September 10, 2026 12:46 AM

Russia says it hopes US-mediated talks with Ukraine will resume soon

Russia hopes that U.S.-mediated peace talks on ending the war in Ukraine will resume soon, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday. No such talks between Russia and Ukraine have taken place since February, but President Donald Trump sent his negotiators to Moscow and then Kyiv at the weekend in a bid to relaunch the stalled process. Peskov was responding to a comment by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio that it may be possible to draw up a roadmap to restart talks and work towards ...

September 9, 2026 12:22 AM

Trump told Putin he wants swift end to Ukraine war and US-Russia ties restored, Kremlin says

Donald Trump told Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone on Tuesday that he wanted a swift end to the war in Ukraine, which would allow U.S.-Russia ties to be fully restored, the Kremlin said, adding that Putin had supported the U.S. president's view. The call, which the Kremlin said lasted an hour, followed a weekend visit to Moscow and Kyiv by U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who are trying to revive stalled talks designed to find a way to end the fighting. Their weekend diplo...

September 7, 2026 10:59 PM

UK’s Burnham, Trump discuss working towards Ukraine-Russia ceasefire, Downing Street says

Britain's Prime Minister Andy Burnham spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday, with the two leaders agreeing on "the need to continue working towards a ceasefire" to end Russia's war in Ukraine, Downing Street said. "The Prime Minister reiterated the UK's support for Ukraine and for recent U.S.-led peace negotiations," a Downing Street spokesperson said. Burnham and Trump also discussed the Middle East, with Burnham "stressing the importance of the two-state solution, the reopening of...

June 18, 2026 1:35 PM

The Lebanese Question After the US-Iran Ceasefire: What Next for Israel, Hezbollah, and Lebanon?

The United States-Iran memorandum of understanding that ended nearly four months of direct military conflict has the potential to reshape the strategic landscape of West Asia. While initial global attention focused on the immediate implications for Washington and Tehran, one of the most consequential developments concerns Lebanon. With the MoU explicitly demanding a permanent termination of hostilities on all fronts including Lebanon ,the future of Hezbollah, Israel's security calculations, and ...

May 7, 2026 9:32 AM

Zelenskiy accuses Russia of spurning ceasefire proposed by Kyiv

Ukraine accused Russia of flouting a Kyiv-proposed ceasefire on Wednesday by carrying out dozens of battlefield assaults, air strikes and drone attacks in what President Volodymyr Zelenskiy described as Moscow's "obvious spurning" of peace. Zelenskiy had floated the cessation, starting on May 6, in response to Russian leader Vladimir Putin's own proposed ceasefire from May 8 to 9 to coincide with its World War Two victory commemorations. In a statement, Zelenskiy said Russia - which did not co...

May 3, 2026 11:15 PM

Trump says US could restart Iran strikes ‘if they misbehave’

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday he had been told about the concept of a deal with Iran, but was waiting for the exact wording, while warning there was still the possibility of restarting strikes on the country if Tehran misbehaves. A senior Iranian official said on Saturday that an Iranian proposal so far rejected by Trump would open shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and end the U.S. blockade of Iran while leaving talks on Iran's nuclear program for later. When asked about Iran's p...

April 26, 2026 4:12 PM

US-Iran peace hopes fade as Trump scraps talks

Hopes of a diplomatic breakthrough in the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran faded on Sunday, as efforts to revive talks stalled and both Tehran and Washington showed little sign of softening their positions. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi flew back to the Middle East from mediation talks in Pakistan over the weekend, while U.S. President Donald Trump scrapped a planned visit to Islamabad by his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Although a ceasefire has paused full‑scale fighting in th...

April 24, 2026 9:33 AM

Lebanon-Israel ceasefire extended by three weeks after Oval Office meeting

Lebanon and Israel extended their ceasefire for three weeks after a high-level meeting at the White House, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday. Trump hosted Israel's ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter and Lebanese ambassador to the U.S. Nada Moawad in the Oval Office for a second round of U.S.-facilitated talks, a day after Israeli strikes killed at least five people including a journalist. "The Meeting went very well! The United States is going to work with Lebanon in order to h...

April 22, 2026 5:51 PM

Lebanon hopes for extension of ceasefire at Washington meeting

Lebanese and Israeli envoys will meet for the second time in two weeks in Washington on Thursday, building on nascent contacts between the states, with Lebanon hoping for the extension of a shaky ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel. The 10-day, U.S.-mediated ceasefire is set to expire on Sunday. Underlining its fragility, Iran-backed Hezbollah said on Tuesday it had fired rockets at northern Israel in response to Israeli violations, while Israel also accused the group of breaches. Hostiliti...

April 16, 2026 8:38 PM

US military: ‘locked and loaded’ to strike Iran’s power plants, energy industry if ordered

The U.S. naval blockade of Iran is just an example of "polite" behavior during the ongoing ceasefire and U.S. forces are ready to strike Iran's power plants and energy industry if ordered, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said on Thursday. Standing alongside two of the U.S. military's most senior officers, Hegseth said Iran needs to choose wisely as it prepares for negotiations with the United States. "We are reloading with more power than ever before, and better intelligence," Hegseth said at a Pe...