Travel, property, and local info for Ukraine

42+ min ago (434+ words) The problem is, they all want to get it ended and then all of a sudden they won't," the US president said on Monday, after a summit of European leaders attended by his envoys. US President Donald Trump said that an end to Russia's war in Ukraine is closer now than we have been ever," after a phone call with European leaders and President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday. Trump made these comments to the press in the White House's Oval Office " after phoning into the summit of European leaders in Berlin, where Zelensky spent a day of talks with his German counterpart. As per AFP, Trump told reporters that he had had a very good conversation" with the European leaders. Germany, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, and the UK were all represented at the summit." We…...

1+ hour, 7+ min ago (458+ words) US President Donald Trump has said that a deal to end Russia's war in Ukraine was closer than ever, as European leaders proposed a multinational force to enforce a potential peace agreement. "I think we're closer now than we have been ever," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, saying he had held "very long and very good talks" with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and leaders of Britain, France, Germany and NATO. The comments came as key European powers met in Berlin with Zelenskyy to advance diplomatic efforts to end the war started in 2022. Russia has yet to formally respond to the latest proposals. Europe proposal, US meetings In a joint statement, European leaders proposed a multinational force as part of what they described as US-backed "robust security guarantees" aimed at ensuring Russia does not violate a future peace accord....

1+ hour, 25+ min ago (1033+ words) In an interview with Kyiv Post, Ambassador Steven Pifer backs emerging security guarantees for Ukraine and warns against recognizing Russian land grabs. It is the diplomat's dream " and the nightmare waiting to happen. After two and a half days of intensive talks, American, Ukrainian, and European officials say they are 90 percent done on a framework to end Russia's war in Ukraine. But the remaining 10 percent is a landmine, threatening to detonate the entire effort. The dividing line is simple: Washington is offering Kyiv the strongest de facto security guarantee yet " a commitment "like Article 5, but without NATO" " but key voices are warning the West cannot afford to legitimize Russia's territorial grabs. "I think Ukraine's partners should be supportive of Ukraine's position on the occupied territories," said Steven Pifer, a former US ambassador to Ukraine, who told Kyiv Post in an…...

3+ hour, 8+ min ago (580+ words) The German chancellor said that failure to find consensus this week could "severely damage" both the EU's ability to act and its credibility on the world stage. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday that failure by the EU to progress on a planned 90 billion euro ($106 billion) loan to Ukraine backed by frozen Russian assets could "severely" damage its credibility. The reparations loan, which has been stuck in limbo for the past several weeks as the EU struggles to reach consensus, is so-named because Ukraine would not repay it unless it received financial compensation from Russia after the war. "If we do not succeed in this, then the European Union's ability to act will be severely damaged for years, if not longer, and we will show the world that we are incapable of standing together and acting at such a…...

4+ hour, 27+ min ago (928+ words) We believe that we probably solved " 90% of the issues," an official said. U.S. administration officials signaled Monday a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine may be closer than ever." U.S. officials spoke with reporters under the condition of anonymity on the robust discussions held in Berlin between U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and businessman Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the U.S.-authored peace plan. A potential peace deal brokered over the weekend between U.S. officials and European allies include NATO Article 5-like security guarantees for Ukraine backed by robust security protocols, efforts to rebuild and reconstruct Ukraine following years of war, and deterrence efforts and punishments for any further Russian incursions, according to the U.S. officials. Russia has indicated it's open to Ukraine joining the European Union, the officials added." The details were agreed to on a "working level…...

5+ hour, 4+ min ago (652+ words) The "chance of a real peace process around "the Ukraine war is now closer than "at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion began in 2022, German chancellor "Friedrich Merz said on Monday, adding that the "US had offered "considerable" security guarantees. "What "the "US "has placed on the table here in Berlin in terms of legal "and material guarantees is "really considerable," Mr Merz told "a joint news conference with Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskiy "after hours of talks with US negotiators. Earlier, the European Union's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said pressuring Ukraine to give up the "fortress" of the Donbas region in any peace agreement would leave the rest of the country vulnerable to be conquered in a future Russian attack. European leaders are desperate to avoid Washington pushing Ukraine into a shaky truce that favours Moscow and potentially undermines…...

5+ hour, 25+ min ago (623+ words) WASHINGTON DC " US officials said on Monday that negotiations aimed at ending Russia's war in Ukraine advanced significantly during two days of talks in Berlin, citing substantial agreement on security guarantees, economic reconstruction and a narrowing of disputes over territory. Speaking on a background press call, officials said the US delegation spent more than eight hours directly with President Volodymyr Zelensky and held extensive meetings with European leaders, including national security advisers and foreign ministers from Germany, the UK and France. One official described the talks as "really, really positive in almost every respect," adding that negotiators "got consensus on a number of issues that we view as critical to getting to a peace deal." US officials said the most consequential progress came on a sweeping security package for Ukraine, described repeatedly as the strongest ever proposed. "This is the…...

6+ hour, 10+ min ago (1649+ words) During her decade at Ukraine's central bank, Kateryna Rozhkova rebuilt a tarnished banking system, tamed tycoons and defied bosses, only to face fraud claims from her past. Kyiv Post tells her story. "Mission impossible," Vice-Chairman of the US Federal Reserve Stanley Fisher told Ukraine's central bank governor Valeria Hontareva in October 2014. Fisher previously served as head of Israel's central bank from 2005 to 2013, and helped "defuse financial crises for decades", as New York Times called it. Yet for Ukraine a decade ago, he had no solution. Ukraine was torn apart by Russia's annexation of Crimea, invasion of the eastern Donbas region, and a financial crisis worsened by former president Viktor Yanukovych's corrupt rule. The currency plummeted and reserves were depleting. Ukraine's newly formed armed forces needed billions the state didn't have. Most of the country's 180 banks ignored supervision, forged balance sheets…...

7+ hour, 11+ min ago (1018+ words) BERLIN'Russia has indicated it's open to Ukraine joining the European Union as part of a potential peace deal aimed at ending Russia's war on Ukraine, and there's now consensus on about 90% of the U.S.-authored peace plan, U.S. officials said Monday. The officials said that robust negotiations between President Trump's envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his team led to progress on narrowing differences on security guarantees Kyiv said must be provided to Ukraine as well as the contentious issue on Moscow's demand that Ukraine concede land in the eastern Donbas. Kushner and Witkoff are expected to meet over dinner on Monday evening with Ukrainian as well British, German and French leaders for further talks. Trump, who has been briefed twice on the Berlin talks, plans to dial in to the dinner from Washington. The negotiators…...

7+ hour, 37+ min ago (366+ words) SBU long-range drones struck a Russian Lukoil oil platform in the Caspian Sea for the third time in a week, damaging key equipment and halting production, Kyiv Post sources say. Long-range drones operated by Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) have struck Russian oil production platforms in the Caspian Sea for the third time in a week, according to Kyiv Post sources in the SBU. The latest strike targeted a platform operated by Lukoil-Nizhnevolzhskneft at the Korchagin oil and gas condensate field, the sources said. The attack damaged critical equipment, forcing production at the facility to a halt. The Korchagin oil and gas condensate field is located in Russia's sector of the Caspian Sea, roughly 180 kilometers (about 110 miles) off the coast of Russia's Astrakhan region. The operation was carried out by long-range drones belonging to the SBU's Alpha Special Operations Center, the…...