that North Korea is benefiting from its troops fighting alongside Russia against Ukraine, gaining experience that makes Pyongyang "more capable of waging war against its neighbors.

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Jan 9 said Donald Trump’s return to the White House would open “a new chapter” and reiterated a call for Western allies to send troops to help “force Russia to peace”.

The Biden administration announced Thursday what could be the last tranche of military aid it will send to Ukraine, valued at about $500 million. This aid package came less than two weeks before the administration will end and the second Trump administration will begin.