President Trump’s recent commitment to provide more aid to Ukraine could increase pressure on Russia to negotiate an end to the war.

U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to ramp up arms shipments to Ukraine is a signal to Kyiv to abandon peace efforts, Russia said on Thursday, vowing it would not accept the "blackmail" of Washington's new sanctions ultimatum.

For a fleeting moment, Ukraine’s conflict may have come full circle. In the past 48 hours, US President Donald Trump has perhaps said his most forcefully direct words yet on arming Ukraine. And in the same period,

President Trump threatens Putin with 100% tariffs if no Ukraine peace deal is reached within 50 days, while confirming arms sales to NATO to support Ukrainian resistance.

After years of lavishing praise on the Russian leader, President Trump abruptly changed his posture amid mounting frustration with the lack of progress on a cease-fire.

The change in Trump’s approach may also mean that the $US8 billion (£6 billion) of frozen Russian assets in the US (and US$223 billion in Europe) could be released to aid Ukraine, which would provide a ready means to pay for the US arms transfers.

Ukraine will get its first new prime minister of the war on Thursday, as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy tries to wrestle wartime defence spending into shape and win over both Donald Trump and a war-weary public with fresh-faced leadership.

As President Donald Trump hardens his position toward Moscow and seeks new ways to bring its war in Ukraine to an end, he says he isn’t looking to deliver Kyiv longer-range missiles that could strike targets deeper into Russia.