Former ballerina Ksenia Karelina was born in Russia but had built a new life as an aesthetician at a Los Angeles spa after immigrating to the United States over a decade ago. She “is on a plane back home to the United States,” having been “wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year,” Rubio said on in a post on X. He credited President Donald Trump with securing her release.

Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, confirmed her release in a statement on Instagram. “Two hours ago she was in touch with her relatives and took off from Abu Dhabi to the U.S.,” he wrote, adding that he had known about her release since Tuesday.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Karelina in January 2024 while she was visiting her parents and young sister in the city Yekaterinburg. It did not provide further details or evidence of her alleged crime.

At the time, Russian legal group Perviy Otdel said it had information that Karelina had donated just over $51.80 from her U.S. bank account on Feb. 24, 2022 — the day that Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — to a charity that sends aid to Ukraine. A spa where she had previously worked confirmed this in a statement on Facebook.

Although Russia’s FSB did not confirm that figure, it said Karelina’s donation “was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces.”

She was sentenced in August to 12 years in a penal colony for “high treason,” having “fully admitted her guilt” at a closed trial in the southwestern Russian city of Yekaterinberg, Sverdlovsky Region Court said in a news release at the time.

The sentence came against the backdrop of Russia’s 3-year-long war with Ukraine during which President Vladimir Putin’s government has cracked down on dissent. Any perceived criticism of the military is banned.

Her release was first reported by The Wall Street Journal which said she was freed in exchange for the release of Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.

NBC News could not independently confirm this and Rubio did not mention this in his tweet.

Karelina’s freedom comes almost exactly two months after American teacher Marc Fogel returned to the U.S. after he spent 3½ years in prison for a minor medical cannabis infraction.

Fogel had been teaching in Russia before authorities picked him up while he was carrying 17 grams of the drug at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow. 

He had been prescribed medical cannabis in the U.S. for backpain, but the drug is illegal in Russia and he was sentenced to 14 years.

Fogel had remained in Russian custody even as U.S. authorities won freedom for other high-profile American detainees, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former-Marine Paul Whelan and WNBA star Brittney Griner.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

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Former ballerina Ksenia Karelina was born in Russia but had built a new life as an aesthetician at a Los Angeles spa after immigrating to the United States over a decade ago. She “is on a plane back home to the United States,” having been “wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year,” Rubio said on in a post on X. He credited President Donald Trump with securing her release.

Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, confirmed her release in a statement on Instagram. “Two hours ago she was in touch with her relatives and took off from Abu Dhabi to the U.S.,” he wrote, adding that he had known about her release since Tuesday.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Karelina in January 2024 while she was visiting her parents and young sister in the city Yekaterinburg. It did not provide further details or evidence of her alleged crime.

At the time, Russian legal group Perviy Otdel said it had information that Karelina had donated just over $51.80 from her U.S. bank account on Feb. 24, 2022 — the day that Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — to a charity that sends aid to Ukraine. A spa where she had previously worked confirmed this in a statement on Facebook.

Although Russia’s FSB did not confirm that figure, it said Karelina’s donation “was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces.”

She was sentenced in August to 12 years in a penal colony for “high treason,” having “fully admitted her guilt” at a closed trial in the southwestern Russian city of Yekaterinberg, Sverdlovsky Region Court said in a news release at the time.

The sentence came against the backdrop of Russia’s 3-year-long war with Ukraine during which President Vladimir Putin’s government has cracked down on dissent. Any perceived criticism of the military is banned.

Her release was first reported by The Wall Street Journal which said she was freed in exchange for the release of Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.

NBC News could not independently confirm this and Rubio did not mention this in his tweet.

Karelina’s freedom comes almost exactly two months after American teacher Marc Fogel returned to the U.S. after he spent 3½ years in prison for a minor medical cannabis infraction.

Fogel had been teaching in Russia before authorities picked him up while he was carrying 17 grams of the drug at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow. 

He had been prescribed medical cannabis in the U.S. for backpain, but the drug is illegal in Russia and he was sentenced to 14 years.

Fogel had remained in Russian custody even as U.S. authorities won freedom for other high-profile American detainees, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former-Marine Paul Whelan and WNBA star Brittney Griner.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• The USDA cut $500 million in funding to food banks. Here’s how they’re coping
• Trump orders probes of two former officials who defied him
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Former ballerina Ksenia Karelina was born in Russia but had built a new life as an aesthetician at a Los Angeles spa after immigrating to the United States over a decade ago. She “is on a plane back home to the United States,” having been “wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year,” Rubio said on in a post on X. He credited President Donald Trump with securing her release.

Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, confirmed her release in a statement on Instagram. “Two hours ago she was in touch with her relatives and took off from Abu Dhabi to the U.S.,” he wrote, adding that he had known about her release since Tuesday.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Karelina in January 2024 while she was visiting her parents and young sister in the city Yekaterinburg. It did not provide further details or evidence of her alleged crime.

At the time, Russian legal group Perviy Otdel said it had information that Karelina had donated just over $51.80 from her U.S. bank account on Feb. 24, 2022 — the day that Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — to a charity that sends aid to Ukraine. A spa where she had previously worked confirmed this in a statement on Facebook.

Although Russia’s FSB did not confirm that figure, it said Karelina’s donation “was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces.”

She was sentenced in August to 12 years in a penal colony for “high treason,” having “fully admitted her guilt” at a closed trial in the southwestern Russian city of Yekaterinberg, Sverdlovsky Region Court said in a news release at the time.

The sentence came against the backdrop of Russia’s 3-year-long war with Ukraine during which President Vladimir Putin’s government has cracked down on dissent. Any perceived criticism of the military is banned.

Her release was first reported by The Wall Street Journal which said she was freed in exchange for the release of Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.

NBC News could not independently confirm this and Rubio did not mention this in his tweet.

Karelina’s freedom comes almost exactly two months after American teacher Marc Fogel returned to the U.S. after he spent 3½ years in prison for a minor medical cannabis infraction.

Fogel had been teaching in Russia before authorities picked him up while he was carrying 17 grams of the drug at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow. 

He had been prescribed medical cannabis in the U.S. for backpain, but the drug is illegal in Russia and he was sentenced to 14 years.

Fogel had remained in Russian custody even as U.S. authorities won freedom for other high-profile American detainees, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former-Marine Paul Whelan and WNBA star Brittney Griner.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• The USDA cut $500 million in funding to food banks. Here’s how they’re coping
• Trump orders probes of two former officials who defied him
• Kennedy draws from misinformation playbook by touting an inhaled steroid to treat measles

This live blog on the Trump administration for Monday, March 24, 2025, has ended. See more coverage here.

Former ballerina Ksenia Karelina was born in Russia but had built a new life as an aesthetician at a Los Angeles spa after immigrating to the United States over a decade ago. She “is on a plane back home to the United States,” having been “wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year,” Rubio said on in a post on X. He credited President Donald Trump with securing her release.

Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, confirmed her release in a statement on Instagram. “Two hours ago she was in touch with her relatives and took off from Abu Dhabi to the U.S.,” he wrote, adding that he had known about her release since Tuesday.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Karelina in January 2024 while she was visiting her parents and young sister in the city Yekaterinburg. It did not provide further details or evidence of her alleged crime.

At the time, Russian legal group Perviy Otdel said it had information that Karelina had donated just over $51.80 from her U.S. bank account on Feb. 24, 2022 — the day that Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — to a charity that sends aid to Ukraine. A spa where she had previously worked confirmed this in a statement on Facebook.

Although Russia’s FSB did not confirm that figure, it said Karelina’s donation “was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces.”

She was sentenced in August to 12 years in a penal colony for “high treason,” having “fully admitted her guilt” at a closed trial in the southwestern Russian city of Yekaterinberg, Sverdlovsky Region Court said in a news release at the time.

The sentence came against the backdrop of Russia’s 3-year-long war with Ukraine during which President Vladimir Putin’s government has cracked down on dissent. Any perceived criticism of the military is banned.

Her release was first reported by The Wall Street Journal which said she was freed in exchange for the release of Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.

NBC News could not independently confirm this and Rubio did not mention this in his tweet.

Karelina’s freedom comes almost exactly two months after American teacher Marc Fogel returned to the U.S. after he spent 3½ years in prison for a minor medical cannabis infraction.

Fogel had been teaching in Russia before authorities picked him up while he was carrying 17 grams of the drug at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow. 

He had been prescribed medical cannabis in the U.S. for backpain, but the drug is illegal in Russia and he was sentenced to 14 years.

Fogel had remained in Russian custody even as U.S. authorities won freedom for other high-profile American detainees, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former-Marine Paul Whelan and WNBA star Brittney Griner.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• The USDA cut $500 million in funding to food banks. Here’s how they’re coping
• Trump orders probes of two former officials who defied him
• Kennedy draws from misinformation playbook by touting an inhaled steroid to treat measles

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump national security adviser Mike Waltz said that after Trump spoke to Zelenskyy by phone Wednesday morning, the two leaders agreed “on a partial ceasefire against energy,” according to a joint statement released by the White House.

Zelenskyy wrote in a lengthy post on X, “One of the first steps toward fully ending the war could be ending strikes on energy and other civilian infrastructure. I supported this step, and Ukraine confirmed that we are ready to implement it.”

Rubio and Waltz’s statement, however, did not mention that the ceasefire would apply to civilian infrastructure as Zelenskyy suggested, and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt refused to answer questions at an afternoon White House news briefing asking for clarification about the discrepancy in details.

Leavitt also dodged a question about whether Trump is still considering ramping up U.S. sanctions on Russia.

Asked whether the possible minerals deal between the U.S. and Ukraine was still on the table, Leavitt suggested that both sides have moved on from it because now the conflict is advancing toward a potential longer-term peace agreement.

The White House also rejected Kremlin demands that the U.S. stop sending intelligence and weapons to Ukraine. Leavitt said Wednesday said all intelligence sharing between the U.S. and Ukraine will continue.

These developments came after Moscow and Kyiv accused each other of air attacks on civilian targets and infrastructure overnight, less than 24 hours after Putin told Trump that he would halt attacks on Ukraine’s energy system for 30 days.

Zelenskyy said in his statement that he and Trump have instructed their teams “to resolve technical issues related to implementing and expanding the partial ceasefire” and will meet in the coming days in Saudi Arabia to “continue coordinating steps toward peace.”

According to Rubio and Waltz, Zelenskyy asked Trump for the U.S. to provide additional air defense systems to protect civilians in Ukraine, including Patriot missile systems.

“President Trump agreed to work with him to find what was available, particularly in Europe,” the two officials said in their statement.

Rubio and Waltz said Trump and Zelenskyy also discussed Ukraine’s electrical supply and nuclear power plants. Trump said “the United States could be very helpful in running those plants with its electricity and utility expertise. American ownership of those plants would be the best protection for that infrastructure and support for Ukrainian energy infrastructure,” the secretary of state and national security adviser said.

Their statement also said Trump fully briefed Zelenskyy on his call with Putin on Tuesday, and he and Zelenskyy “reviewed the situation in Kursk and agreed to share information closely between their defense staff as the battlefield situation evolved.”

The statement noted several times that Zelenskyy thanked Trump for his leadership and expressed gratitude for the administration’s support provided to Ukraine. Zelenskyy clashed with Trump and Vice President JD Vance during a meeting in the Oval Office late last month, in which the president and vice president chastised Zelenskyy for not doing enough to thank the U.S.

Wednesday morning, Trump said in a post on Truth Social that he and Zelenskyy had a “very good telephone call,” which lasted about an hour. Trump said much of their discussion was “based on the call made yesterday with President Putin in order to align both Russia and Ukraine in terms of their requests and needs.”

“We are very much on track, and I will ask Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, to give an accurate description of the points discussed,” Trump wrote.

In a long phone call with Trump on Tuesday, Putin declined to endorse a 30-day ceasefire endorsed by Trump and accepted by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. But, according to a Kremlin readout of their conversation Tuesday, Putin did agree “to mutually refrain from strikes on energy infrastructure for 30 days.”

This differed slightly from Trump’s post on Truth Social and a White House readout which said Russia had agreed to an “energy and infrastructure” ceasefire.  

At a news conference on Wednesday, Zelenskyy said, “Putin’s words are very, very different from reality,” adding that around 120 strike drones and six missiles struck Ukraine, including its energy facilities, overnight. These came, he said, after Putin “gave the order” to stop attacking Ukraine’s “energy sector.”

In earlier comments late Tuesday, Zelenskyy said Russia fired dozens of Iranian-made Shahed drones at “civilian infrastructure” in several regions across Ukraine and that one had hit a hospital in the city of Sumy, in the country’s northeast.

“It is precisely such night attacks by Russia that destroy our energy, our infrastructure, the normal life of Ukrainians,” Zelenskyy said. “And the fact that this night was no exception shows that we must continue to put pressure on Russia for the sake of peace.”

UkrZaliznytsia, Ukraine’s national railway company, said Wednesday that Russia “struck the railway power system” in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region with drones.  

Ukraine’s air force said that it shot down 72 drones overnight and that Russia had also launched at least two ballistic missiles.

Russian authorities accused Ukraine of launching drones and said an oil depot had caught fire because of crashed debris in the southwestern city of Krasnodar.

“The pipeline between the tanks was damaged,” the region’s emergency headquarters said in a statement early Wednesday. “The automatic fire extinguishing and cooling system was engaged,” the statement read, adding there were no casualties.

Later, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov accused Ukraine of trying to sabotage the agreements made by Trump and Putin with the attacks on Krasnodar. He added that the leaders understood each other.

It is unclear if both Kyiv and Moscow intended to strike energy targets.

Still, despite the verbal agreement on the limited ceasefire by Putin, Ukrainians near the front line appear to have no faith in his word.

Outside of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, in a mobile command center that his team built, Ivan Kravchenko, a sergeant in the Reconnaissance Battalion of the 92nd Assault Brigade, told NBC News that “Russia wants to play its game and they are interested in the truce only in order to increase their military power.”

His unit commander, Leonid Maslov, who worked as a tax lawyer before the war, agreed.

“Putin is trying to deceive everybody because he thinks he is a master of spy games and deceit,” Maslov said, as he sat in front of a monitor a nearby safehouse, showing their operation in real time with a Russian mortar position being attacked by Ukrainian bombs.

“Nobody can trust him,” Maslov said of Putin.

Richard Engel and Gabe Joselow reported from Kharkiv. Mithil Aggarwal reported from Hong Kong.

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The White House described it as the first step in a “movement to peace” it hopes will eventually include a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea and a full and lasting end to the fighting.

Putin during the call reiterated his demand for an end to foreign military and intelligence assistance to Ukraine, according to the Kremlin.

And there was no indication that he has backed away from his conditions for a prospective peace deal, which are fiercely opposed by Kyiv. Russia wants Ukraine to pull back its troops from the four regions that Moscow has annexed but never fully captured, renounce any prospect of joining the NATO military alliance and sharply cut its army.

Shortly after the call ended, air raid alerts sounded in Kyiv, followed by explosions in the city. Local officials urged people to seek shelter.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters that Ukraine is open to any proposals that lead to a sustainable and just peace, but stressed the need for full transparency in discussions.

Zelenskyy said he was seeking more details on what Putin and Trump agreed on, but rejected Putin’s demand for halting military aid and intelligence sharing to Ukraine, warning that such a move would weaken Ukraine.

“We need to understand what the conversation is about,” Zelenskyy said. “What are the details? And hopefully, we will be fully informed, and our partners will discuss everything with us.”

Russia-Ukraine War Mar 17

Trump says Putin talks will cover Russia and Ukraine ‘dividing up certain assets'

Russia-Ukraine War Mar 13

Putin says he supports ceasefire with Ukraine, but may need to call Trump

He added: “There are two sides in this war — Russia and Ukraine. Trying to negotiate without Ukraine, in my view, will not be productive.”

Ukrainian officials had proposed a ceasefire covering the Black Sea and long-range missile strikes and the release of prisoners.

Trump immediately cheered Tuesday’s development as a major step toward his ultimate goal of ending the biggest land war in Europe since World War II.

“We agreed to an immediate Ceasefire on all Energy and Infrastructure, with an understanding that we will be working quickly to have a Complete Ceasefire and, ultimately, an END to this very horrible War between Russia and Ukraine,” Trump said on social media.

Putin also told Trump that Russia and Ukraine are set to exchange 175 prisoners of war each on Wednesday, and Russia will also hand over to Ukraine 23 badly wounded soldiers, the Kremlin said.

The limited pause comes as Trump still hopes to get Russia to sign off on his 30-day ceasefire proposal aimed at ending the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials last week agreed to the 30-day ceasefire proposal during talks in Saudi Arabia led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. White House special envoy Steve Witkoff then met with Putin in Moscow to discuss the proposal.

Zelenskyy, however, remains skeptical that Putin is ready for peace as Russian forces continue to pound Ukraine.

“This is not a game where only Putin dictates the rules,” Zelenskyy said, making clear he remains doubtful that Putin was serious about wanting peace.

The Trump-Putin engagement is just the latest turn in dramatically shifting U.S.-Russia relations as Trump made quickly ending the conflict a top priority — even at the expense of straining ties with longtime American allies who want Putin to pay a price for the invasion.

Trump has at moments boasted of his relationship with Putin and blamed Ukraine for Russia’s unprovoked invasion, all while accusing Zelenskyy of unnecessarily prolonging the biggest land war in Europe since World War II.

Trump has said Washington and Moscow have already begun discussing “dividing up certain assets” between Ukraine and Russia as part of a deal to end the conflict.

He said before the call that control of land and power plants would be part of the conversation, which came on the anniversary of Russia annexing Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula 11 years ago. That bold land grab by Russia set the stage for Russia to invade its neighbor in 2022.

But neither the White House nor Kremlin made any mention of land or power plants in their post-call statements.

Witkoff on Sunday suggested that U.S. and Russian officials have discussed the fate of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant — Europe’s largest — in southern Ukraine. Russian troops seized the plant early in the war and it has been caught in the crossfire, fueling fears of a potential nuclear catastrophe.

The plant is a significant asset, producing nearly a quarter of Ukraine’s electricity in the year before the war.

After a disastrous Feb. 28 White House meeting with Zelenskyy, Trump temporarily cut off some military intelligence-sharing and aid to Ukraine. It was restored after the Ukrainians last week signed off on the Trump administration’s 30-day ceasefire proposal.

In his dealings with Zelenskyy and Putin, Trump has frequently focused on who has the leverage. Putin has “the cards” and Zelenskyy does not, Trump has said repeatedly.

Trump, who has long shown admiration for Putin, has also made clear he’d like to see the U.S.-Russia relationship return to a more normal footing.

The president during his recent contentious meeting with Zelenskyy grumbled that “Putin went through a hell of a lot with me,” a reference to the federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election in which he beat Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Trump on Tuesday again underscored his view that Ukraine is not in a strong negotiating position. He said Russian forces have surrounded Ukrainian troops in Russia’s Kursk region — amplifying an assertion made by Russian officials that’s been disputed by Zelenskyy.

“They are nicely encircled, and that’s not good,” said Trump, according to excerpts of an interview on Fox News Channel’s “Ingraham Angle.” “And we want to get it over with.”

Ukraine’s army stunned Russia in August last year by attacking across the border and taking control of an estimated 1,300 square kilometers (500 square miles) of land. But Ukraine’s forces are now in retreat and it has all but lost a valuable bargaining chip, as momentum builds for a ceasefire with Russia.

The White House said Trump and Putin also discussed the situation in the Middle East and agreed “Iran should never be in a position to destroy Israel.”

U.S. officials have previously said that Iran has provided Russia with short-range ballistic missiles and attack drones for the war in Ukraine. The U.S. has also said that Iran has assisted Russia with building a drone-manufacturing factory.

The Kremlin said that Trump also expressed support for an idea floated by Putin to organize hockey matches in the United States and Russia between Russian and American players from the National Hockey League, which has U.S. and Canadian teams, and the Kontinental Hockey League, which includes teams from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and China.

On Monday, NBC News saw two trucks carry a pair of American Bradley Fighting Vehicles — a tank-like workhorse used to carry troops into battle — left by retreating Ukrainian forces. Another three trucks carried the bodies of Russian soldiers and many more were transporting the injured away from the battlefield in the heavily militarized region.

Russia’s Kommersant newspaper also ran a large picture of President Donald Trump, who said late Sunday that negotiators in Washington and Moscow have begun discussing the division of assets between Russia and Ukraine in an effort to end the fighting.

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he plans to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday and that they would discuss “dividing up certain assets,” including land and power plants.

“I think we have a lot of it already discussed by both sides — Ukraine and Russia,” Trump said. “We want to see if we can bring that war to an end. Maybe we can, maybe we can’t, but I think we have a very good chance.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed the planned call between the two leaders during a press briefing Monday, but provided no further details.

In the talks expected to get underway Tuesday, Trump will attempt to win Putin’s support for a 30-day ceasefire proposed by the U.S. and Ukraine after their delegates met in Saudi Arabia last week. Putin said they needed to meet crucial demands made by the Kremlin.

The Russian leader and his officials have repeatedly indicated that they want to cement his country’s land grabs during the war and stop Kyiv from ever joining NATO. 

Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko reiterated those goals Monday, telling the Russian outlet Izvestia that the Kremlin will seek “iron-clad security guarantees” to ensure Kyiv’s exclusion from NATO in any peace deal and Ukraine’s neutrality regarding the bloc.

Pressure has been mounting on Russia to cede to Trump’s demands after Ukraine accepted the ceasefire proposal last week, though Grushko’s comments Monday made no reference to it.

Grushko also said that Russia would oppose any troops in Ukraine as part of post-conflict guarantees, including NATO troops, with Britain and France both saying in recent weeks that they are willing to send forces to monitor any ceasefire.

“If [those soldiers] appear there, it means that they are deployed in the conflict zone with all the consequences for these contingents as parties to the conflict,” he added.

However, European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told reporters in Brussels on Monday that the stipulations the Russians have given show that they “don’t really want peace, actually, because they are presenting as conditions all their ultimate goals that they want to achieve from the war,” according to Reuters.

A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also told reporters that a “significant number” of European countries were willing to provide peacekeeping troops in Ukraine as part of a peace deal, according to Reuters.

The comments came after heavy fighting in Kursk over the weekend as Russian forces continued to slowly take territory in the region where Ukrainian forces have maintained a foothold for the past seven months.

The Ukrainian government sees Kursk as a valuable bargaining chip in any peace talks, but in recent weeks, it has been forced to retreat from parts of the region.

New images shown on Russian government channels over the weekend displayed an intensified military offensive by the country’s forces, bolstered by support from North Korean troops and the Trump administration’s temporary suspension of military and intelligence assistance to Kyiv.

Even as Trump has attempted to play peacemaker, saying on Truth Social Friday that he had asked the Kremlin not to attack Ukrainian troops in Kursk, Putin has urged his troops on, appearing in military fatigues during a visit to the region last week.

The Russian Defense Ministry also said Monday that its forces destroyed 72 Ukrainian drones overnight and took control of the southern village of Stepove in southeastern Ukraine.

In Moscow, a vocal minority of ultra-nationalists has urged Putin not to agree to a truce, calling it “a trap” and warning that the plan would give Ukraine time to regroup.

Last week, Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov called the ceasefire proposal “nothing else than a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military, nothing more.”

That came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Putin of prolonging the war and ignoring U.S.-led efforts to broker a ceasefire.

“The buildup of Russian forces indicates that Moscow intends to keep ignoring diplomacy,” Zelenskyy said in a post on X on Saturday.

“We are ready to provide our partners with all the real information on the situation at the front, in the Kursk region and along our border,” he added.

Keir Simmons reported from Rylsk and Astha Rajvanshi from London.

This article first appeared on NBCNews.com. Read more from NBC News here:

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“We agree with the proposals to stop the hostilities,” the Russian leader said Thursday at a news conference. While Russia would support a pause in the fighting “there are issues that need to be discussed,” he said, adding that he may need to “have a phone call with Trump.”

In an apparent response to Putin’s statements, President Donald Trump said Thursday that the Russian leader put out “a promising statement,” but that he would like to see Russia agree to a ceasefire.

Speaking from the the Oval Office during a meeting with NATO chief Mark Rutte, Trump said he hoped Russia would “do the right thing,” adding that “serious discussions” with Putin and others are underway.

When asked if he was willing to meet with Putin, Trump said, “I’d love to meet with him and talk to him.” 

Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow Thursday and is expected to meet with Putin.

Putin had expressed concern that the temporary ceasefire suggested by the U.S. and Ukraine would give Kyiv’s forces an opportunity to regroup and questioned the mechanisms for preventing this during a potential ceasefire. Details like who would monitor and enforce the truce would also need to be considered, he said.

Putin has long held maximalist demands for ending a war in which Russia believes it has the upper hand. He has previously said that he wants Ukraine to withdraw from its regions partly occupied by Russia — essentially giving even more land to the Kremlin — while promising never to join NATO and protecting Russian culture and language inside the country.

Earlier Thursday, he urged his own soldiers to secure a quick and decisive victory while on a visit to the front lines.

Putin’s statement was Moscow’s first public reaction to the temporary 30-day ceasefire plan sketched out by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Ukrainian counterparts in Saudi Arabia this week. President Donald Trump has suggested he could hit Russia with sanctions if it rejected the proposal.

Earlier on Thursday, Putin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov called the outlined plan “nothing else than a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military, nothing more.”

He told Russian state media that the country’s “goal is still a long-term peaceful settlement… [that] takes into account the legitimate interests of our country.”

“Steps that imitate peaceful actions, it seems to me, are of no use to anyone,” he added, saying that he conveyed that position to U.S. national security adviser Mike Waltz in a phone call Wednesday.

Putin, a former KGB agent, was dressed in military fatigues as he visited Kursk, the only region of Russia partly occupied by Ukrainian troops. Soon after, the Russian Defense Ministry said it had recaptured the town of Sudzha, the largest settlement previously occupied by Ukrainian forces.

“Our task in the near future, in the shortest possible time frame, is to decisively defeat the enemy entrenched in the Kursk region,” Putin said. He also suggested creating “a security zone” on the border.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday in a media briefing that “there is no doubt that the Kursk region will be liberated soon enough.”

Rubio may discuss the war when he meets Thursday with the top diplomats at the Group of Seven, or G-7, summit in Quebec City, a potentially awkward appointment, given that Trump has repeatedly said he wants to take over Canada.

American and Russian officials have this week been talking behind the scenes. Trump had dispatched Witkoff to Russia, while threatening sanctions against the Kremlin.

“I can do things financially that would be very bad for Russia,” Trump said Wednesday in the Oval Office. “I don’t want to do that because I want to get peace.”

Despite this threat, Trump has asked the Kremlin for few concessions, while openly suggesting that Ukraine will have to agree to many of Putin’s demands.

The suggestion from talks in Saudi Arabia of an interim 30-day ceasefire has been welcomed by European leaders. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned in his nightly address Wednesday about Russia’s history of breaking truces.

“The key is our partners’ ability to ensure that Russia is ready not to deceive, but to truly end the war,” he said.

Ukrainian officials and citizens say they want peace, but only alongside security guarantees that ensure the Kremlin does not attack again.

“I think 99% of Ukrainians wants the war to end in a fair way,” Vitaliy Kim, governor of Mykolaiv oblast, told NBC News on Wednesday. “We want some guarantees that it will not come back in a couple of years.”

Here, in the southern city of Mykolaiv, some residents are deeply unimpressed by what they see as Trump’s attempts to force Ukraine into an unfavorable and risky settlement.

It’s like “a young child’s tricks,” said Yuriy, 46, a construction worker pushing a baby in a stroller near the city’s memorial for dead soldiers. “My daughter is acting in her 1-month life better than Trump in his 70-plus years. She at least s—- in her diapers, and that guy s—- on the whole world.”

One country taking no chances is Poland, the former Eastern Bloc nation that raised defense spending to 4.7% this year and is among Russia’s most vocal critics.

Polish President Andrzej Duda told the Financial Times newspaper Thursday that he wanted the U.S. to redeploy American nuclear weapons from Western Europe to inside his country.

“There should also be a shift of the NATO infrastructure east,” he said. “For me, this is obvious.”

NBC News’ Gabe Joselow contributed.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

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Former ballerina Ksenia Karelina was born in Russia but had built a new life as an aesthetician at a Los Angeles spa after immigrating to the United States over a decade ago. She “is on a plane back home to the United States,” having been “wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year,” Rubio said on in a post on X. He credited President Donald Trump with securing her release.

Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, confirmed her release in a statement on Instagram. “Two hours ago she was in touch with her relatives and took off from Abu Dhabi to the U.S.,” he wrote, adding that he had known about her release since Tuesday.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Karelina in January 2024 while she was visiting her parents and young sister in the city Yekaterinburg. It did not provide further details or evidence of her alleged crime.

At the time, Russian legal group Perviy Otdel said it had information that Karelina had donated just over $51.80 from her U.S. bank account on Feb. 24, 2022 — the day that Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — to a charity that sends aid to Ukraine. A spa where she had previously worked confirmed this in a statement on Facebook.

Although Russia’s FSB did not confirm that figure, it said Karelina’s donation “was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces.”

She was sentenced in August to 12 years in a penal colony for “high treason,” having “fully admitted her guilt” at a closed trial in the southwestern Russian city of Yekaterinberg, Sverdlovsky Region Court said in a news release at the time.

The sentence came against the backdrop of Russia’s 3-year-long war with Ukraine during which President Vladimir Putin’s government has cracked down on dissent. Any perceived criticism of the military is banned.

Her release was first reported by The Wall Street Journal which said she was freed in exchange for the release of Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.

NBC News could not independently confirm this and Rubio did not mention this in his tweet.

Karelina’s freedom comes almost exactly two months after American teacher Marc Fogel returned to the U.S. after he spent 3½ years in prison for a minor medical cannabis infraction.

Fogel had been teaching in Russia before authorities picked him up while he was carrying 17 grams of the drug at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow. 

He had been prescribed medical cannabis in the U.S. for backpain, but the drug is illegal in Russia and he was sentenced to 14 years.

Fogel had remained in Russian custody even as U.S. authorities won freedom for other high-profile American detainees, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former-Marine Paul Whelan and WNBA star Brittney Griner.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• The USDA cut $500 million in funding to food banks. Here’s how they’re coping
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Former ballerina Ksenia Karelina was born in Russia but had built a new life as an aesthetician at a Los Angeles spa after immigrating to the United States over a decade ago. She “is on a plane back home to the United States,” having been “wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year,” Rubio said on in a post on X. He credited President Donald Trump with securing her release.

Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, confirmed her release in a statement on Instagram. “Two hours ago she was in touch with her relatives and took off from Abu Dhabi to the U.S.,” he wrote, adding that he had known about her release since Tuesday.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Karelina in January 2024 while she was visiting her parents and young sister in the city Yekaterinburg. It did not provide further details or evidence of her alleged crime.

At the time, Russian legal group Perviy Otdel said it had information that Karelina had donated just over $51.80 from her U.S. bank account on Feb. 24, 2022 — the day that Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — to a charity that sends aid to Ukraine. A spa where she had previously worked confirmed this in a statement on Facebook.

Although Russia’s FSB did not confirm that figure, it said Karelina’s donation “was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces.”

She was sentenced in August to 12 years in a penal colony for “high treason,” having “fully admitted her guilt” at a closed trial in the southwestern Russian city of Yekaterinberg, Sverdlovsky Region Court said in a news release at the time.

The sentence came against the backdrop of Russia’s 3-year-long war with Ukraine during which President Vladimir Putin’s government has cracked down on dissent. Any perceived criticism of the military is banned.

Her release was first reported by The Wall Street Journal which said she was freed in exchange for the release of Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.

NBC News could not independently confirm this and Rubio did not mention this in his tweet.

Karelina’s freedom comes almost exactly two months after American teacher Marc Fogel returned to the U.S. after he spent 3½ years in prison for a minor medical cannabis infraction.

Fogel had been teaching in Russia before authorities picked him up while he was carrying 17 grams of the drug at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow. 

He had been prescribed medical cannabis in the U.S. for backpain, but the drug is illegal in Russia and he was sentenced to 14 years.

Fogel had remained in Russian custody even as U.S. authorities won freedom for other high-profile American detainees, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former-Marine Paul Whelan and WNBA star Brittney Griner.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• The USDA cut $500 million in funding to food banks. Here’s how they’re coping
• Trump orders probes of two former officials who defied him
• Kennedy draws from misinformation playbook by touting an inhaled steroid to treat measles

Former ballerina Ksenia Karelina was born in Russia but had built a new life as an aesthetician at a Los Angeles spa after immigrating to the United States over a decade ago. She “is on a plane back home to the United States,” having been “wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year,” Rubio said on in a post on X. He credited President Donald Trump with securing her release.

Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, confirmed her release in a statement on Instagram. “Two hours ago she was in touch with her relatives and took off from Abu Dhabi to the U.S.,” he wrote, adding that he had known about her release since Tuesday.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Karelina in January 2024 while she was visiting her parents and young sister in the city Yekaterinburg. It did not provide further details or evidence of her alleged crime.

At the time, Russian legal group Perviy Otdel said it had information that Karelina had donated just over $51.80 from her U.S. bank account on Feb. 24, 2022 — the day that Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — to a charity that sends aid to Ukraine. A spa where she had previously worked confirmed this in a statement on Facebook.

Although Russia’s FSB did not confirm that figure, it said Karelina’s donation “was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces.”

She was sentenced in August to 12 years in a penal colony for “high treason,” having “fully admitted her guilt” at a closed trial in the southwestern Russian city of Yekaterinberg, Sverdlovsky Region Court said in a news release at the time.

The sentence came against the backdrop of Russia’s 3-year-long war with Ukraine during which President Vladimir Putin’s government has cracked down on dissent. Any perceived criticism of the military is banned.

Her release was first reported by The Wall Street Journal which said she was freed in exchange for the release of Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.

NBC News could not independently confirm this and Rubio did not mention this in his tweet.

Karelina’s freedom comes almost exactly two months after American teacher Marc Fogel returned to the U.S. after he spent 3½ years in prison for a minor medical cannabis infraction.

Fogel had been teaching in Russia before authorities picked him up while he was carrying 17 grams of the drug at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow. 

He had been prescribed medical cannabis in the U.S. for backpain, but the drug is illegal in Russia and he was sentenced to 14 years.

Fogel had remained in Russian custody even as U.S. authorities won freedom for other high-profile American detainees, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former-Marine Paul Whelan and WNBA star Brittney Griner.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• The USDA cut $500 million in funding to food banks. Here’s how they’re coping
• Trump orders probes of two former officials who defied him
• Kennedy draws from misinformation playbook by touting an inhaled steroid to treat measles

“Based on the fact that Russia is absolutely ‘pounding’ Ukraine on the battlefield right now, I am strongly considering large scale Banking Sanctions, Sanctions, and Tariffs on Russia until a Cease Fire and FINAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ON PEACE IS REACHED. To Russia and Ukraine, get to the table right now, before it is too late. Thank you!!!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

While speaking to reporters in the Oval Office Friday afternoon, however, Trump said the U.S. was “doing well” with Russia and that he was “finding it more difficult, frankly, to deal with Ukraine.”

“They don’t have the cards,” Trump said of Kyiv. “In terms of getting a final settlement, it may be easier dealing with Russia which is surprising, because they have all the problems, and they’re bombing the hell out of ’em right now.”

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Asked if he thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin is taking advantage of the U.S., Trump said he doesn’t think so and feels the Russian leader wants to put an end to the war and reach a settlement.

“I actually think he’s doing what anybody else would do,” Trump said in response to the question from NBC News’ Peter Alexander. “I think he’s hitting them harder than he’s been hitting him, and I think probably anybody in that position would be doing that right now.”

Trump said he would talk “at length” with Putin about Ukraine, maintaining that Russia would never have invaded had he remained in office and blaming Biden.

Trump also addressed his administration’s decision to halt military aid and intelligence help to Ukraine and was asking what Ukraine will do if they run out of resources.

“I have to know that they want to settle. I don’t know that they want to settle. If they don’t want to settle, we’re out of there because we want them to settle and I’m doing it to stop death,” said Trump, who then suggested that Europe needs to ramp up its contributions to Ukraine, “I watched over the last week or so what’s going on in Europe. This thing could end up in World War III if we don’t get it settled.”

National security adviser Mike Waltz added that he and Secretary of State Marco Rubio plan to meet with a Ukrainian delegation next week in Saudi Arabia “to get these talks back on track” to reach a cease-fire between Ukraine and Russia.

Trump’s sanctions threat against Russia comes a week after an intense Oval Office clash with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy scuttled hopes for a much-anticipated rare earth minerals deal. The meeting added to growing concerns that U.S. policy toward Russia was softening and set off a scramble in Europe about who would fill the void if the U.S. pulled its support of Ukraine.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday seemed to preview additional sanctions on Russia in remarks before the Economic Club of New York. He said that the Trump administration has kept enhanced sanctions on Russia in place and is prepared to go “all in” if it would “provide leverage in peace negotiations.”

“Per President Trump’s guidance, sanctions will be used explicitly and aggressively for immediate maximum impact,” Bessent said.

Bessent also accused the Biden administration of imposing “weak sanctions” on Russia’s energy sector, which he said played a “major factor in the Russian war machine’s continued financing.” Bessent charged that Biden took a softer approach to sanctions due to “worries about upward pressure on U.S. energy prices during an election season.”

Bessent also claimed that the Biden administration lifted U.S. sanctions on Russia in January, but it’s unclear what he was referring to. Ten days before Trump’s inauguration, the Treasury Department implemented sweeping sanctions on Russia’s energy sector and there’s no evidence that the U.S. eased sanctions.

The Treasury Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a post on Telegram Friday, Zelenskyy called for a truce in the air and at sea after Russia launched a massive attack on Ukraine overnight against the country’s energy infrastructure.

“In total, the Russians launched nearly 70 missiles, both cruise and ballistic, as well as almost 200 attack drones,” Zelenskyy said. “All of this was directed at infrastructure that ensures normal life. Repair and restoration work is already underway wherever needed. Unfortunately, there is also damage to residential buildings.”

“Ukraine is ready to take the path to peace, and Ukraine has wanted peace from the very first second of this war. The goal is to force Russia to stop the war,” he said.

Zelenskyy said that Ukraine was able to defend its airspace using F-16 aircraft and Mirage-2000 jets provided by France. On Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron reassured Ukraine that Europe will continue to defend it against Russian aggression even if the U.S. chooses not to continue its assistance.

NBC News’ Katherine Doyle and Nnamdi Egwuonwu contributed.

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The move comes just days after a disastrous Oval Office meeting in which Trump and Vice President JD Vance tore into Zelenskyy for what they perceived as insufficient gratitude for the more than $180 billion in military aid the U.S. has sent to Kyiv since Russia invaded three years ago.

A White House official said Trump is focused on reaching a peace deal and wants Zelenskyy “committed” to that goal. The official added that the U.S. was “pausing and reviewing” its aid to “ensure that it is contributing to a solution.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the assistance.

The order will remain in effect until Trump determines that Ukraine has demonstrated a commitment to peace negotiations with Russia, the official said.

The halting of military aid comes some five years after Trump held up congressionally authorized assistance to Ukraine as he sought to pressure Zelenskyy to launch an investigation into Joe Biden, then a Democratic presidential candidate. The moment led to Trump’s first impeachment.

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In the leadup to the 2024 election, Trump vowed a quick end to the war in Ukraine, even once boasting that he could bring a halt to the fighting in one day. He has shown increasing frustration with Zelenskyy over the war while simultaneously expressing confidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he has long admired, can be trusted to keep the peace if a truce is reached.

Trump earlier on Monday slammed Zelenskyy for suggesting that the end of the war likely “is still very, very far away.” Zelenskyy had suggested it would take time to come to an agreement to end the war as he tried to offer a positive take on the U.S.-Ukraine relationship in the aftermath of last week’s White House meeting.

“This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelenskyy, and America will not put up with it for much longer!” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform, responding to comments Zelenskyy made late Sunday to reporters.

Trump, at a White House event later Monday, referred to Zelenskyy’s reported comments and asserted the Ukrainian leader “better not be right about that.”

Zelenskyy later took to social media in an effort to further explain his thinking. He did not directly refer to Trump’s comments, but underscored that it “is very important that we try to make our diplomacy really substantive to end this war the soonest possible.”

“We need real peace and Ukrainians want it most because the war ruins our cities and towns,” Zelenskyy added. “We lose our people. We need to stop the war and to guarantee security.”

Trump administration and Ukrainian officials had been expected to sign off on a deal during Zelenskyy’s visit last week that would have given the U.S. access to Ukraine’s critical minerals in part to pay back the U.S. for aid it has sent Kyiv since the start of the war. The White House had billed such a pact as a way to tighten U.S.-Ukrainian relations in the long term.

Vance, in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity that aired Monday evening, said European allies were doing Ukraine a disservice by not pressing Zelenskyy to find an endgame to the war.

“A lot of our European friends puff him up,” Vance said. “They say, you know, you’re a freedom fighter. You need to keep fighting forever. Well, fighting forever with what? With whose money, with whose ammunition and with whose lives?”

Democrats said the pausing of aid to Ukraine was dangerous and ill-advised.

Democratic Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, who is co-chair of the Congressional EU Caucus, said the decision “is reckless, indefensible, and a direct threat to our national security.”

The Biden administration provided Kyiv with more than $66.5 billion in military aid and weapons since the war began. It had left unspent about $3.85 billion in congressionally authorized funding to send more weapons to Ukraine from existing U.S. stockpiles — a sum that had not been affected by the foreign aid freeze that Trump put in place when he first took office.

“This aid was approved by Congress on a bipartisan basis — Republicans and Democrats alike recognized that standing with Ukraine is standing for democracy and against Putin’s aggression,” Boyle said in a statement. “Yet, Trump, who has repeatedly praised Putin and undermined our allies, is now playing political games with critical military assistance.”

Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman, who served as counsel to House Democrats in the first impeachment inquiry against Trump, said the pausing of aid was “another extortion” of Zelenskyy.

“This is the exact opposite of peace through strength,” Goldman said. “Instead, what it is is it’s another extortion of President Zelenskyy, illegally withholding aid in order to get President Zelenskyy to agree to a minerals deal.”

Trump’s national security adviser said Zelenskyy’s posture during Friday’s Oval Office talks “put up in the air” whether he’s someone the U.S. administration will be able to deal with going forward.

“Is he ready, personally, politically, to move his country towards an end to the fighting?” Mike Waltz said Monday on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom.” “And can he and will he make the compromises necessary?”

Waltz added another layer of doubt about U.S. support as other high-profile Trump allies, including House Speaker Mike Johnson and Sen. Lindsey Graham, have suggested that the relationship between Trump and Zelenskyy is becoming untenable.

Angela Stent, a former national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council, said Putin is likely in no rush to end the war amid the fissures between Trump and Zelenskyy and between Europe and the U.S. about the way ahead.

“He thinks Russia is winning. … And he thinks that as time goes on, the West will be more fractured,” said Stent, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

Trump on Monday suggested he hasn’t given up on the economic pact, calling it “a great deal.” He added that he expected to speak about the deal during his Tuesday address before a joint session of Congress.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican who co-chairs the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, spoke with Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, earlier Monday about getting the mineral rights deal back on track.

Key GOP senators also indicated before the announcement of paused aid that they see a path to put U.S.-Ukraine relations back on track.

“We got to lower the temperature,” said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., “and get to a deal that’s economically beneficial and takes care of our interests as well as the interests of the Ukrainian people.”

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican who is a close ally of Trump, said he believes the president and Zelenskyy can “move past it.”

“Getting the minerals deal done is a first step,” Mullin said. After that, he said, Zelenskyy needs to be “realistic on what a peace deal looks like.”

___

Associated Press writers Tracy Brown, Lolita C. Baldor and Marc Levy contributed to this report.

Former ballerina Ksenia Karelina was born in Russia but had built a new life as an aesthetician at a Los Angeles spa after immigrating to the United States over a decade ago. She “is on a plane back home to the United States,” having been “wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year,” Rubio said on in a post on X. He credited President Donald Trump with securing her release.

Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, confirmed her release in a statement on Instagram. “Two hours ago she was in touch with her relatives and took off from Abu Dhabi to the U.S.,” he wrote, adding that he had known about her release since Tuesday.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Karelina in January 2024 while she was visiting her parents and young sister in the city Yekaterinburg. It did not provide further details or evidence of her alleged crime.

At the time, Russian legal group Perviy Otdel said it had information that Karelina had donated just over $51.80 from her U.S. bank account on Feb. 24, 2022 — the day that Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — to a charity that sends aid to Ukraine. A spa where she had previously worked confirmed this in a statement on Facebook.

Although Russia’s FSB did not confirm that figure, it said Karelina’s donation “was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces.”

She was sentenced in August to 12 years in a penal colony for “high treason,” having “fully admitted her guilt” at a closed trial in the southwestern Russian city of Yekaterinberg, Sverdlovsky Region Court said in a news release at the time.

The sentence came against the backdrop of Russia’s 3-year-long war with Ukraine during which President Vladimir Putin’s government has cracked down on dissent. Any perceived criticism of the military is banned.

Her release was first reported by The Wall Street Journal which said she was freed in exchange for the release of Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.

NBC News could not independently confirm this and Rubio did not mention this in his tweet.

Karelina’s freedom comes almost exactly two months after American teacher Marc Fogel returned to the U.S. after he spent 3½ years in prison for a minor medical cannabis infraction.

Fogel had been teaching in Russia before authorities picked him up while he was carrying 17 grams of the drug at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow. 

He had been prescribed medical cannabis in the U.S. for backpain, but the drug is illegal in Russia and he was sentenced to 14 years.

Fogel had remained in Russian custody even as U.S. authorities won freedom for other high-profile American detainees, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former-Marine Paul Whelan and WNBA star Brittney Griner.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• The USDA cut $500 million in funding to food banks. Here’s how they’re coping
• Trump orders probes of two former officials who defied him
• Kennedy draws from misinformation playbook by touting an inhaled steroid to treat measles

Former ballerina Ksenia Karelina was born in Russia but had built a new life as an aesthetician at a Los Angeles spa after immigrating to the United States over a decade ago. She “is on a plane back home to the United States,” having been “wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year,” Rubio said on in a post on X. He credited President Donald Trump with securing her release.

Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, confirmed her release in a statement on Instagram. “Two hours ago she was in touch with her relatives and took off from Abu Dhabi to the U.S.,” he wrote, adding that he had known about her release since Tuesday.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Karelina in January 2024 while she was visiting her parents and young sister in the city Yekaterinburg. It did not provide further details or evidence of her alleged crime.

At the time, Russian legal group Perviy Otdel said it had information that Karelina had donated just over $51.80 from her U.S. bank account on Feb. 24, 2022 — the day that Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — to a charity that sends aid to Ukraine. A spa where she had previously worked confirmed this in a statement on Facebook.

Although Russia’s FSB did not confirm that figure, it said Karelina’s donation “was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces.”

She was sentenced in August to 12 years in a penal colony for “high treason,” having “fully admitted her guilt” at a closed trial in the southwestern Russian city of Yekaterinberg, Sverdlovsky Region Court said in a news release at the time.

The sentence came against the backdrop of Russia’s 3-year-long war with Ukraine during which President Vladimir Putin’s government has cracked down on dissent. Any perceived criticism of the military is banned.

Her release was first reported by The Wall Street Journal which said she was freed in exchange for the release of Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.

NBC News could not independently confirm this and Rubio did not mention this in his tweet.

Karelina’s freedom comes almost exactly two months after American teacher Marc Fogel returned to the U.S. after he spent 3½ years in prison for a minor medical cannabis infraction.

Fogel had been teaching in Russia before authorities picked him up while he was carrying 17 grams of the drug at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow. 

He had been prescribed medical cannabis in the U.S. for backpain, but the drug is illegal in Russia and he was sentenced to 14 years.

Fogel had remained in Russian custody even as U.S. authorities won freedom for other high-profile American detainees, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former-Marine Paul Whelan and WNBA star Brittney Griner.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• The USDA cut $500 million in funding to food banks. Here’s how they’re coping
• Trump orders probes of two former officials who defied him
• Kennedy draws from misinformation playbook by touting an inhaled steroid to treat measles

Former ballerina Ksenia Karelina was born in Russia but had built a new life as an aesthetician at a Los Angeles spa after immigrating to the United States over a decade ago. She “is on a plane back home to the United States,” having been “wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year,” Rubio said on in a post on X. He credited President Donald Trump with securing her release.

Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, confirmed her release in a statement on Instagram. “Two hours ago she was in touch with her relatives and took off from Abu Dhabi to the U.S.,” he wrote, adding that he had known about her release since Tuesday.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Karelina in January 2024 while she was visiting her parents and young sister in the city Yekaterinburg. It did not provide further details or evidence of her alleged crime.

At the time, Russian legal group Perviy Otdel said it had information that Karelina had donated just over $51.80 from her U.S. bank account on Feb. 24, 2022 — the day that Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — to a charity that sends aid to Ukraine. A spa where she had previously worked confirmed this in a statement on Facebook.

Although Russia’s FSB did not confirm that figure, it said Karelina’s donation “was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces.”

She was sentenced in August to 12 years in a penal colony for “high treason,” having “fully admitted her guilt” at a closed trial in the southwestern Russian city of Yekaterinberg, Sverdlovsky Region Court said in a news release at the time.

The sentence came against the backdrop of Russia’s 3-year-long war with Ukraine during which President Vladimir Putin’s government has cracked down on dissent. Any perceived criticism of the military is banned.

Her release was first reported by The Wall Street Journal which said she was freed in exchange for the release of Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.

NBC News could not independently confirm this and Rubio did not mention this in his tweet.

Karelina’s freedom comes almost exactly two months after American teacher Marc Fogel returned to the U.S. after he spent 3½ years in prison for a minor medical cannabis infraction.

Fogel had been teaching in Russia before authorities picked him up while he was carrying 17 grams of the drug at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow. 

He had been prescribed medical cannabis in the U.S. for backpain, but the drug is illegal in Russia and he was sentenced to 14 years.

Fogel had remained in Russian custody even as U.S. authorities won freedom for other high-profile American detainees, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former-Marine Paul Whelan and WNBA star Brittney Griner.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• The USDA cut $500 million in funding to food banks. Here’s how they’re coping
• Trump orders probes of two former officials who defied him
• Kennedy draws from misinformation playbook by touting an inhaled steroid to treat measles

Former ballerina Ksenia Karelina was born in Russia but had built a new life as an aesthetician at a Los Angeles spa after immigrating to the United States over a decade ago. She “is on a plane back home to the United States,” having been “wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year,” Rubio said on in a post on X. He credited President Donald Trump with securing her release.

Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, confirmed her release in a statement on Instagram. “Two hours ago she was in touch with her relatives and took off from Abu Dhabi to the U.S.,” he wrote, adding that he had known about her release since Tuesday.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Karelina in January 2024 while she was visiting her parents and young sister in the city Yekaterinburg. It did not provide further details or evidence of her alleged crime.

At the time, Russian legal group Perviy Otdel said it had information that Karelina had donated just over $51.80 from her U.S. bank account on Feb. 24, 2022 — the day that Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — to a charity that sends aid to Ukraine. A spa where she had previously worked confirmed this in a statement on Facebook.

Although Russia’s FSB did not confirm that figure, it said Karelina’s donation “was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces.”

She was sentenced in August to 12 years in a penal colony for “high treason,” having “fully admitted her guilt” at a closed trial in the southwestern Russian city of Yekaterinberg, Sverdlovsky Region Court said in a news release at the time.

The sentence came against the backdrop of Russia’s 3-year-long war with Ukraine during which President Vladimir Putin’s government has cracked down on dissent. Any perceived criticism of the military is banned.

Her release was first reported by The Wall Street Journal which said she was freed in exchange for the release of Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.

NBC News could not independently confirm this and Rubio did not mention this in his tweet.

Karelina’s freedom comes almost exactly two months after American teacher Marc Fogel returned to the U.S. after he spent 3½ years in prison for a minor medical cannabis infraction.

Fogel had been teaching in Russia before authorities picked him up while he was carrying 17 grams of the drug at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow. 

He had been prescribed medical cannabis in the U.S. for backpain, but the drug is illegal in Russia and he was sentenced to 14 years.

Fogel had remained in Russian custody even as U.S. authorities won freedom for other high-profile American detainees, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former-Marine Paul Whelan and WNBA star Brittney Griner.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

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The argument in the Oval Office was broadcast globally. It led to the rest of Zelenskyy’s White House visit being canceled and called into question how much the U.S. will still support Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s 2022 invasion.

Here is a transcript of the key moments of the exchange, which began when Zelenskyy challenged Vance.

Zelenskyy challenges Vance on Russia and diplomacy

Vance: “For four years, the United States of America, we had a president who stood up at press conferences and talked tough about Vladimir Putin, and then Putin invaded Ukraine and destroyed a significant chunk of the country. The path to peace and the path to prosperity is, maybe, engaging in diplomacy. We tried the pathway of Joe Biden, of thumping our chest and pretending that the president of the United States’ words mattered more than the president of the United States’ actions. What makes America a good country is America engaging in diplomacy. That’s what President Trump is doing.”

Zelenskyy: “Can I ask you?”

Vance: “Sure. Yeah.”

Zelenskyy: “OK. So he (Putin) occupied it, our parts, big parts of Ukraine, parts of east and Crimea. So he occupied it in 2014. So during a lot of years — I’m not speaking about just Biden, but those times was (Barack) Obama, then President Obama, then President Trump, then President Biden, now President Trump. And God bless, now, President Trump will stop him. But during 2014, nobody stopped him. He just occupied and took. He killed people. You know what the –“

Trump: “2015?”

Zelenskyy: “2014.”

Trump: “Oh, 2014? I was not here.”

Vance: “That’s exactly right.”

Zelenskyy: “Yes, but during 2014 ’til 2022, the situation is the same, that people have been dying on the contact line. Nobody stopped him. You know that we had conversations with him, a lot of conversations, my bilateral conversation. And we signed with him, me, like, you, president, in 2019, I signed with him the deal. I signed with him, (French President Emmanuel) Macron and (former German Chancellor Angela) Merkel. We signed ceasefire. Ceasefire. All of them told me that he will never go … But after that, he broke the ceasefire, he killed our people, and he didn’t exchange prisoners. We signed the exchange of prisoners. But he didn’t do it. What kind of diplomacy, JD, you are speaking about? What do you mean?”

Vance: “I’m talking about the kind of diplomacy that’s going to end the destruction of your country. Mr. President, with respect, I think it’s disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media. Right now, you guys are going around and forcing conscripts to the front lines because you have manpower problems. You should be thanking the president for trying to bring an end to this conflict.”

Zelenskyy: “Have you ever been to Ukraine that you say what problems we have?”

Vance: “I have been to –”

Zelenskyy: “Come once.”

Vance: “I’ve actually watched and seen the stories, and I know that what happens is you bring people, you bring them on a propaganda tour, Mr. President. Do you disagree that you’ve had problems, bringing people into your military?”

Zelenskyy: “We have problems –”

Vance: “And do you think that is respectful to come to the Oval Office of the United States of America and attack the administration that is trying to prevent the destruction of your country?”

Zelenskyy: “A lot of questions. Let’s start from the beginning.”

Vance: “Sure.”

Russia-Ukraine War Feb 28

Zelenskyy's meeting with Trump and Vance unravels into an extraordinary clash

news Feb 28

Zelenskyy leaves White House after Ukraine talks collapse

Trump erupts when Zelenskyy suggests the U.S. might ‘feel it in the future’

Zelenskyy: “First of all, during the war, everybody has problems, even you. But you have nice ocean and don’t feel now. But you will feel it in the future. God bless –”

Trump: “You don’t know that. You don’t know that. Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel. We’re trying to solve a problem. Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel.”

Zelenskyy: “I’m not telling you. I am answering on these questions.”

Trump: “Because you’re in no position to dictate that.”

Vance: “That’s exactly what you’re doing.”

Trump: “You are in no position to dictate what we’re going to feel. We’re going to feel very good.”

Zelenskyy: “You will feel influenced.”

Trump: “We are going to feel very good and very strong.”

Zelenskyy: “I am telling you. You will feel influenced.”

Trump: “You’re, right now, not in a very good position. You’ve allowed yourself to be in a very bad position –”

Zelenskyy: “From the very beginning of the war —”

Trump: “You’re not in a good position. You don’t have the cards right now. With us, you start having cards.”

Zelenskyy: “I’m not playing cards. I’m very serious, Mr. President. I’m very serious.”

Trump: “You’re playing cards. You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people. You’re gambling with World War III.”

Zelenskyy: “What are you speaking about?”

Trump: “You’re gambling with World War III. And what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country that’s backed you far more than a lot of people said they should have.”

Vance: “Have you said thank you once?”

Zelenskyy: “A lot of times. Even today.”

Vance: “No, in this entire meeting. You went to Pennsylvania and campaigned for the opposition in October.”

Zelenskyy: “No.”

Vance: “Offer some words of appreciation for the United States of America and the president who’s trying to save your country.”

Zelenskyy: “Please. You think that if you will speak very loudly about the war, you can –”

Trump: “He’s not speaking loudly. He’s not speaking loudly. Your country is in big trouble.”

Zelenskyy: “Can I answer —”

Trump: “No, no. You’ve done a lot of talking. Your country is in big trouble.”

Zelenskyy: “I know. I know.”

Trump: “You’re not winning. You’re not winning this. You have a damn good chance of coming out OK because of us.”

Zelenskyy: “Mr. President, we are staying in our country, staying strong. From the very beginning of the war, we’ve been alone. And we are thankful. I said thanks.”

Trump demands Zelenskyy accept a ceasefire

Trump: “If you didn’t have our military equipment, this war would have been over in two weeks.”

Zelenskyy: “In three days. I heard it from Putin. In three days.”

Trump: “Maybe less. It’s going to be a very hard thing to do business like this, I tell you.

Vance: “Just say thank you.”

Zelenskyy: “I said a lot of times, thank you, to American people.”

Vance: “Accept that there are disagreements, and let’s go litigate those disagreements rather than trying to fight it out in the American media when you’re wrong. We know that you’re wrong.”

Trump: “But you see, I think it’s good for the American people to see what’s going on. I think it’s very important. That’s why I kept this going so long. You have to be thankful.”

Zelenskyy: “I’m thankful.”

Trump: “You don’t have the cards. You’re buried there. People are dying. You’re running low on soldiers. It would be a damn good thing, and then you tell us, ‘I don’t want a ceasefire. I don’t want a ceasefire, I want to go, and I want this.’ Look, if you can get a ceasefire right now, I tell you, you take it so the bullets stop flying and your men stop getting killed.”

Zelenskyy: “Of course we want to stop the war. But I said to you, with guarantees.”

Trump: “Are you saying you don’t want a ceasefire? I want a ceasefire. Because you’ll get a ceasefire faster than an agreement.”

Zelenskyy: “Ask our people about a ceasefire, what they think.”

Trump: “That wasn’t with me. That was with a guy named Biden, who is not a smart person.”

Zelenskyy: “This is your president. It was your president.”

Trump: “Excuse me. That was with Obama, who gave you sheets, and I gave you Javelins. I gave you the Javelins to take out all those tanks. Obama gave you sheets. In fact, the statement is Obama gave sheets, and Trump gave Javelins. You’ve got to be more thankful because let me tell you, you don’t have the cards. With us, you have the cards, but without us, you don’t have any cards.”

Trump says Putin respects him due to the investigations of his first term

Vance, restating a reporter’s question: “She is asking what if Russia breaks the ceasefire.”

Trump: “What, if anything? What if the bomb drops on your head right now? OK, what if they broke it? I don’t know, they broke it with Biden because Biden, they didn’t respect him. They didn’t respect Obama. They respect me. Let me tell you, Putin went through a hell of a lot with me. He went through a phony witch hunt … All I can say is this. He might have broken deals with Obama and Bush, and he might have broken them with Biden. He did, maybe. Maybe he did. I don’t know what happened, but he didn’t break them with me. He wants to make a deal. I don’t know if you can make a deal.”

“The problem is I’ve empowered you (turning toward Zelenskyy) to be a tough guy, and I don’t think you’d be a tough guy without the United States. And your people are very brave. But you’re either going to make a deal or we’re out. And if we’re out, you’ll fight it out. I don’t think it’s going to be pretty, but you’ll fight it out. But you don’t have the cards. But once we sign that deal, you’re in a much better position, but you’re not acting at all thankful. And that’s not a nice thing. I’ll be honest. That’s not a nice thing.

“All right, I think we’ve seen enough. What do you think? This is going to be great television. I will say that.”

___

Power outages have been applied overnight in some regions of Ukraine due to the attacks on energy facilities. The country’s systems have sustained near-constant impact throughout the course of the three-year war.

“It significantly undercuts this administration’s abilities to negotiate on the ceasefire, and it’d signal to Russia that we don’t care about Ukraine or our past investments,” one USAID official involved in the Ukraine mission told NBC News. 

The official continued: “Russia is fighting a two-pronged war in Ukraine: A military one but also an economic one. They’re trying to crush the economy, but USAID has played a central role in helping it be resilient, [including] shoring up the energy grid…We’ve provided vast amount of support to the Ukrainian government to avoid a macro economic crisis.”

In addition to ending the Ukraine Energy Security Project, USAID is also dramatically downsizing its presence in Ukraine.

Before the Trump administration’s latest moves, 64 American government employees and contractors were serving on the ground in Ukraine for the agency. Just eight of those personnel are slated to remain on the ground in the war-torn country after the Trump administration placed its remaining global workforce on administrative leave and ordered those workers not deemed “critical” to return to the U.S.

The two officials warned that USAID withdrawing from Ukraine would leave its energy grid vulnerable in the heart of the winter as it endures assaults from further Russian missiles.

A State Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Both officials also asserted that USAID plays the foremost role in ensuring financial aid provided to Ukraine is spent for its intended purposes.  

Based on a document obtained by NBC News, the State Department has also ordered the termination of a program focused on “financial sector reform activity.”  

“We won’t have the eyes on where this money has gone over the last few years,” one of the officials said. 

USAID’s Bureau for Europe and Eurasia, which oversees the Ukraine mission, has 115 staff based in Washington, D.C. The bureau’s staff has been told that number would be pared down to 29 employees remaining active, according to the two USAID officials. 

This article first appeared on NBCNews.com. Read more from NBC News here:

• U.K.’s Keir Starmer sees ‘value’ in Trump’s pursuit of Ukrainian mineral rights deal
• Ukraine and U.S. close to reaching mineral deal, but Zelenskyy says he wants security guarantees
• Russia offered U.S. a deal for minerals in Ukrainian territory it seized

The Oval Office shouting match has for now shattered hopes for the minerals deal, which Trump and his allies had presented as an important step forward for Ukraine on the road to peace with Russia more than three years after the war began.

“He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social website after the meeting ended. “He can come back when he is ready for Peace.”

Follow live politics coverage here

Trump dug in further hours later, telling reporters that Zelenskyy “overplayed his hand” and accusing the Ukrainian president of “looking to go on and fight, fight, fight.”

“We’re not looking for somebody that’s going to sign up a strong power and then not make peace because they feel emboldened,” Trump said. “We’re not looking to go into a 10-year war and play games. We want peace.”

After departing the White House, Zelenskyy posted on X, “Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit. Thank you @POTUS, Congress, and the American people. Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that.”

During a Fox News interview Friday evening, Zelenskyy reiterated his appreciation of U.S. support but rebuffed calls to apologize for his comments at the White House.

“I think that we have to be very open and very honest. And I’m not sure that we did something bad,” Zelenskyy said.

Despite Trump’s assertion that Zelenskyy “doesn’t have the cards” to negotiate, the Ukrainian leader remained adamant that security guarantees be included in any agreement to end the war, as well as the rare earth minerals deal drafted by the Trump administration.

The security guarantees, he added, are critical given what he described as a long history of Russian President Vladimir Putin disregarding ceasefire agreements.

Zelenskyy made many of those same points during his meeting with Trump and Vance when the cameras were rolling. A White House official told NBC News that Trump and other U.S. officials later asked Zelenskyy to leave the White House, saying that he was not welcome back on Friday. Zelenskyy abruptly departed the White House, and a planned joint news conference with the two leaders was called off.

The Oval Office exchange underscored the tension that has emerged between the United States and Ukraine — along with many of its European allies — over the tougher line that Trump has taken toward the country since coming into office. He has called Zelenskyy a “dictator“ and falsely said that Ukraine, not Russia, started the war.

Zelenskyy told Fox News that he believes his relationship with Trump could still be salvaged. But he said in the interview that he wants to see signs of Trump favoring Ukraine over Russia.

“I want really, him to be more at our side,” Zelenskyy said. “The war began when Russia brought this war to our country. And they are not right.”

The verbal skirmish in the Oval Office began after Vance said that the path to peace between Russia and Ukraine is diplomacy. Zelenskyy disagreed, noting that Russia had broken agreements with his government in the past.

“He killed our people, and he didn’t exchange prisoners,” Zelenskyy said about Putin. “What kind of diplomacy, JD, you are speaking about? What do you mean?”

“I’m talking about the kind of diplomacy that’s going to end the destruction of your country,” Vance shot back. “I think it’s disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media right now.”

Vance has long opposed U.S. aid to Ukraine. As a senator, he voted against a $95 billion foreign aid package that included substantial funding for Ukraine. As a Senate candidate, Vance said in a 2022 podcast, “I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another.”

When Vance told Zelenskyy on Friday that Ukraine has “manpower problems” in recruiting troops, Zelenskyy challenged Vance, noting he had never even been to his country.

“I’ve actually watched and seen the stories,” Vance responded. “And I know, what happens is you bring people, you bring them on a propaganda tour, Mr. President.”

“Do you think that it’s respectful to come to the Oval Office of the United States of America and attack the administration that is trying to prevent the destruction of your country?” he added.

Zelenskyy said that everyone has “problems” during the war and suggested that the U.S. doesn’t feel the effects of the war because of the “nice ocean” between the two countries. He said the U.S. may not feel the effects now, but added, “You will feel it in the future.”

“Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel because you’re in no position to dictate that,” Trump said, raising his voice and pointing his finger at Zelenskyy. “You’re not in a good position.”

“You’re gambling with World War III,” Trump said. “And what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country — this country.”

“I’ve empowered you to be a tough guy,” Trump said. “And I don’t think you’d be a tough guy without the United States. And your people are very brave, but you’re either going to make a deal or we’re out, and if we’re out, you’ll fight it out.”

Trump and Vance repeatedly suggested that Zelenskyy was not thankful enough to the United States for its assistance.

“You’re not acting at all thankful, and that’s not a nice thing,” Trump said at one point.

“Have you said thank you once, this entire meeting?” Vance also asked.

Zelenskyy has repeatedly thanked the United States for its help. In December 2022, he spoke before both chambers of Congress and his first words were: “Thank you so much. Thank you so much for that. Thank you. It’s too much for me. All this for our great people. Thank you so much. Dear Americans, in all states, cities and communities, all those who value freedom and justice, who cherish it as strongly as we Ukrainians in our cities, in each and every family, I hope my words of respect and gratitude resonate in each American heart.”

Republican allies of the president largely applauded Trump after the meeting. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., an outspoken critic of Putin who has supported U.S. aid to Ukraine, called the meeting a “complete, utter disaster,” and said, “I don’t know if we can ever do business with Zelenskyy again.”

Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Graham — who attended a bipartisan group of senators’ meeting with Zelenskyy earlier Friday — said the Ukrainian leader “either needs to resign and send somebody over that we can do business with, or he needs to change.”

Zelenskyy rebuffed Graham’s suggestion during his Fox News interview, stating that only the Ukrainian people can demand his resignation.

Meanwhile, Trump and Vance’s handling of the meeting stunned Democrats, who said that they were kowtowing to Putin.

“What we saw in the Oval Office today was beyond disgraceful. Trump and Vance berating Zelenskyy — putting on a show of lies and misinformation that would make Putin blush — is an embarrassment for America and a betrayal of our allies. They’re popping champagne in the Kremlin,” wrote Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., who was also part of the meeting with Zelenskyy on Friday morning.

Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., said during an interview on MSNBC that “this is the beginning of the end. Putin starts not only walking all over Ukraine, but walking all over Europe.” Trump has “completely thrown out American tradition, Republican tradition, everything they’ve run on for decades just to be beholden to Putin.”

Zelenskyy’s visit had been expected to focus in large part on a potential deal for the U.S. to access Ukraine’s rare-earth minerals, which are used to make a variety of tech products.

During a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Trump said that the two countries had made progress on an agreement that would grant the U.S. a significant ownership stake in Ukraine’s rare-earth minerals as a form of repayment for Washington’s support of Kyiv since Russia’s invasion.

U.S. officials initiated peace talks with Russian negotiators this month in Saudi Arabia, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio leading the U.S. delegation. It was the first time Russian and American officials had met in person during the Trump administration with the express intent of bringing an end to the war in Ukraine.

Trump has long accused Zelenskyy of taking undue advantage of the U.S. and goading then-President Joe Biden into spending billions of U.S. dollars on a war that “couldn’t be won.”

The minerals agreement, Trump has argued, would serve as reimbursement for the nearly $66 billion in military assistance the U.S. has provided Ukraine over the past three years, and it could create an “economic partnership” between the two countries.

Ukraine has some of the world’s largest reserves of titanium and iron ore. Many of the minerals, however, are in areas controlled by Russian troops, according to U.S. officials.

Russia has proposed a similar deal that would give the U.S. ownership of rare-earth minerals and valuable metals in Russian-controlled Ukrainian territory, an idea that both Trump and Putin have signaled interest in.

Zelenskyy this month rebuffed the initial U.S. offer on rare-earth minerals, saying it did not include strong enough security guarantees for Ukraine.

The rejection, paired with Zelenskyy’s insistence that Ukrainian officials be involved in U.S.-Russia talks to end the war, drew Trump’s fury.

After Zelenskyy accused Trump of living in a Russian “disinformation bubble,” Trump maligned him as “a Dictator without Elections,” arguing without evidence that Zelenskyy decided to postpone elections as Ukraine battles Russia because of low popularity numbers.

Trump later told Fox News that Zelenskyy would hamstring his efforts to negotiate an end to the war.

“I don’t think he’s very important to be at meetings, to be honest with you. He’s been there for three years. He makes it very hard to make deals,” Trump said.

This article first appeared on NBCNews.com. Read more from NBC News here:

• U.K.’s Keir Starmer sees ‘value’ in Trump’s pursuit of Ukrainian mineral rights deal
• Ukraine and U.S. close to reaching mineral deal, but Zelenskyy says he wants security guarantees
• Russia offered U.S. a deal for minerals in Ukrainian territory it seized

Former ballerina Ksenia Karelina was born in Russia but had built a new life as an aesthetician at a Los Angeles spa after immigrating to the United States over a decade ago. She “is on a plane back home to the United States,” having been “wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year,” Rubio said on in a post on X. He credited President Donald Trump with securing her release.

Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, confirmed her release in a statement on Instagram. “Two hours ago she was in touch with her relatives and took off from Abu Dhabi to the U.S.,” he wrote, adding that he had known about her release since Tuesday.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Karelina in January 2024 while she was visiting her parents and young sister in the city Yekaterinburg. It did not provide further details or evidence of her alleged crime.

At the time, Russian legal group Perviy Otdel said it had information that Karelina had donated just over $51.80 from her U.S. bank account on Feb. 24, 2022 — the day that Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — to a charity that sends aid to Ukraine. A spa where she had previously worked confirmed this in a statement on Facebook.

Although Russia’s FSB did not confirm that figure, it said Karelina’s donation “was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces.”

She was sentenced in August to 12 years in a penal colony for “high treason,” having “fully admitted her guilt” at a closed trial in the southwestern Russian city of Yekaterinberg, Sverdlovsky Region Court said in a news release at the time.

The sentence came against the backdrop of Russia’s 3-year-long war with Ukraine during which President Vladimir Putin’s government has cracked down on dissent. Any perceived criticism of the military is banned.

Her release was first reported by The Wall Street Journal which said she was freed in exchange for the release of Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.

NBC News could not independently confirm this and Rubio did not mention this in his tweet.

Karelina’s freedom comes almost exactly two months after American teacher Marc Fogel returned to the U.S. after he spent 3½ years in prison for a minor medical cannabis infraction.

Fogel had been teaching in Russia before authorities picked him up while he was carrying 17 grams of the drug at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow. 

He had been prescribed medical cannabis in the U.S. for backpain, but the drug is illegal in Russia and he was sentenced to 14 years.

Fogel had remained in Russian custody even as U.S. authorities won freedom for other high-profile American detainees, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former-Marine Paul Whelan and WNBA star Brittney Griner.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• The USDA cut $500 million in funding to food banks. Here’s how they’re coping
• Trump orders probes of two former officials who defied him
• Kennedy draws from misinformation playbook by touting an inhaled steroid to treat measles

Former ballerina Ksenia Karelina was born in Russia but had built a new life as an aesthetician at a Los Angeles spa after immigrating to the United States over a decade ago. She “is on a plane back home to the United States,” having been “wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year,” Rubio said on in a post on X. He credited President Donald Trump with securing her release.

Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, confirmed her release in a statement on Instagram. “Two hours ago she was in touch with her relatives and took off from Abu Dhabi to the U.S.,” he wrote, adding that he had known about her release since Tuesday.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Karelina in January 2024 while she was visiting her parents and young sister in the city Yekaterinburg. It did not provide further details or evidence of her alleged crime.

At the time, Russian legal group Perviy Otdel said it had information that Karelina had donated just over $51.80 from her U.S. bank account on Feb. 24, 2022 — the day that Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — to a charity that sends aid to Ukraine. A spa where she had previously worked confirmed this in a statement on Facebook.

Although Russia’s FSB did not confirm that figure, it said Karelina’s donation “was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces.”

She was sentenced in August to 12 years in a penal colony for “high treason,” having “fully admitted her guilt” at a closed trial in the southwestern Russian city of Yekaterinberg, Sverdlovsky Region Court said in a news release at the time.

The sentence came against the backdrop of Russia’s 3-year-long war with Ukraine during which President Vladimir Putin’s government has cracked down on dissent. Any perceived criticism of the military is banned.

Her release was first reported by The Wall Street Journal which said she was freed in exchange for the release of Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.

NBC News could not independently confirm this and Rubio did not mention this in his tweet.

Karelina’s freedom comes almost exactly two months after American teacher Marc Fogel returned to the U.S. after he spent 3½ years in prison for a minor medical cannabis infraction.

Fogel had been teaching in Russia before authorities picked him up while he was carrying 17 grams of the drug at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow. 

He had been prescribed medical cannabis in the U.S. for backpain, but the drug is illegal in Russia and he was sentenced to 14 years.

Fogel had remained in Russian custody even as U.S. authorities won freedom for other high-profile American detainees, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former-Marine Paul Whelan and WNBA star Brittney Griner.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• The USDA cut $500 million in funding to food banks. Here’s how they’re coping
• Trump orders probes of two former officials who defied him
• Kennedy draws from misinformation playbook by touting an inhaled steroid to treat measles

Former ballerina Ksenia Karelina was born in Russia but had built a new life as an aesthetician at a Los Angeles spa after immigrating to the United States over a decade ago. She “is on a plane back home to the United States,” having been “wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year,” Rubio said on in a post on X. He credited President Donald Trump with securing her release.

Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, confirmed her release in a statement on Instagram. “Two hours ago she was in touch with her relatives and took off from Abu Dhabi to the U.S.,” he wrote, adding that he had known about her release since Tuesday.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Karelina in January 2024 while she was visiting her parents and young sister in the city Yekaterinburg. It did not provide further details or evidence of her alleged crime.

At the time, Russian legal group Perviy Otdel said it had information that Karelina had donated just over $51.80 from her U.S. bank account on Feb. 24, 2022 — the day that Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — to a charity that sends aid to Ukraine. A spa where she had previously worked confirmed this in a statement on Facebook.

Although Russia’s FSB did not confirm that figure, it said Karelina’s donation “was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces.”

She was sentenced in August to 12 years in a penal colony for “high treason,” having “fully admitted her guilt” at a closed trial in the southwestern Russian city of Yekaterinberg, Sverdlovsky Region Court said in a news release at the time.

The sentence came against the backdrop of Russia’s 3-year-long war with Ukraine during which President Vladimir Putin’s government has cracked down on dissent. Any perceived criticism of the military is banned.

Her release was first reported by The Wall Street Journal which said she was freed in exchange for the release of Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.

NBC News could not independently confirm this and Rubio did not mention this in his tweet.

Karelina’s freedom comes almost exactly two months after American teacher Marc Fogel returned to the U.S. after he spent 3½ years in prison for a minor medical cannabis infraction.

Fogel had been teaching in Russia before authorities picked him up while he was carrying 17 grams of the drug at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow. 

He had been prescribed medical cannabis in the U.S. for backpain, but the drug is illegal in Russia and he was sentenced to 14 years.

Fogel had remained in Russian custody even as U.S. authorities won freedom for other high-profile American detainees, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former-Marine Paul Whelan and WNBA star Brittney Griner.

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Trump’s post on Truth Social included a number of inaccuracies — Zelenskyy was elected president, for example — and followed the administration’s attempt to reset relations with Russia by holding high-level talks on ending the war in Ukraine, among other things.

The exchange comes at a crucial time for Ukraine, which is struggling to lock in Western support to fight Russian invaders who have occupied 20% of the country and regularly bomb its cities and infrastructure.

Trump also called Zelenskyy a “modestly successful comedian” who “talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn’t be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the U.S. and ‘TRUMP,’ will never be able to settle.”

“A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left,” Trump wrote.

Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday called Zelensky’s comments “disgraceful.”

“He is attacking the only reason this country exists, publicly, right now,” Vance said in an interview with The National Pulse. “And it’s disgraceful. And it’s not something that is going to move the President of the United States. In fact, it’s going to have the opposite effect.”

Several Republican senators said Wednesday that they disagreed with Trump’s comments about Zelensky, but they stopped short of criticizing the president directly.

“I don’t agree,” Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said when asked for her reaction to Trump’s comments.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said that “to the extent that the White House said that Ukraine started the war, I disagree. I think Vladimir Putin started the war.”

Zelenskyy said Wednesday afternoon on X that he had spoken to Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who he said is “constructive and doing a lot to help bring peace closer. It’s all-important that security guarantees remain on the table—and that they work for Ukraine, for real and lasting peace.” The two appeared on the same panel at the Munich Security Conference last week.

Zelenskyy, who was a popular actor and comedian before running for president, earlier referred to U.S. support given to Ukraine so far — $67 billion in weapons and $31.5 billion. He added that American demands that Ukraine should hand over more than $500 billion in rare earth minerals was “not a serious conversation” and added that he cannot sell his country.

Zelenskyy’s pugnacious comments about not wanting “anyone making decisions behind our backs” came in response to Trump saying that Ukraine was responsible for Russia’s invasion.

White House national security adviser Mike Waltz said Wednesday in an interview on Fox News that no one should criticize Trump for trying to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict. “What he said yesterday and today is, why hasn’t President Zelenskyy tried to end this war for the betterment of his country? And we have to ask ourselves, is Ukraine’s position improving or not on the battlefield?” he said.

Waltz also added that there has been “bizarre pushback and escalation of rhetoric” over the Trump administration’s proposal to invest in Ukrainian infrastructure and rare minerals.

In Kyiv, meanwhile, ordinary Ukrainians reiterated their support for Zelenskyy, while keeping an anxious eye on the rapprochement between Trump and Putin.

“I don’t like Trump’s flirting with Putin,” said 49-year-old Fedir Logvynenko. “I don’t quite understand whether it’s from great intelligence or from complete incompetence.”

He added that he agreed with Zelenskyy’s position of refusing to “accept an agreement on Ukraine without Ukraine,” also reserving criticism for Ukraine’s European allies.

Yuliya Antonyuk, a 42-year-old real estate agent, meanwhile, said that Ukrainians “couldn’t cope without American weapons and support.”

“I want people to stop dying every day. I want to sleep calmly,” she said, adding that it would be “impossible” to hold presidential elections in the country given the current conditions “as there is shelling all the time.”

On Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held talks in Saudi Arabia, which alarmed and distressed Ukrainians and European allies who said any decision on ending the war had to include them.

Trump said that the U.S. is “successfully negotiating an end to the War with Russia” and that “Zelenskyy probably wants to keep the ‘gravy train’ going.”

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Trump earlier claimed that Zelenskyy had approval ratings of just 4%, even thought an opinion poll released Wednesday by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology showed that 57% of Ukrainians trust him.

“As we are talking about 4%, we have seen this disinformation, we understand it’s coming from Russia,” Zelenskyy told a news conference in Kyiv on Wednesday.

Earlier this month, a Pew Research Center poll showed that 47% of Americans approve of Trump’s job performance to some extent.

Zelenskyy added that any attempts to replace him during the war would fail — Trump’s questions about Ukrainian elections following Putin’s repeated assertions that Zelenskyy is not Ukraine’s legitimate leader — contending that the overwhelming majority of Ukrainians would not support concessions to Russia.

Trump also wrote that “MILLIONS have unnecessarily died” in the war.

It is not known how many have died since Russia and Ukraine do not release casualty numbers, but reliable estimates put the number of those killed at a fraction of 1 million.

Trump echoed criticism from Putin, who has ruled Russia for all but four of the past 25 years via elections widely considered illegitimate but has repeatedly questioned the legitimacy of Zelenskyy’s continuing leadership.

Ukraine last held a presidential election in 2019 and was due to have one last April, but Zelenskyy has said in the past that it is not possible for Ukrainians to go to the polls in wartime and that view is also backed up by the country’s constitution.

Speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort late Tuesday, Trump said he believed he had the power to end the war in Ukraine, “but today I heard, ‘Oh, well, we weren’t invited.’ Well, you’ve been there for three years.”

“You should have never started it,” he added.

The reaction in Moscow to the broader change in direction of U.S. foreign policy has been more upbeat. Speaking to Russian lawmakers Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov did not directly address Trump’s comments but suggested the Kremlin was pleased with the talks.

The U.S. president is “the first, and so far, apparently, the only Western leader who has publicly and loudly said that one of the root causes of the Ukrainian situation was the brazen path of the previous administration to draw Ukraine into NATO,” Lavrov said. “No Western leader has ever said this.”

“This is already a signal that he understands our position,” Lavrov added, in a speech that covered the broader second Trump administration rather than the president’s specific remarks Tuesday.

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The pugnacious response followed Trump’s surprising comments Tuesday that Ukraine was responsible for Russia’s invasion of the country three years ago. Trump also argued that Kyiv could have made a deal to avoid the conflict.

The president added that his Ukrainian counterpart’s approval ratings sat at 4% in Ukraine — despite an opinion poll released Wednesday by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology showing that 57% of Ukrainians trust Zelenskyy.

“As we are talking about 4%, we have seen this disinformation, we understand it’s coming from Russia,” Zelenskyy told a news conference in Kyiv Wednesday, as he dismissed Trump’s claim.

He added that any attempts to replace him during the war would fail — Trump raised the question of Ukrainian elections following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s repeated assertions that Zelenskyy is not Ukraine’s legitimate leader — contending that the overwhelming majority of Ukrainians would not support concessions to Russia.

“The army is quite resilient, and it is the most resilient in Europe … and it guarantees us the opportunity to speak with dignity and on an equal footing with other partners — allies or non-allies,” Zelenskyy said.

Referring to U.S. support given to Ukraine so far — $67 billion in weapons and $31.5 billion in budgetary support — Zelenskyy said that American demands that Ukraine should hand over $500 billion in minerals was “not a serious conversation” and added that he cannot sell his country.

Zelenskyy’s statements came the day after President Trump responded to remarks the Ukrainian leader had made earlier about not wanting “anyone making decisions behind our backs.”

Speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort late Tuesday, Trump said he believed he had the power to end the war in Ukraine, “but today I heard, ‘Oh, well, we weren’t invited.’ Well, you’ve been there for three years.”

“You should have never started it,” he added. “You could have made a deal.”

The reaction in Moscow to the broader change in direction of U.S. foreign policy has been more upbeat. Speaking to Russian lawmakers on Wednesday, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov did not directly address Trump’s comments but he suggested the Kremlin was pleased with talks so far.

The U.S. president is, “the first, and so far, apparently, the only Western leader who has publicly and loudly said that one of the root causes of the Ukrainian situation was the brazen path of the previous administration to draw Ukraine into NATO,” Lavrov said. “No Western leader has ever said this,”

“This is already a signal that he understands our position,” Lavrov added, in a speech that covered the broader second Trump administration rather than the president’s specific remarks on Tuesday.

The Kremlin will also have been pleased with Trump’s comment that Ukrainians may be asking about the status of the country’s next election.

In doing so, the president echoed the criticisms of Vladimir Putin, who has ruled Russia for all but four of the past 25 years, but has repeatedly questioned the electoral legitimacy of Zelenskyy’s continuing leadership.

Ukraine last held a presidential election in 2019 and was due to have held one last April, but Zelenskyy has said in the past that it is not possible for Ukrainians to go to the polls in wartime and that view is also backed up by the country’s constitution.

According to a Pew Research Center poll released earlier this month, 47% of Americans approve of President Trump’s job performance to some extent.

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“You should have never started it,” Trump said of Ukraine while criticizing President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who had expressed concern that his country was not included in talks between the U.S. and Russia in Saudi Arabia.

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“I think I have the power to end this war, and I think it’s going very well. But today I heard, ‘Oh, well, we weren’t invited.’ Well, you’ve been there for three years,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort. “You should have never started it. You could have made a deal.”

Trump went on to say: “I could have made a deal for Ukraine that would have given them almost all of the land, everything, almost all of the land, and no people would have been killed, and no city would have been demolished, and not one dome would have been knocked down. But they chose not to do it that way.”

The Ukrainian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump’s remarks.

The U.S. and Russia on Tuesday agreed to re-establish embassy staffing, diverging from previous American policy on the matter. Zelenskyy said earlier Tuesday that “Ukraine did not know anything about it.”

Trump, who said last week that he and President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone about ending the war, has made several comments bolstering the Russian president. He said during an interview with Fox News last month that Ukraine should not have fought when it was invaded by Russia.

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Trump also criticized Zelenskyy when asked by reporters if the U.S. would support Ukraine holding new elections as part of a potential peace deal with Russia.

“When they want a seat at the table, you could say the people have to, wouldn’t the people of Ukraine have to say, like, ‘You know, it’s been a long time since we’ve had an election.’ That’s not a Russia thing. That’s something coming from me and coming from many other countries also,” Trump said.

Ukraine last held a presidential election in 2019.

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Former ballerina Ksenia Karelina was born in Russia but had built a new life as an aesthetician at a Los Angeles spa after immigrating to the United States over a decade ago. She “is on a plane back home to the United States,” having been “wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year,” Rubio said on in a post on X. He credited President Donald Trump with securing her release.

Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, confirmed her release in a statement on Instagram. “Two hours ago she was in touch with her relatives and took off from Abu Dhabi to the U.S.,” he wrote, adding that he had known about her release since Tuesday.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Karelina in January 2024 while she was visiting her parents and young sister in the city Yekaterinburg. It did not provide further details or evidence of her alleged crime.

At the time, Russian legal group Perviy Otdel said it had information that Karelina had donated just over $51.80 from her U.S. bank account on Feb. 24, 2022 — the day that Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — to a charity that sends aid to Ukraine. A spa where she had previously worked confirmed this in a statement on Facebook.

Although Russia’s FSB did not confirm that figure, it said Karelina’s donation “was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces.”

She was sentenced in August to 12 years in a penal colony for “high treason,” having “fully admitted her guilt” at a closed trial in the southwestern Russian city of Yekaterinberg, Sverdlovsky Region Court said in a news release at the time.

The sentence came against the backdrop of Russia’s 3-year-long war with Ukraine during which President Vladimir Putin’s government has cracked down on dissent. Any perceived criticism of the military is banned.

Her release was first reported by The Wall Street Journal which said she was freed in exchange for the release of Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.

NBC News could not independently confirm this and Rubio did not mention this in his tweet.

Karelina’s freedom comes almost exactly two months after American teacher Marc Fogel returned to the U.S. after he spent 3½ years in prison for a minor medical cannabis infraction.

Fogel had been teaching in Russia before authorities picked him up while he was carrying 17 grams of the drug at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow. 

He had been prescribed medical cannabis in the U.S. for backpain, but the drug is illegal in Russia and he was sentenced to 14 years.

Fogel had remained in Russian custody even as U.S. authorities won freedom for other high-profile American detainees, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former-Marine Paul Whelan and WNBA star Brittney Griner.

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Former ballerina Ksenia Karelina was born in Russia but had built a new life as an aesthetician at a Los Angeles spa after immigrating to the United States over a decade ago. She “is on a plane back home to the United States,” having been “wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year,” Rubio said on in a post on X. He credited President Donald Trump with securing her release.

Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, confirmed her release in a statement on Instagram. “Two hours ago she was in touch with her relatives and took off from Abu Dhabi to the U.S.,” he wrote, adding that he had known about her release since Tuesday.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Karelina in January 2024 while she was visiting her parents and young sister in the city Yekaterinburg. It did not provide further details or evidence of her alleged crime.

At the time, Russian legal group Perviy Otdel said it had information that Karelina had donated just over $51.80 from her U.S. bank account on Feb. 24, 2022 — the day that Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — to a charity that sends aid to Ukraine. A spa where she had previously worked confirmed this in a statement on Facebook.

Although Russia’s FSB did not confirm that figure, it said Karelina’s donation “was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces.”

She was sentenced in August to 12 years in a penal colony for “high treason,” having “fully admitted her guilt” at a closed trial in the southwestern Russian city of Yekaterinberg, Sverdlovsky Region Court said in a news release at the time.

The sentence came against the backdrop of Russia’s 3-year-long war with Ukraine during which President Vladimir Putin’s government has cracked down on dissent. Any perceived criticism of the military is banned.

Her release was first reported by The Wall Street Journal which said she was freed in exchange for the release of Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.

NBC News could not independently confirm this and Rubio did not mention this in his tweet.

Karelina’s freedom comes almost exactly two months after American teacher Marc Fogel returned to the U.S. after he spent 3½ years in prison for a minor medical cannabis infraction.

Fogel had been teaching in Russia before authorities picked him up while he was carrying 17 grams of the drug at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow. 

He had been prescribed medical cannabis in the U.S. for backpain, but the drug is illegal in Russia and he was sentenced to 14 years.

Fogel had remained in Russian custody even as U.S. authorities won freedom for other high-profile American detainees, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former-Marine Paul Whelan and WNBA star Brittney Griner.

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Ukraine boasts vast reserves of ilmenite — a key element used to produce titanium — in the heavy mineral sands that stretch for miles along the country’s embattled east.

Much of it, as with all of Ukraine’s critical minerals industry, is underdeveloped because of war as well as onerous state policies.

That is poised to change if U.S. President Donald Trump‘s administration agrees to a deal with Ukraine to exchange critical minerals for continued American military aid.

In the central region of Kirovohrad, the ilmenite open-pit mine is a canyon of precious deposits that its owner is keen to develop with U.S. companies. But many unknowns stand in the way of turning these riches into profit: cost, licensing terms and whether such a deal will be underpinned by security guarantees.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday at the Munich Security Conference that he did not permit his ministers to sign a mineral resource agreement with the U.S. because the current version is not “ready to protect us, our interests.”

Ukrainian businessmen with knowledge of the minerals industry also privately expressed skepticism about whether a deal is viable. The capital-intensive industry is unlikely to yield results in years, if not decades, as geological data is either limited or classified. Many question what conditions American companies are willing to risk to build up the industry and whether existing Ukrainian policies that have so far deterred local businessmen will accommodate foreign investors.

“The main thing we can gain is certain security guarantees obtained through economic means, so that someone stronger than us has an interest in protecting us,” said Andriy Brodsky, CEO of Velta, a leading titanium mining company in Ukraine.

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The question of security guarantees

A deal, which would essentially barter one resource for another, could help strengthen Kyiv’s relationship with the Trump administration.

The United States is a major consumer of critical raw earth minerals such as lithium and gallium, two elements that Ukraine has in proven reserves. Trump has specifically mentioned rare earth elements, but these are not well researched, industry experts told The Associated Press.

Titanium, used in aerospace, defense and industry, is also high in demand and the U.S. is a leading importer of ilmenite. Sourcing the minerals from Ukraine would reduce future reliance on Russia and China.

In exchange, Kyiv would continue to receive a steady stream of American weaponry that offers leverage against Moscow and without which Ukraine cannot ward off future Russian aggression in the event of a ceasefire.

The question of security guarantees is a sticking point for companies, Ukrainian businessmen and analysts said. A senior Ukrainian official, speaking anonymously to describe private conversations, told the AP that U.S. companies expressed interest in investing but needed to ensure their billions will be safeguarded in the event of renewed conflict. But once invested in Ukraine, the presence of American business interests alone might act as a guarantee, Brodsky said.

“If this process starts, it will continue,” Brodsky said. “Once the investment figures exceed hundreds of billions, the Americans, a highly pragmatic people, will protect their profits earned on Ukrainian soil. They will defend their interests against Russia, China, Korea, Iran and anyone else. They will protect what they consider theirs.”

Growing American interest

Brodsky, who just returned from a trip to Washington and New York, said the conversation among U.S. businesses is changing in Kyiv’s favor.

“A lot of people in very serious and wealthy offices are saying that now, we — our country and my company — are in the right place and doing exactly what needs to be done at this moment,” he said.

Velta has worked with American partners for many years. Brodsky has begun negotiating with companies he believes could be a partner in the event of a deal.

Ukraine has never been attractive to foreign investors because of prohibitive government policies — not offering incentives to attract foreigners, for instance. Brodsky believes that international companies will need to pair up with local partners to flourish.

American companies have several ways to enter the market, explained Ksenia Orynchak, director of the National Association of Extractive Industries of Ukraine, but would require traversing “certain circles of hell” in Ukraine’s bureaucracy. Teaming up with an existing Ukrainian license owner is possibly the most straightforward.

She said more exploration is needed in the field and hinted existing data may have been acquired through ulterior motives. Under the Soviet system, geologists stood to gain if they claimed to have found large reserves.

“Someone did it so that Moscow would praise Ukrainian geologists or Soviet geologists,” she said.

She advises American investors to lower existing thresholds for exploration because bidding can take place in areas where reserves are only presumed, not proven.

“I believe, and so does the expert community, that this is not right. In fact, we are selling a pig in a poke,” she said.

A historically untapped sector

At the extraction site, the air is dense with ilmenite dust. When the afternoon sun’s rays pierce the darkened space, they sparkle and dance in the air. The soot covers the faces of workers who spend hours inside every day extracting the precious material from sand.

The gravity separation method removes unwanted elements in the ore and water separated from the mineral rains down through metal-lined floors. Workers are used to getting wet and don’t bat an eye. Titanium is developed from the purified ilmenite at a different facility.

Velta began in the form of an expired license for geological exploration and a business plan for $7 million when Brodsky acquired the company. It would be eight years and many millions more invested before he could even think about production capacity.

The deal also does not factor in a crucial element that could prove challenging later: The position of Ukrainian people themselves. According to the Constitution, the subsoil where extraction would take place belongs to Ukraine.

“I am very afraid that they (Ukrainian people) already had disapproving reviews, that everything is being given away. Who allowed him? He had no right? And so on,” Orynchak said.

Those sensitivities were echoed among workers at the Velta mine. Speaking anonymously to voice his true thoughts, one said: “If you have a vegetable garden in your home, do you invite a foreigner to take it?”

The high risk often is a key reason that some Ukrainian businessmen privately express skepticism about the deal.

When one businessman of a major group of companies heard about the arms-for-minerals deal, his first impression was: “This is just hot air,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity to speak freely about his thoughts. “This is a very capital intensive industry. Just to take ground from an open pit will cost you billions. Not millions, billions.”

___

Associated Press journalists Kwiyeon Ha in London and Volodymyr Yurchuk contributed. Arhirova reported from Kyiv.

The timing of the travel was not specified, and it is unclear whether the trio have already departed.

The move comes just days after President Donald Trump said he spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about the prospect of beginning negotiations to end the war.

“We agreed to work together, very closely, including visiting each other’s Nations,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Wednesday after the call. “We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately.”

Senior Trump administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance, Rubio and U.S. special envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg, have been huddling in Germany this weekend for the Munich Security Conference, a forum for international security policy where the Russia-Ukraine war remains a critical topic of discussion.

Rubio spoke by phone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Saturday. Their discussion included the war in Ukraine and other topics, according to readouts of the call from both countries.

During a speech at the security conference Saturday, Zelenskyy said Ukraine must be involved with any negotiations to end the war.

“Ukraine will never accept deals made behind our backs,” he said. “No decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine, no decisions about Europe without Europe.”

During a panel discussion Saturday on the sidelines of the conference, Kellogg said that “of course” Ukrainians would be at the table in discussions to end the war. However, he said “the answer is no” when asked whether he could assure Europeans that they too would have a seat at the table.

“When you sit at the table, there’s really, there’s two protagonists when you look at it, and there’s one, hopefully it’ll be an intermediary,” Kellogg added. When the moderator asked for clarification, he indicated that Ukrainians, Russians and Americans would be “at the table talking.”

He later said that a group not being at the table “doesn’t mean the interests are not taking a part of, they’re not considered, they’re not used, they’re not developed.”

Kellogg on Saturday defended the prospect of engaging with Putin in an effort to achieve peace between Russia and Ukraine, saying in Munich, “Whether you like it or not, you have to talk to adversaries.”

“As a great secretary of defense, Gen. Mattis, once said: I may not like this son of a b—-, but I got to talk to him,” he added.

Kellogg also said that Western leaders need to do more to enforce sanctions against Russia, adding that negotiations about ending the war could focus on Russia’s willingness to cede territory and targeting Putin’s oil revenue.

But some members of the administration have seemed reluctant in recent days to specify any particular concessions from Russia ahead of potential negotiations.

Asked Thursday what Russia should give up in order to reach a deal with Ukraine, Trump declined to name specifics.

“As far as the negotiation, it’s too early to say what’s going to happen. Maybe Russia will give up a lot, maybe they won’t, and it’s all dependent on what is going to happen,” Trump said during a news conference alongside Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has signaled the U.S. would be opposed to Ukraine joining NATO as part of a negotiated peace, indicated that the U.S. is likely to support negotiations in which Ukraine cedes territory that’s already been seized by the Kremlin.

“We want, like you, a sovereign and prosperous Ukraine. But we must start by recognizing that returning to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective,” Hegseth said in a speech during a trip to NATO’s headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday.

Abigail Williams, Nnamdi Egwuonwu and Megan Lebowitz contributed.

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“Probably it will be very, very, very difficult. And of course, in all the difficult situations, you have a chance,” Zelenskyy told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. “But we will have low chance, low chance, to survive without support of the United States. I think it’s very important, critical.”

“I don’t want to think about” fighting against Russia without American support, Zelenskyy told “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker.

“I don’t want to think that we will not be strategic partners,” he added.

news Feb 15

‘I'm on Trump time:' Kellogg says Russia-Ukraine peace plan could come in days or weeks

Russia-Ukraine War Feb 14

Trump officials pitch Zelenskyy on U.S. owning 50% of Ukraine's rare earth minerals

Russia-Ukraine War Feb 12

Trump says he and Putin have agreed to begin ‘negotiations' on ending Ukraine war

The Ukrainian president also spoke about his concern that Ukraine would be vulnerable to another major attack by Russia in the future if the U.S. does not continue providing military support.

Zelenskyy said that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to come to the negotiating table not to end the war but to get a ceasefire deal that would lift certain international sanctions on Russia and would allow its military to regroup.

“This is really what he wants. He wants pause, prepare, train, take off some sanctions, because of ceasefire and et cetera,” Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy’s comments came during a fractious summit in Germany, where Vice President JD Vance criticized European leaders on a host of issues unrelated to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including failing to stand up for “values shared with the United States of America.”

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier presented his own unvarnished view in response, saying that the Trump administration had “no regard for established rules, partnership and grown trust.” 

The widening gulf between Europe and the United States comes at an especially delicate time for Zelenskyy and an exhausted and depleted Ukraine. While the war appears to have descended into a quagmire, Russian forces have been making slow if painful progress. Russia controls some 20% of the country, which is in dire need of weapons and soldiers. 

Ukraine and its supporters always knew that the incoming White House would take a vastly different tack from former President Joe Biden, who backed Ukrainian victory while sometimes not giving Kyiv all the weapons it wanted in its fight against Russia.

But the words and actions of Trump and his surrogates this week have stunned and even appalled many in Europe, where it’s widely held that it is not in the West’s interest to not hand Russia a win in Ukraine.

Vance’s speech felt like he was trying “to pick a fight with us, and we don’t want to a pick a fight with our friends,” E.U. foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said at the Munich summit.

But officials and experts fear Trump risks doing just that, with the president this week appearing to prioritize Putin over Zelenskyy or European allies in any potential peace talks. Trump’s administration also floated major concessions to Putin — including giveaways on Ukrainian territory and dismissing any hope that it may join NATO.

Zelenskyy has kept a brave face, but has little choice to do otherwise, some observers say. He recently told The Economist that he did not believe the U.S. had a “ready plan” for peace, while remaining adamant he would reject any agreement negotiated between Washington and Moscow without his involvement. 

Trump “is a strong man,” the Ukrainian leader said Friday during a panel discussion at the conference with U.S. senators. “And if he will choose our side, and if he will not be in the middle, I think he will pressure and he will push Putin to stop the war. He can do it.”

Though Trump signaled little for Ukraine in return, Vance offered some succor to Kyiv and its European neighbors, suggesting in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that Moscow could face sanctions and other penalties.

“There are economic tools of leverage, there are of course military tools of leverage,” Vance told the newspaper. “There are any number of formulations, of configurations, but we do care about Ukraine having sovereign independence.” 

Europe is not just worried about Ukraine but fears what Putin might do next if he’s seen to be rewarded after his invasion there. European intelligence agencies say Russia could attack a NATO ally in the next five years if it believes the alliance has been weakened — as Trump is often accused of doing.

Russia’s three-year-old invasion is the bloodiest European conflict since World War II, reviving scenes of trench warfare and tank battles that some scholars believed were consigned to history. As many as 1 million people have died, according to NATO estimates, including hundreds of thousands of both Ukrainian and Russian soldiers.

The alliance believes an average of 10,000 people have been killed or injured every week in the frigid, cratered fields of eastern Ukraine.

This article originally appeared on NBCNews.com. Read more from NBC News:

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Rather than pay for the minerals, the ownership agreement would be a way for Ukraine to reimburse the U.S. for the billions of dollars in weapons and support its provided to Kyiv since the war began in February 2022, two of the officials said.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent presented the proposal for the U.S. to own half of Ukraine’s rare earth minerals to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a draft contract he brought to their meeting on Wednesday in Kyiv, according to eight U.S. officials briefed on the meeting.

After that meeting, Bessent said the draft of a U.S.-Ukraine rare earth minerals agreement reflected the president’s goal, but he did not provide details of what the administration had proposed.

Zelenskyy declined to sign the document when Bessent presented it during their meeting, saying he needed to study it and consult others about it, the eight U.S. officials briefed on the meeting said.

The Ukrainian leader said at the time that he and his team “will do everything to review all details of the document” before his arrival in Munich, where he met Friday with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio as well as U.S. lawmakers on the sidelines of a global security conference.

The Ukrainian Embassy in Washington and a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday.

Zelenskyy said during his speech Friday at the security conference that his lawyers would weigh in on the document Bessent presented to him in Kyiv with advice and some changes. He referred to the proposal as memorandum between the U.S. and Ukraine, not a security agreement.

President Donald Trump in recent months has expressed interest in striking a deal with Ukraine that would grant the U.S. significant access to its rare earth minerals, which are used to make a variety of technology products.

In a recent interview with Fox News, Trump said he wants the U.S. to get $500 billion worth of Ukraine’s rare earth minerals, and signaled Kyiv had “essentially agreed to do so.”

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office this month that he would view access to the minerals as a form of “security.”

“I want to have the security of rare earth. We’re putting in hundreds of billions of dollars. They have great rare earth, and I want security of the rare earth, and they’re willing to do it,” Trump said.

Many of Ukraine’s minerals are in areas now controlled by Russian troops, three U.S. officials said.

Ukrainian officials have said Zelenskyy has long backed the idea of exchanging “critical resources” for continued U.S. support, calling the idea part of the “Victory Plan” that he presented to Trump during a meeting last fall.

In an exclusive interview Friday at the Munich Security Conference, Zelenskyy told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker that it would be “very, very difficult” for Ukraine to survive without U.S. military support.

“In all the difficult situations, you have a chance. But we will have low chance — low chance to survive without support of the United States. I think it’s very important, critical,” Zelenskyy said.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said this week that U.S. troops would not be deployed to Ukraine as part of any security guarantees for the country. The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Vance said in an interview with the newspaper that the U.S. sending troops to Ukraine is “on the table” if Russia does not negotiate a peace agreement in good faith.

Trump has long bristled at the amount of American support for Ukraine, referring to Zelenskyy at a past campaign event as “the greatest salesman of all time.”

“Every time Zelenskyy comes to the United States, he walks away with $100 billion,” Trump said in September. “I think he’s the greatest salesman on Earth. But we’re stuck in that war unless I’m president.”

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The vice president used the podium at the high-level security gathering that had been focusing on the invasion of Ukraine and the threat Russia poses Europe and the rest of the world to raise social issues animating many on the American right.

“The threat that I worry the most about vis-à-vis Europe is not Russia. It’s not China. It’s not any external actor,” he said at the Munich Security Conference in Germany. “What I worry about is the threat from within — the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America.”

He added: “I’ve heard a lot about what you need to defend yourselves from and of course, that’s important. But what has seemed a little bit less clear to me … is what exactly you’re defending yourselves for?”

The vice president’s comments were met with an icy reception and only scattered applause — and groans when he joked about how if American democracy could “survive 10 years of Greta Thunberg scolding, you guys can survive a few months of Elon Musk.”

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius denounced Vance’s remarks during a session at the conference later in the day, saying in German that it was “not acceptable” that the U.S. vice president compared “the condition of Europe with the condition that prevails in some auto-authoritarian regimes.”

“This is not acceptable,” Pistorius said. “This is not the Europe, not the democracy where I live and where I conduct my election campaign right now. And this is not the democracy that I witness every day in our parliament. In our democracy, every opinion has a voice.”

“I was in the room in Munich for VP Vance’s speech,” Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., wrote in a post on X. “No talk about Russia, Ukraine, China. Just criticisms of our allies and focus on “the threat from within.” His speech is going to embolden our adversaries who will see this as a green light to act while America is distracted/divided.”

A rift between the U.S. and Europe had been growing after President Donald Trump was accused of excluding Kyiv and the continent from peace talks to end the nearly three-year war in Ukraine.

Throughout the event, European leaders appeared to ramp up their criticism of the Trump administration’s handling of peace efforts.

“The new American administration has a very different world view to ours, one that has no regard for established rules, partnership and grown trust,” German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said at the conference Friday, prior to Vance’s comments.

“We have to accept that and we can deal with it. But I am convinced that it is not in the interests of the international community for this worldview to become the dominant paradigm,” said Steinmeier, whose post is largely ceremonial, according to Reuters.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the world had reached a “moment in history” where “great challenges loom,” as she called on the international community to hold Russian President Vladimir Putin accountable for proving “he has given up” a bid to “destroy Ukraine.”

There is growing alarm across Europe after what Trump described as a “lengthy and highly productive” conversation with Putin about ending the war in Ukraine.

Trump was accused of shutting Kyiv and Europe out of peace talks, while comments he made about the future of Ukraine prompted fear and anger in that country and across Europe.

Speaking at the security conference Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had spoken with Trump and warned the American president not to believe Putin when he said he wanted to be part of a peace process.

“I said to him that he is a liar,” Zelenskyy said he told Trump about Putin, adding that he urged the U.S. president to increase pressure on Putin because, he said, “I don’t trust him.”

Zelenskyy said it’s important that no decisions about Ukraine are made without Ukraine. He also said that in his first phone call with Joe Biden, the then-president told him Ukraine could not join NATO. The United States “never saw us in NATO,” Zelenskyy told attendees. “They just spoke about it, but they really didn’t want us in NATO.”

Friday’s security conference comes amid growing concerns over what actions Moscow might take if it is handed a win in Ukraine, particularly amid Trump’s suggestions that the U.S. would not defend NATO allies if they are attacked.

Last year, NATO members had indicated that Ukraine was on an “irreversible path” to eventual membership in the alliance. But both Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have indicated that NATO membership and Ukraine regaining lost territory are effectively off the table. 

Earlier, Vance may have offered European allies some reassurance in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, warning that Russia could face more sanctions and even military action if it refuses to agree to a deal ensuring Ukraine‘s long-term independence.

“There are economic tools of leverage, there are of course military tools of leverage,” Vance told the newspaper, describing the possible pressures the U.S. could apply. “There are any number of formulations, of configurations, but we do care about Ukraine having sovereign independence.”

He did not expand on those comments during his address at Friday’s security conference.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Friday condemned any plan for peace talks that does not involve Ukrainians and Europeans.

“A sham peace — over the heads of Ukrainians and Europeans — would gain nothing,” Baerbock said in a statement as the security conference got underway. “A sham peace would not bring lasting security, neither for the people in Ukraine nor for us in Europe or the United States,” she said, according to Reuters.

Baerbock called for talks between U.S. and international partners to be held at the Munich conference, an annual gathering of political and military leaders, as well as diplomats.

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Trump said he spent more than an hour on the phone with Putin and “I think we’re on the way to getting peace.” He noted that he later spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but he was noncommittal about whether Ukraine would be an equal participant in U.S. negotiations with Russia.

“I think President Putin wants peace and President Zelenskyy wants peace and I want peace,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “I just want to see people stop being killed.”

Of his conversation with Putin, Trump said, “People didn’t really know what President Putin’s thoughts were. But I think I can say with great confidence, he wants to see it ended also, so that’s good — and we’re going to work toward getting it ended and as fast as possible.”

Trump noted that he would “probably” meet in person with Putin in the near term, suggesting that could happen in Saudi Arabia.

Trump speaking to Putin sent a potentially dramatic signal that Washington and Moscow could work to hammer out a deal to end fighting in Ukraine by going around that country’s government. Doing so would break with the Biden administration, which steadfastly insisted Kyiv would be a full participant in any decisions made.

Asked specifically about Ukraine being an equal member in the peace process, Trump responded, “Interesting question. I think they have to make peace.”

In another blow to Ukraine’s aspirations, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said at NATO headquarters in Brussels that NATO membership was unrealistic for Ukraine, it should abandon hopes of winning all its territory back from Russia and any security guarantees for Kyiv would have to be borne by European countries.

“I don’t think it’s practical to have it, personally,” Trump said later about NATO membership for Ukraine. He added that Hegseth had said “it’s unlikely or impractical. I think probably that’s true.”

After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the Biden administration joined other NATO members in vowing that membership in the Western military alliance was “inevitable.”

Trump said Wednesday of Russia: “I think long before President Putin, they said there’s no way they’d allow that.”

”They’ve been saying that for a long time that Ukraine cannot go into NATO,” Trump said. “And I’m OK with that.”

Response from Zelenskyy and the Kremlin

Despite all that, Zelenskyy sought to put a brave face on what many in Ukraine will see as a major disappointment. In a social media post, he said he had “a meaningful conversation” with Trump that included discussion of “opportunities to achieve peace” and Kyiv’s “readiness to work together at the team level.”

“I am grateful to President Trump,” he said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the conversation between Trump and Putin covered a good deal of ground, including the Middle East and Iran, but that Ukraine was the main focus.

Peskov said Trump called for a quick cessation of hostilities and a peaceful settlement, and that “President Putin, in his turn, emphasized the need to remove the root causes of the conflict and agreed with Trump that a long-term settlement could be achieved through peace talks.”

“The Russian president supported one of the main theses of the U.S. president that the time has come for our two countries to work together,” Peskov told reporters. “The Russian president invited the U.S. president to visit Moscow and expressed readiness to host U.S. officials in Russia for issues of mutual interest, naturally including Ukraine, the Ukrainian settlement.”

Russia Feb 11

Russia has released detained American teacher Marc Fogel, the White House says

Russia-Ukraine War Feb 12

Hegseth to NATO: Return to Ukraine's pre-2014 borders is an ‘unrealistic objective'

In the meantime, Ukraine has offered to strike a deal with Trump for continued American military aid in exchange for developing Ukraine’s mineral industry — which could provide a valuable source of the rare earth elements that are essential for many kinds of technology.

Trump suggested that aid would continue to flow but that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was in Ukraine working to get written assurances that the U.S. would get access to its rare earth elements and oil and gas.

“We’re asking for security on our money,” Trump said, noting of Ukraine: “They’ve agreed to it.”

Zelenskyy tweeted earlier about the meeting with Bessent, saying “we value our partnership with the United States” and “strive to expand our joint capabilities.”

Asked about Trump’s views on Russia and Putin, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “I believe this nation views Putin and Russia as a great competitor in the region. At times, an adversary.” But she also noted of Trump: “At times, he enjoys having good diplomatic relationships with leaders around the world.”

Working more closely with Putin on Ukraine defies the long-held stance of Biden, who, together with his top national security aides, repeatedly insisted, “Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.”

Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s special Russia-Ukraine envoy, retired Gen. Keith Kellogg, will all be in Germany this week for the annual Munich Security Conference, which Zelenskyy also will attend.

Calls follow US-Russia prisoner exchange

Wednesday’s Trump-Putin call, and the resulting policy sea change, followed a prisoner swap that resulted in Russia releasing Pennsylvania schoolteacher Marc Fogel after more than three years of detention in return for convicted Russian criminal Alexander Vinnik.

The White House described the prisoner swap as evidence of a diplomatic thaw that could advance negotiations to end the fighting in Ukraine.

In a social media post detailing his call with Putin, Trump wrote, “We each talked about the strengths of our respective Nations, and the great benefit that we will someday have in working together.”

Trump also noted they “agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately.” The president appointed Rubio, CIA director John Ratcliffe, national security adviser Michael Waltz and his special Mideast envoy Steven Witkoff to lead those talks.

Fogel, who was deemed wrongfully detained by Russia, was arrested in August 2021 for possession of marijuana and was serving a 14-year prison sentence. He had been left out of previous prisoner swaps with Russia that were negotiated by the Biden administration.

Vinnik — the other person involved, according to two U.S. officials — was arrested in 2017 in Greece at the request of the U.S. on cryptocurrency fraud charges and was later extradited to the United States, where he pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to commit money laundering.

He is in custody in California awaiting transport to Russia, the officials said. The Kremlin confirmed that a Russian citizen was freed in the United States in exchange for Fogel but refused to identify him until he arrives in Russia.

Trump welcomed Fogel at the White House on Tuesday evening after his return to the U.S. on Witkoff’s personal plane.

Former ballerina Ksenia Karelina was born in Russia but had built a new life as an aesthetician at a Los Angeles spa after immigrating to the United States over a decade ago. She “is on a plane back home to the United States,” having been “wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year,” Rubio said on in a post on X. He credited President Donald Trump with securing her release.

Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, confirmed her release in a statement on Instagram. “Two hours ago she was in touch with her relatives and took off from Abu Dhabi to the U.S.,” he wrote, adding that he had known about her release since Tuesday.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Karelina in January 2024 while she was visiting her parents and young sister in the city Yekaterinburg. It did not provide further details or evidence of her alleged crime.

At the time, Russian legal group Perviy Otdel said it had information that Karelina had donated just over $51.80 from her U.S. bank account on Feb. 24, 2022 — the day that Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — to a charity that sends aid to Ukraine. A spa where she had previously worked confirmed this in a statement on Facebook.

Although Russia’s FSB did not confirm that figure, it said Karelina’s donation “was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces.”

She was sentenced in August to 12 years in a penal colony for “high treason,” having “fully admitted her guilt” at a closed trial in the southwestern Russian city of Yekaterinberg, Sverdlovsky Region Court said in a news release at the time.

The sentence came against the backdrop of Russia’s 3-year-long war with Ukraine during which President Vladimir Putin’s government has cracked down on dissent. Any perceived criticism of the military is banned.

Her release was first reported by The Wall Street Journal which said she was freed in exchange for the release of Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.

NBC News could not independently confirm this and Rubio did not mention this in his tweet.

Karelina’s freedom comes almost exactly two months after American teacher Marc Fogel returned to the U.S. after he spent 3½ years in prison for a minor medical cannabis infraction.

Fogel had been teaching in Russia before authorities picked him up while he was carrying 17 grams of the drug at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow. 

He had been prescribed medical cannabis in the U.S. for backpain, but the drug is illegal in Russia and he was sentenced to 14 years.

Fogel had remained in Russian custody even as U.S. authorities won freedom for other high-profile American detainees, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former-Marine Paul Whelan and WNBA star Brittney Griner.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

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Former ballerina Ksenia Karelina was born in Russia but had built a new life as an aesthetician at a Los Angeles spa after immigrating to the United States over a decade ago. She “is on a plane back home to the United States,” having been “wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year,” Rubio said on in a post on X. He credited President Donald Trump with securing her release.

Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, confirmed her release in a statement on Instagram. “Two hours ago she was in touch with her relatives and took off from Abu Dhabi to the U.S.,” he wrote, adding that he had known about her release since Tuesday.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Karelina in January 2024 while she was visiting her parents and young sister in the city Yekaterinburg. It did not provide further details or evidence of her alleged crime.

At the time, Russian legal group Perviy Otdel said it had information that Karelina had donated just over $51.80 from her U.S. bank account on Feb. 24, 2022 — the day that Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — to a charity that sends aid to Ukraine. A spa where she had previously worked confirmed this in a statement on Facebook.

Although Russia’s FSB did not confirm that figure, it said Karelina’s donation “was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces.”

She was sentenced in August to 12 years in a penal colony for “high treason,” having “fully admitted her guilt” at a closed trial in the southwestern Russian city of Yekaterinberg, Sverdlovsky Region Court said in a news release at the time.

The sentence came against the backdrop of Russia’s 3-year-long war with Ukraine during which President Vladimir Putin’s government has cracked down on dissent. Any perceived criticism of the military is banned.

Her release was first reported by The Wall Street Journal which said she was freed in exchange for the release of Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.

NBC News could not independently confirm this and Rubio did not mention this in his tweet.

Karelina’s freedom comes almost exactly two months after American teacher Marc Fogel returned to the U.S. after he spent 3½ years in prison for a minor medical cannabis infraction.

Fogel had been teaching in Russia before authorities picked him up while he was carrying 17 grams of the drug at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow. 

He had been prescribed medical cannabis in the U.S. for backpain, but the drug is illegal in Russia and he was sentenced to 14 years.

Fogel had remained in Russian custody even as U.S. authorities won freedom for other high-profile American detainees, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former-Marine Paul Whelan and WNBA star Brittney Griner.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• The USDA cut $500 million in funding to food banks. Here’s how they’re coping
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Former ballerina Ksenia Karelina was born in Russia but had built a new life as an aesthetician at a Los Angeles spa after immigrating to the United States over a decade ago. She “is on a plane back home to the United States,” having been “wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year,” Rubio said on in a post on X. He credited President Donald Trump with securing her release.

Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, confirmed her release in a statement on Instagram. “Two hours ago she was in touch with her relatives and took off from Abu Dhabi to the U.S.,” he wrote, adding that he had known about her release since Tuesday.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Karelina in January 2024 while she was visiting her parents and young sister in the city Yekaterinburg. It did not provide further details or evidence of her alleged crime.

At the time, Russian legal group Perviy Otdel said it had information that Karelina had donated just over $51.80 from her U.S. bank account on Feb. 24, 2022 — the day that Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — to a charity that sends aid to Ukraine. A spa where she had previously worked confirmed this in a statement on Facebook.

Although Russia’s FSB did not confirm that figure, it said Karelina’s donation “was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces.”

She was sentenced in August to 12 years in a penal colony for “high treason,” having “fully admitted her guilt” at a closed trial in the southwestern Russian city of Yekaterinberg, Sverdlovsky Region Court said in a news release at the time.

The sentence came against the backdrop of Russia’s 3-year-long war with Ukraine during which President Vladimir Putin’s government has cracked down on dissent. Any perceived criticism of the military is banned.

Her release was first reported by The Wall Street Journal which said she was freed in exchange for the release of Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.

NBC News could not independently confirm this and Rubio did not mention this in his tweet.

Karelina’s freedom comes almost exactly two months after American teacher Marc Fogel returned to the U.S. after he spent 3½ years in prison for a minor medical cannabis infraction.

Fogel had been teaching in Russia before authorities picked him up while he was carrying 17 grams of the drug at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow. 

He had been prescribed medical cannabis in the U.S. for backpain, but the drug is illegal in Russia and he was sentenced to 14 years.

Fogel had remained in Russian custody even as U.S. authorities won freedom for other high-profile American detainees, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former-Marine Paul Whelan and WNBA star Brittney Griner.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• The USDA cut $500 million in funding to food banks. Here’s how they’re coping
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Former ballerina Ksenia Karelina was born in Russia but had built a new life as an aesthetician at a Los Angeles spa after immigrating to the United States over a decade ago. She “is on a plane back home to the United States,” having been “wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year,” Rubio said on in a post on X. He credited President Donald Trump with securing her release.

Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, confirmed her release in a statement on Instagram. “Two hours ago she was in touch with her relatives and took off from Abu Dhabi to the U.S.,” he wrote, adding that he had known about her release since Tuesday.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Karelina in January 2024 while she was visiting her parents and young sister in the city Yekaterinburg. It did not provide further details or evidence of her alleged crime.

At the time, Russian legal group Perviy Otdel said it had information that Karelina had donated just over $51.80 from her U.S. bank account on Feb. 24, 2022 — the day that Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — to a charity that sends aid to Ukraine. A spa where she had previously worked confirmed this in a statement on Facebook.

Although Russia’s FSB did not confirm that figure, it said Karelina’s donation “was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces.”

She was sentenced in August to 12 years in a penal colony for “high treason,” having “fully admitted her guilt” at a closed trial in the southwestern Russian city of Yekaterinberg, Sverdlovsky Region Court said in a news release at the time.

The sentence came against the backdrop of Russia’s 3-year-long war with Ukraine during which President Vladimir Putin’s government has cracked down on dissent. Any perceived criticism of the military is banned.

Her release was first reported by The Wall Street Journal which said she was freed in exchange for the release of Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.

NBC News could not independently confirm this and Rubio did not mention this in his tweet.

Karelina’s freedom comes almost exactly two months after American teacher Marc Fogel returned to the U.S. after he spent 3½ years in prison for a minor medical cannabis infraction.

Fogel had been teaching in Russia before authorities picked him up while he was carrying 17 grams of the drug at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow. 

He had been prescribed medical cannabis in the U.S. for backpain, but the drug is illegal in Russia and he was sentenced to 14 years.

Fogel had remained in Russian custody even as U.S. authorities won freedom for other high-profile American detainees, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former-Marine Paul Whelan and WNBA star Brittney Griner.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• The USDA cut $500 million in funding to food banks. Here’s how they’re coping
• Trump orders probes of two former officials who defied him
• Kennedy draws from misinformation playbook by touting an inhaled steroid to treat measles

Former ballerina Ksenia Karelina was born in Russia but had built a new life as an aesthetician at a Los Angeles spa after immigrating to the United States over a decade ago. She “is on a plane back home to the United States,” having been “wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year,” Rubio said on in a post on X. He credited President Donald Trump with securing her release.

Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, confirmed her release in a statement on Instagram. “Two hours ago she was in touch with her relatives and took off from Abu Dhabi to the U.S.,” he wrote, adding that he had known about her release since Tuesday.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Karelina in January 2024 while she was visiting her parents and young sister in the city Yekaterinburg. It did not provide further details or evidence of her alleged crime.

At the time, Russian legal group Perviy Otdel said it had information that Karelina had donated just over $51.80 from her U.S. bank account on Feb. 24, 2022 — the day that Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — to a charity that sends aid to Ukraine. A spa where she had previously worked confirmed this in a statement on Facebook.

Although Russia’s FSB did not confirm that figure, it said Karelina’s donation “was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces.”

She was sentenced in August to 12 years in a penal colony for “high treason,” having “fully admitted her guilt” at a closed trial in the southwestern Russian city of Yekaterinberg, Sverdlovsky Region Court said in a news release at the time.

The sentence came against the backdrop of Russia’s 3-year-long war with Ukraine during which President Vladimir Putin’s government has cracked down on dissent. Any perceived criticism of the military is banned.

Her release was first reported by The Wall Street Journal which said she was freed in exchange for the release of Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.

NBC News could not independently confirm this and Rubio did not mention this in his tweet.

Karelina’s freedom comes almost exactly two months after American teacher Marc Fogel returned to the U.S. after he spent 3½ years in prison for a minor medical cannabis infraction.

Fogel had been teaching in Russia before authorities picked him up while he was carrying 17 grams of the drug at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow. 

He had been prescribed medical cannabis in the U.S. for backpain, but the drug is illegal in Russia and he was sentenced to 14 years.

Fogel had remained in Russian custody even as U.S. authorities won freedom for other high-profile American detainees, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former-Marine Paul Whelan and WNBA star Brittney Griner.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• The USDA cut $500 million in funding to food banks. Here’s how they’re coping
• Trump orders probes of two former officials who defied him
• Kennedy draws from misinformation playbook by touting an inhaled steroid to treat measles

Former ballerina Ksenia Karelina was born in Russia but had built a new life as an aesthetician at a Los Angeles spa after immigrating to the United States over a decade ago. She “is on a plane back home to the United States,” having been “wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year,” Rubio said on in a post on X. He credited President Donald Trump with securing her release.

Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, confirmed her release in a statement on Instagram. “Two hours ago she was in touch with her relatives and took off from Abu Dhabi to the U.S.,” he wrote, adding that he had known about her release since Tuesday.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Karelina in January 2024 while she was visiting her parents and young sister in the city Yekaterinburg. It did not provide further details or evidence of her alleged crime.

At the time, Russian legal group Perviy Otdel said it had information that Karelina had donated just over $51.80 from her U.S. bank account on Feb. 24, 2022 — the day that Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — to a charity that sends aid to Ukraine. A spa where she had previously worked confirmed this in a statement on Facebook.

Although Russia’s FSB did not confirm that figure, it said Karelina’s donation “was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces.”

She was sentenced in August to 12 years in a penal colony for “high treason,” having “fully admitted her guilt” at a closed trial in the southwestern Russian city of Yekaterinberg, Sverdlovsky Region Court said in a news release at the time.

The sentence came against the backdrop of Russia’s 3-year-long war with Ukraine during which President Vladimir Putin’s government has cracked down on dissent. Any perceived criticism of the military is banned.

Her release was first reported by The Wall Street Journal which said she was freed in exchange for the release of Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.

NBC News could not independently confirm this and Rubio did not mention this in his tweet.

Karelina’s freedom comes almost exactly two months after American teacher Marc Fogel returned to the U.S. after he spent 3½ years in prison for a minor medical cannabis infraction.

Fogel had been teaching in Russia before authorities picked him up while he was carrying 17 grams of the drug at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow. 

He had been prescribed medical cannabis in the U.S. for backpain, but the drug is illegal in Russia and he was sentenced to 14 years.

Fogel had remained in Russian custody even as U.S. authorities won freedom for other high-profile American detainees, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former-Marine Paul Whelan and WNBA star Brittney Griner.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• The USDA cut $500 million in funding to food banks. Here’s how they’re coping
• Trump orders probes of two former officials who defied him
• Kennedy draws from misinformation playbook by touting an inhaled steroid to treat measles

Former ballerina Ksenia Karelina was born in Russia but had built a new life as an aesthetician at a Los Angeles spa after immigrating to the United States over a decade ago. She “is on a plane back home to the United States,” having been “wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year,” Rubio said on in a post on X. He credited President Donald Trump with securing her release.

Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, confirmed her release in a statement on Instagram. “Two hours ago she was in touch with her relatives and took off from Abu Dhabi to the U.S.,” he wrote, adding that he had known about her release since Tuesday.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Karelina in January 2024 while she was visiting her parents and young sister in the city Yekaterinburg. It did not provide further details or evidence of her alleged crime.

At the time, Russian legal group Perviy Otdel said it had information that Karelina had donated just over $51.80 from her U.S. bank account on Feb. 24, 2022 — the day that Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — to a charity that sends aid to Ukraine. A spa where she had previously worked confirmed this in a statement on Facebook.

Although Russia’s FSB did not confirm that figure, it said Karelina’s donation “was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces.”

She was sentenced in August to 12 years in a penal colony for “high treason,” having “fully admitted her guilt” at a closed trial in the southwestern Russian city of Yekaterinberg, Sverdlovsky Region Court said in a news release at the time.

The sentence came against the backdrop of Russia’s 3-year-long war with Ukraine during which President Vladimir Putin’s government has cracked down on dissent. Any perceived criticism of the military is banned.

Her release was first reported by The Wall Street Journal which said she was freed in exchange for the release of Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.

NBC News could not independently confirm this and Rubio did not mention this in his tweet.

Karelina’s freedom comes almost exactly two months after American teacher Marc Fogel returned to the U.S. after he spent 3½ years in prison for a minor medical cannabis infraction.

Fogel had been teaching in Russia before authorities picked him up while he was carrying 17 grams of the drug at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow. 

He had been prescribed medical cannabis in the U.S. for backpain, but the drug is illegal in Russia and he was sentenced to 14 years.

Fogel had remained in Russian custody even as U.S. authorities won freedom for other high-profile American detainees, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former-Marine Paul Whelan and WNBA star Brittney Griner.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• The USDA cut $500 million in funding to food banks. Here’s how they’re coping
• Trump orders probes of two former officials who defied him
• Kennedy draws from misinformation playbook by touting an inhaled steroid to treat measles

Former ballerina Ksenia Karelina was born in Russia but had built a new life as an aesthetician at a Los Angeles spa after immigrating to the United States over a decade ago. She “is on a plane back home to the United States,” having been “wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year,” Rubio said on in a post on X. He credited President Donald Trump with securing her release.

Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, confirmed her release in a statement on Instagram. “Two hours ago she was in touch with her relatives and took off from Abu Dhabi to the U.S.,” he wrote, adding that he had known about her release since Tuesday.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Karelina in January 2024 while she was visiting her parents and young sister in the city Yekaterinburg. It did not provide further details or evidence of her alleged crime.

At the time, Russian legal group Perviy Otdel said it had information that Karelina had donated just over $51.80 from her U.S. bank account on Feb. 24, 2022 — the day that Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — to a charity that sends aid to Ukraine. A spa where she had previously worked confirmed this in a statement on Facebook.

Although Russia’s FSB did not confirm that figure, it said Karelina’s donation “was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces.”

She was sentenced in August to 12 years in a penal colony for “high treason,” having “fully admitted her guilt” at a closed trial in the southwestern Russian city of Yekaterinberg, Sverdlovsky Region Court said in a news release at the time.

The sentence came against the backdrop of Russia’s 3-year-long war with Ukraine during which President Vladimir Putin’s government has cracked down on dissent. Any perceived criticism of the military is banned.

Her release was first reported by The Wall Street Journal which said she was freed in exchange for the release of Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.

NBC News could not independently confirm this and Rubio did not mention this in his tweet.

Karelina’s freedom comes almost exactly two months after American teacher Marc Fogel returned to the U.S. after he spent 3½ years in prison for a minor medical cannabis infraction.

Fogel had been teaching in Russia before authorities picked him up while he was carrying 17 grams of the drug at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow. 

He had been prescribed medical cannabis in the U.S. for backpain, but the drug is illegal in Russia and he was sentenced to 14 years.

Fogel had remained in Russian custody even as U.S. authorities won freedom for other high-profile American detainees, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former-Marine Paul Whelan and WNBA star Brittney Griner.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• The USDA cut $500 million in funding to food banks. Here’s how they’re coping
• Trump orders probes of two former officials who defied him
• Kennedy draws from misinformation playbook by touting an inhaled steroid to treat measles

Former ballerina Ksenia Karelina was born in Russia but had built a new life as an aesthetician at a Los Angeles spa after immigrating to the United States over a decade ago. She “is on a plane back home to the United States,” having been “wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year,” Rubio said on in a post on X. He credited President Donald Trump with securing her release.

Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, confirmed her release in a statement on Instagram. “Two hours ago she was in touch with her relatives and took off from Abu Dhabi to the U.S.,” he wrote, adding that he had known about her release since Tuesday.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Karelina in January 2024 while she was visiting her parents and young sister in the city Yekaterinburg. It did not provide further details or evidence of her alleged crime.

At the time, Russian legal group Perviy Otdel said it had information that Karelina had donated just over $51.80 from her U.S. bank account on Feb. 24, 2022 — the day that Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — to a charity that sends aid to Ukraine. A spa where she had previously worked confirmed this in a statement on Facebook.

Although Russia’s FSB did not confirm that figure, it said Karelina’s donation “was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces.”

She was sentenced in August to 12 years in a penal colony for “high treason,” having “fully admitted her guilt” at a closed trial in the southwestern Russian city of Yekaterinberg, Sverdlovsky Region Court said in a news release at the time.

The sentence came against the backdrop of Russia’s 3-year-long war with Ukraine during which President Vladimir Putin’s government has cracked down on dissent. Any perceived criticism of the military is banned.

Her release was first reported by The Wall Street Journal which said she was freed in exchange for the release of Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.

NBC News could not independently confirm this and Rubio did not mention this in his tweet.

Karelina’s freedom comes almost exactly two months after American teacher Marc Fogel returned to the U.S. after he spent 3½ years in prison for a minor medical cannabis infraction.

Fogel had been teaching in Russia before authorities picked him up while he was carrying 17 grams of the drug at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow. 

He had been prescribed medical cannabis in the U.S. for backpain, but the drug is illegal in Russia and he was sentenced to 14 years.

Fogel had remained in Russian custody even as U.S. authorities won freedom for other high-profile American detainees, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former-Marine Paul Whelan and WNBA star Brittney Griner.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• The USDA cut $500 million in funding to food banks. Here’s how they’re coping
• Trump orders probes of two former officials who defied him
• Kennedy draws from misinformation playbook by touting an inhaled steroid to treat measles

Former ballerina Ksenia Karelina was born in Russia but had built a new life as an aesthetician at a Los Angeles spa after immigrating to the United States over a decade ago. She “is on a plane back home to the United States,” having been “wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year,” Rubio said on in a post on X. He credited President Donald Trump with securing her release.

Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, confirmed her release in a statement on Instagram. “Two hours ago she was in touch with her relatives and took off from Abu Dhabi to the U.S.,” he wrote, adding that he had known about her release since Tuesday.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Karelina in January 2024 while she was visiting her parents and young sister in the city Yekaterinburg. It did not provide further details or evidence of her alleged crime.

At the time, Russian legal group Perviy Otdel said it had information that Karelina had donated just over $51.80 from her U.S. bank account on Feb. 24, 2022 — the day that Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — to a charity that sends aid to Ukraine. A spa where she had previously worked confirmed this in a statement on Facebook.

Although Russia’s FSB did not confirm that figure, it said Karelina’s donation “was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces.”

She was sentenced in August to 12 years in a penal colony for “high treason,” having “fully admitted her guilt” at a closed trial in the southwestern Russian city of Yekaterinberg, Sverdlovsky Region Court said in a news release at the time.

The sentence came against the backdrop of Russia’s 3-year-long war with Ukraine during which President Vladimir Putin’s government has cracked down on dissent. Any perceived criticism of the military is banned.

Her release was first reported by The Wall Street Journal which said she was freed in exchange for the release of Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.

NBC News could not independently confirm this and Rubio did not mention this in his tweet.

Karelina’s freedom comes almost exactly two months after American teacher Marc Fogel returned to the U.S. after he spent 3½ years in prison for a minor medical cannabis infraction.

Fogel had been teaching in Russia before authorities picked him up while he was carrying 17 grams of the drug at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow. 

He had been prescribed medical cannabis in the U.S. for backpain, but the drug is illegal in Russia and he was sentenced to 14 years.

Fogel had remained in Russian custody even as U.S. authorities won freedom for other high-profile American detainees, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former-Marine Paul Whelan and WNBA star Brittney Griner.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• The USDA cut $500 million in funding to food banks. Here’s how they’re coping
• Trump orders probes of two former officials who defied him
• Kennedy draws from misinformation playbook by touting an inhaled steroid to treat measles

Trump made his cease-fire proposal after a weekend meeting in Paris with French and Ukrainian leaders, claiming in a social media post that Kyiv “would like to make a deal” to end the more than 1,000-day war. The Kremlin responded that it was open to negotiations, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cautioned that any deal would have to pave the way to a lasting peace.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said Russia and Ukraine have each lost hundreds of thousands of soldiers in a war that “should never have started.”

“There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin. Too many lives are being needlessly wasted, too many families destroyed,” Trump said. He urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to act to bring an end to the fighting.

Trump’s remarks came after the meeting Saturday with Zelenskyy and French President Emmanuel Macron that Zelenskyy described as “constructive.”

In a post Sunday on the Telegram messaging app, Zelenskyy cautioned that Ukraine needs a “just and robust peace, that Russians will not destroy within a few years.”

“When we talk about an effective peace with Russia, we must talk first of all about effective peace guarantees. Ukrainians want peace more than anyone else. Russia brought war to our land,” Zelenskyy said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated Moscow’s long-standing message that it is open to talks with Ukraine. He referenced a decree by Zelenskyy from October 2022 that formally declared the prospect of any talks “impossible” as long as Putin was the Russian leader.

That decree came after Putin proclaimed four occupied regions of Ukraine to be a part of Russia, in what Kyiv and the West was a clear violation of Ukrainian sovereignty, and despite Moscow lacking full military control over the areas.

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For most of the war, Kyiv’s official position has been to call for a full withdrawal of Russian troops from internationally recognized Ukrainian territory, including Crimea, as a condition for peace talks.

In a separate social media update, Zelenskyy asserted that Kyiv has so far lost 43,000 soldiers since Moscow’s all-out invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, while 370,000 have been wounded.

Both Russia and Ukraine have been reluctant to publish official casualty figures. Western officials have said that the past few months of grinding positional warfare in eastern Ukraine have meant record losses for both sides, with tens of thousands killed and wounded each month.

Trump has said before he would like to see a quick cease-fire in Ukraine. Sunday’s proposal was more pressing, and the quick responses from Ukraine and Russia demonstrated the seriousness with which they regarded the idea from the incoming American president.

The Biden administration and other supporters of Ukraine in the United States and abroad have made a point of not being seen to press Ukraine for an immediate truce. Ukraine’s allies fear a quick deal would be largely on the terms of its more powerful neighbor, forcing damaging concessions on Ukraine and allowing Russia to potentially resume the war again once it has rebuilt its military.

Separately, Trump in an NBC News interview that aired Sunday renewed his warning to NATO allies that he did not see continued U.S. participation in the Western military alliance as a given during his second term in office.

Trump has long complained that European and the Canadian governments in the mutual-defense bloc are freeloading on military spending by the U.S., by far the most powerful partner in NATO. NATO and its member governments say a majority of countries in the bloc are now hitting voluntary targets for military spending, due in part to pressure from Trump in his first term.

Asked in the interview taped Friday whether he would consider the possibility of pulling out of NATO, Trump indicated that was an open question.

“If they’re paying their bills, and if I think they’re treating us fairly, the answer is absolutely I’d stay with NATO,” he told “Meet the Press.”

But if not, he was asked if he would consider pulling the U.S. out of the alliance. Trump responded, “Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely.”

___

Kozlowska reported from London.

The latest package will include more drones and munitions for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, that the U.S. has provided. While these weapons are critically needed now, they will be funded through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which pays for longer-term systems to be put on contract.

The weapon systems purchased are often intended to support Ukraine’s future military capabilities, not make an immediate difference on the battlefield.

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The $988 million package is on top of an additional $725 million in U.S. military assistance, including counter-drone systems and HIMARS munitions, announced Monday that would be drawn from the Pentagon’s stockpiles to more quickly get to the front lines. The U.S. has provided Ukraine with more than $62 billion in military aid since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.

“The baton will soon be passed,” Austin said. “Others will decide the course ahead. And I hope that they will build on the strength that we have forged over the past four years.”

Ukraine is facing an intensified onslaught by Russia, which is now using thousands of North Korean troops to augment its fight to take back the Kursk region. Moscow also has launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile and regularly strikes Kyiv’s civilian infrastructure.

With questions about whether Trump will maintain military support to Ukraine, the Biden administration has been trying to spend every dollar remaining from a massive foreign aid bill passed earlier this year to put Ukraine in the strongest position possible.

“This administration has made its choice. So has a bipartisan coalition in Congress. The next administration must make its own choice,” Austin said in a speech at an annual gathering of national security officials, defense firms and lawmakers at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.

Trump had a hastily arranged meeting Saturday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and France’s Emmanuel Macron while in Paris for the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral. Macron and other European leaders are trying to persuade Trump to maintain support for Ukraine.

Trump, a longtime admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has criticized U.S. aid for Ukraine and called for bringing a quick end to the war, raising concerns in Ukraine about what terms may be laid out for any future negotiations.

Austin said he was “confident that President Reagan would have stood on the side of Ukraine, American security and human freedom.”

It was one of Austin’s last major speeches as President Joe Biden’s defense secretary and a cap to his more than 41 years serving as a soldier and general.

Under Austin’s watch, the Pentagon in 2022 launched a regular meeting that now counts more than 50 countries to figure out how to get the tens of millions of rounds of ammunition and billions of dollars in advanced weaponry to Ukraine. Without that flow of support, it’s possible the country would have fallen to Russia after it invaded.

“Together, we have helped Ukraine survive an all-out assault by the largest military in Europe,” Austin said.

Austin and Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, the longtime Republican leader, were honored at the conference for their lifetime of service, and they used the opportunity to press for the U.S. to continue to build and support its alliances, a sharp contrast to Trump’s “America First “ policy.

Austin called the Ukraine Defense Contact Group “the most consequential global coalition since the time of President George H.W. Bush and Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait,” showing that “America and our friends have become the arsenal of Ukrainian democracy.”

Before Saturday’s announcement, there was roughly $8 billion left to use to pull existing weapons out of U.S. stockpiles and to put additional weapons on contract to help Ukraine.

“We’re not going to stop Putin by telling Ukraine we aren’t going to give you anything more,” Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said at a panel at the Reagan National Defense Forum.

Former ballerina Ksenia Karelina was born in Russia but had built a new life as an aesthetician at a Los Angeles spa after immigrating to the United States over a decade ago. She “is on a plane back home to the United States,” having been “wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year,” Rubio said on in a post on X. He credited President Donald Trump with securing her release.

Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, confirmed her release in a statement on Instagram. “Two hours ago she was in touch with her relatives and took off from Abu Dhabi to the U.S.,” he wrote, adding that he had known about her release since Tuesday.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Karelina in January 2024 while she was visiting her parents and young sister in the city Yekaterinburg. It did not provide further details or evidence of her alleged crime.

At the time, Russian legal group Perviy Otdel said it had information that Karelina had donated just over $51.80 from her U.S. bank account on Feb. 24, 2022 — the day that Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — to a charity that sends aid to Ukraine. A spa where she had previously worked confirmed this in a statement on Facebook.

Although Russia’s FSB did not confirm that figure, it said Karelina’s donation “was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces.”

She was sentenced in August to 12 years in a penal colony for “high treason,” having “fully admitted her guilt” at a closed trial in the southwestern Russian city of Yekaterinberg, Sverdlovsky Region Court said in a news release at the time.

The sentence came against the backdrop of Russia’s 3-year-long war with Ukraine during which President Vladimir Putin’s government has cracked down on dissent. Any perceived criticism of the military is banned.

Her release was first reported by The Wall Street Journal which said she was freed in exchange for the release of Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.

NBC News could not independently confirm this and Rubio did not mention this in his tweet.

Karelina’s freedom comes almost exactly two months after American teacher Marc Fogel returned to the U.S. after he spent 3½ years in prison for a minor medical cannabis infraction.

Fogel had been teaching in Russia before authorities picked him up while he was carrying 17 grams of the drug at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow. 

He had been prescribed medical cannabis in the U.S. for backpain, but the drug is illegal in Russia and he was sentenced to 14 years.

Fogel had remained in Russian custody even as U.S. authorities won freedom for other high-profile American detainees, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former-Marine Paul Whelan and WNBA star Brittney Griner.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• The USDA cut $500 million in funding to food banks. Here’s how they’re coping
• Trump orders probes of two former officials who defied him
• Kennedy draws from misinformation playbook by touting an inhaled steroid to treat measles

Former ballerina Ksenia Karelina was born in Russia but had built a new life as an aesthetician at a Los Angeles spa after immigrating to the United States over a decade ago. She “is on a plane back home to the United States,” having been “wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year,” Rubio said on in a post on X. He credited President Donald Trump with securing her release.

Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, confirmed her release in a statement on Instagram. “Two hours ago she was in touch with her relatives and took off from Abu Dhabi to the U.S.,” he wrote, adding that he had known about her release since Tuesday.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Karelina in January 2024 while she was visiting her parents and young sister in the city Yekaterinburg. It did not provide further details or evidence of her alleged crime.

At the time, Russian legal group Perviy Otdel said it had information that Karelina had donated just over $51.80 from her U.S. bank account on Feb. 24, 2022 — the day that Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — to a charity that sends aid to Ukraine. A spa where she had previously worked confirmed this in a statement on Facebook.

Although Russia’s FSB did not confirm that figure, it said Karelina’s donation “was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces.”

She was sentenced in August to 12 years in a penal colony for “high treason,” having “fully admitted her guilt” at a closed trial in the southwestern Russian city of Yekaterinberg, Sverdlovsky Region Court said in a news release at the time.

The sentence came against the backdrop of Russia’s 3-year-long war with Ukraine during which President Vladimir Putin’s government has cracked down on dissent. Any perceived criticism of the military is banned.

Her release was first reported by The Wall Street Journal which said she was freed in exchange for the release of Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.

NBC News could not independently confirm this and Rubio did not mention this in his tweet.

Karelina’s freedom comes almost exactly two months after American teacher Marc Fogel returned to the U.S. after he spent 3½ years in prison for a minor medical cannabis infraction.

Fogel had been teaching in Russia before authorities picked him up while he was carrying 17 grams of the drug at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow. 

He had been prescribed medical cannabis in the U.S. for backpain, but the drug is illegal in Russia and he was sentenced to 14 years.

Fogel had remained in Russian custody even as U.S. authorities won freedom for other high-profile American detainees, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former-Marine Paul Whelan and WNBA star Brittney Griner.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• The USDA cut $500 million in funding to food banks. Here’s how they’re coping
• Trump orders probes of two former officials who defied him
• Kennedy draws from misinformation playbook by touting an inhaled steroid to treat measles

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the “complex strike” was a retaliation for Ukraine using American-made ATACMS missiles to strike inside Russia. Despite the widespread civilian impact, he claimed, without evidence, that the assault targeted military sites.

Air raid sirens began to ring out late Wednesday night and blared for more than nine hours. People across the country took refuge in bomb shelters, subway stations and even their own bathrooms, waiting out the bombardment alongside strollers, pets and what little blankets they could carry.

Targeting the power grid comes just as cold weather begins to bite, a tactic that Ukrainian officials and Western analysts say Russia deliberately deploys. The temperature is forecast to stay below 35 degrees Fahrenheit all of Thursday, with fog in the air and snow already covering Kyiv’s roofs.

“It was about 6 a.m. I was sleeping and heard a very loud explosion in my dream,” said Valeria Grinchuk, 24, a make-up artist in the city of Lutsk. “I just ran into the corridor with my cats and immediately heard two more explosions,” at which point the power went out, she added.

“I couldn’t see what was on the news and so didn’t know what to expect,” she said. Valeria has a gas stove and says “we’ve gotten used to it a little” but describes the conditions as “very uncomfortable.”

“I feel very strong hatred and I still can’t get in my head the fact that this is all reality,” she said. “I don’t understand how with so much beauty in the world you can make people’s lives such hell.”

The physical discomfort of these outages is compounded by the uncertainty of President-elect Donald Trump’s looming inauguration Jan. 20. His reluctance to commit support for Ukraine brings a huge degree of uncertainty to the conflict, just as Russia is making its fastest battlefield gains since the early days of the 2022 invasion.

This was Russia’s 11th attack on Ukraine’s energy sector this year, officials said. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it a “very vile escalation of Russian terrorist tactics.”

Ukraine said it had detected 188 incoming “attack targets,” including 57 cruise missiles fired from Tupolev Tu-95 bombers, 28 Kalibr cruise missiles fired from ships in the Black Sea, and 97 Iran-designed Shahed drones, according to a post by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

“Again, energy system is under a massive attack from the enemy,” Ukraine’s energy minister, Herman Halushchenko, wrote in a post on social media. “Attacks on energy facilities are taking place all over Ukraine.”

Zelenskyy said that the attacks included cluster munitions, which “make it much more difficult for our rescuers and energy workers to eliminate the consequences of the impact.”

Putin gave details of the attack at a summit in Kazakhstan of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization.

“I repeat once again that these strikes on our part were in response to unrelenting strikes onto the Russian territory with the U.S. ATACMS missiles,” he said. “As I have said many times, there will always be a response from our part.”

He derided the way Ukraine “nags its masters for other weapons.”

Ukraine has made no secret of its desire for more Western assistance, making the case that Kyiv is defending not just itself but all of Europe and the West against Kremlin aggression. Following the attack, Zelenskyy reiterated calls for his allies to provide more military assistance. 

“Each such attack proves that air defense systems are needed now in Ukraine, where they save lives, and not in storage bases,” he said. “This is especially important in the winter, when we have to protect our infrastructure from targeted Russian strikes.”

Ukraine’s existing air defenses were able to bring down more than 100 of these incoming projectiles, the army said, but dozens got through.

Worst hit were several western regions that do not often face Russian attack. As of Thursday morning, some 523,000 homes and businesses in the Lviv region were without power, Governor Maksym Kozytskyi wrote on Telegram.

In neighboring Volyn, some 215,000 customers were without electricity, Governor Ivan Rudnytskyi, wrote, after a transformer substation was hit in the regional capital of Lutsk. Other outages were reported in the Khmelnytskyi, Ivano-Frankivsk, Zhytomyr and Rivne oblasts, with many schools telling children to study at home.

In Cherkasy, entrepreneur Elena Bondarenko, 52, endured a night of “sirens, drones, then you don’t sleep listening to every sound and monitoring news. It was scary and unpleasant,” she said.

Her and her husband have endured power cuts before. Today they faced hours more without electricity, and there is another scheduled outage this evening as the grid attempts to cope with the destruction.

“It’s difficult to live like that. It ruins all your life, it ruins the order of life and any plans you make,” she said of the blackouts. “Everything that is happening now is awful. Well, a human can adjust to everything, but I don’t want to get used to it. Is it even possible to live like that?”

In Kyiv, officials said that anti-aircraft guns intercepted all inbound targets, although falling debris caused damage in the Dniprovskyy and Darnytskyy districts, causing damage to a truck and buildings in an industrial area.

The Energy Ministry said in an online post that “power engineers are working to provide backup power schemes where possible. They have already begun restoration work where the security situation allows.”

NBC News has contacted the Russian Ministry of Defense for comment on the attack.

It came hours after Trump said he would nominate retired Gen. Keith Kellogg to serve as his special envoy for Ukraine and Russia.

Kellogg has previously suggested he could condition U.S. military aid to Kyiv on their participation in peace talks with Russia.

The U.S. has so far provided some $70 billion in military aid to Ukraine, more than any other country. Trump has repeatedly declined to commit to continuing this assistance, instead saying he would finish the war before his inauguration — without saying how.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• Ukraine’s ‘Witches of Bucha’ prepare for combat as the specter of a Russian peace deal looms
• Trump selects retired Gen. Keith Kellogg as special envoy to Russia, Ukraine
• Russian general reportedly dismissed amid allegations of false reports on war’s progress