Apart from disagreements about peace efforts in Ukraine, Witkoff has been at loggerheads with Rubio and State Department officials about the way he handles security.

President Volodymyr Zelensky famously won the debut season of Ukraine’s “Tantsi z zirkamy” dance competition in 2006, back when he was still an actor.

The Ukraine “peace trade” delivered stellar returns in markets in 2025, lifting assets that theoretically stand to benefit from an end to the war. Polish bank stocks, the Czech koruna and Ukrainian debt are among those to have rallied to close out the year.

Ukrainian forces say they have hit an oil terminal, a pipeline, two parked jet fighters, and two ships in a series of strikes on Russian soil

David Silbey, associate professor, Cornell University said the Ukraine conflict in 2025 showed: “The static warfare of the First World War all over again. In that war, any visible movement was punished by a hail of machine gun and artillery fire, here it’s drones.

Russia has ordered a winter troop surge to break the stalemate in Ukraine, but Ukrainian drone attacks on logistics and resupply channels will undermine this offensive.

Ukraine said a resistance agent was able to sneak into a Russian hangar and destroy two Russian fighter jets.

Poland scrambles jets during major Russian missile-and-drone barrages on western Ukraine, when strikes are deemed to pose a heightened risk near its border.