U.S. President Donald Trump had pledged to end the war in Ukraine in just 24 hours before he returned to office in January.

BERLIN, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Germany will host U.S. and Ukrainian delegations over the ‌weekend ​for talks on a ceasefire in Ukraine, before ‌a summit with European leaders and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Berlin on Monday, a German official said.

Moscow pounded Ukrainian power infrastructure with drone and missile strikes on Saturday and Kyiv launched a deadly strike of its own on southwestern Russia, a day before talks involving senior European and U.S. officials aimed at ending the war were set to resume.

Ukrainian drone attack in southwestern Russia killed two people as parts of Ukraine went without power after Russian assaults on energy sites hours before peace talks were to restart in Germany.

European Union member states have approved nearly $2.7 billion in funding for Ukraine as part of a plan to bolster the war-besieged nation's recovery, reconstruction and modernization.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine was expected to give its latest peace proposals to U.S. negotiators Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, a day ahead of his urgent talks with leaders and officials from about 30 other countries supporting Kyiv’s effort to end the war with Russia on acceptable terms.

The president said he had exchanged “pretty strong words” with European leaders, while Russia signaled it saw itself as increasingly on the same page as the U.S.

Ukraine's navy accused Russia of deliberately attacking a civilian Turkish vessel carrying sunflower oil to Egypt with a drone on Saturday, a day after Moscow hit two Ukrainian ports.

A senior Kremlin official says Russian police and the National Guard will remain in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas even if a peace settlement ends the war

Over the last week, pro-Kremlin websites and social media accounts have been sharing a video of a children’s Christmas-themed train ride.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned Russia will come for the rest of Europe if its warmongering is not checked now, just moments before Ukraine’s allies were slated to discuss US President Donald Trump’s latest peace push.