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".

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

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

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

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.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III, at their final meeting in Germany, urge Trump to not give up on Kyiv’s fight.

In the first trading day after Ukraine ceased the flow of Russian gas and oil, benchmark natural gas prices in Europe surged 4%.

Tensions between Ukraine and Hungary over the war with Russia and the expired gas transit deal continue to increase online.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin answered a plea from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for more help to keep Russian warplanes away from its cities and borders with a $500 million package of fresh military aid.

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.