Ukraine and Russia have been exchanging major drone and missile strikes, with each seeking to gain an advantage as US President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration nears

"Russians greeted Trump's victory with great enthusiasm. They think that because there are people around Trump who are naive about Russia's threat to the United States, Trump will be willing to impose a peace that enables Putin to take political control of Ukraine.

Trump has reaffirmed his intention to broker peace in Ukraine, declaring earlier this month that “Putin wants to meet” and that such a meeting is being set up. In the past, he has criticized U.S. military aid for Ukraine and even vowed to end the conflict in a single day if elected.

Advisers to President-elect Donald Trump now concede that the Ukraine war will take months or even longer to resolve, a sharp reality check on his biggest foreign policy promise - to strike a peace deal on his first day in the White House.

Pentagon chief candidate Pete Hegseth stated that the administration of the next US President Donald Trump will seek to end the war in Ukraine. He added that they would like to do this "as advantageously as possible" for Ukrainians,

Russia and Ukraine have launched a series of drone attacks, escalating the ongoing conflict. Both sides targeted key military and infrastructure sites, intensifying the war in the region.