The Trump administration is preparing to release a Russian cybercriminal as part of a prisoner exchange that led to the release of an American schoolteacher from a Russian prison, three U.S. officials said on Wednesday. Officials were preparing to release Alexander Vinnik, who pleaded guilty to money laundering in 2024, to Russia as part of … Read more
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent became the first senior Trump administration official to visit Ukraine, arriving on Wednesday for talks on an agreement that would trade access to Ukrainian natural resources for continued military support. Mr. Bessent’s trip comes amid anxiety in Kyiv and among American allies about whether U.S. support for the Ukrainian war effort … Read more
A return to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is “an unrealistic objective” and an “illusionary goal” in the peace settlement between Ukraine and Russia that President Trump wants to accomplish, Pete Hegseth, the U.S. defense secretary, said on Wednesday at a meeting of countries supporting Ukraine. In his first meeting that included NATO and Ukrainian defense ministers, … Read more
President Trump said on Wednesday that he had a “lengthy and highly productive phone call” with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, characterizing it as the beginning of a negotiation to end the war in Ukraine. It was the first confirmed conversation between the two men during Mr. Trump’s second term, coming as Mr. Trump … Read more
An effort by the head of Austria’s Freedom Party to form a coalition government collapsed on Wednesday, ending, for now, his chances of leading the country’s first far-right national government since World War II. The Freedom Party’s leader, Herbert Kickl, and the conservative Austrian People’s Party failed to reach an agreement on forming a coalition, … Read more
Belarus, Russia’s closest ally, has released an American prisoner and two others from jail, an exiled opposition group said on Wednesday, in the latest sign that the autocratic Belarusian president, Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, was looking for ways to improve frozen relations with the West. The releases, announced by an opposition group led by Svetlana Tikhanovskaya … Read more
For years, officials in the Czech Republic had pushed a dam project to protect a river south of Prague, and the critically endangered species living in it. But the project, hamstrung by land negotiations, stalled. In the meantime, a group of chisel-toothed mammals — renowned for their engineering skills and work ethic, and unencumbered by … Read more
When Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced last month that lifesaving humanitarian work would be exempt from a freeze on foreign aid, global health workers breathed a collective sigh of relief. But a new directive has put such exemptions on hold. Several senior employees at the U.S.A.I.D. Bureau of Global Health received an email Tuesday … Read more
Trump and Putin held a call on peace in Ukraine President Trump said that he had a “lengthy and highly productive phone call” with President Vladimir Putin of Russia, which he characterized as the beginning of a negotiation to end the war in Ukraine. Afterward, Trump said he had spoken with President Volodymyr Zelensky of … Read more
The British economy eked out growth at the end of last year, data published on Thursday showed, slightly easing the pressure on the government as it tries to quicken the pace of economic growth. Gross domestic product increased 0.1 percent in the last three months of 2024, following zero growth in the previous quarter. Most … Read more