Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said late on Tuesday that no one would give peace to his country as a gift, but he believed the United States would stand alongside Kyiv as it fights to stop Russia's 34-month invasion.

The Treasury Department announced new sanctions on Iranian and Russian entities accused of trying to interfere with the 2024 U.S. elections.

Exchanges have taken place before, but this deal, involving big numbers on both sides, comes as Trump prepares to take over in Washington, potentially endangering American aid to Kyiv.

Hoping to bolster the resolve of a nation whose heart “is covered in scars” after more than 1,000 days of unrelenting Russian assaults, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said in his New Year’s address on Wednesday that he believed the United States would continue to stand with Kyiv in “compelling Russia into a just peace.”

The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on entities in Iran and Russia, accusing them of attempting to interfere in the 2024 U.S. election.

Russia's arms control point man cautioned Donald Trump's incoming administration on Friday that Moscow was considering a whole range of possible steps on nuclear testing due to what it said was Trump's radical position on the issue.

Russia will scrap a moratorium on the deployment of intermediate and shorter range nuclear-capable missiles because the United States has deployed such weapons in various regions around the world, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday.

The Treasury Department penalizes Russian and Iranian entities that created AI disinformation and tried to hack both parties’ campaigns, respectively

Russia has launched several large-scale attacks on Ukraine this month, firing hundreds of missiles and drones at its neighbor.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said China and Russia have always moved forward "hand in hand" on the right path, the official Chinese news agency Xinhua said on Tuesday, months after the two countries struck a new era strategic partnership on key issues.

Russia and Ukraine have exchanged prisoners of war in the latest such swap that released hundreds of captives and was brokered with the help of the United Arab Emirates