ROME, Italy (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with top U.S. officials and European leaders on Sunday in Rome, ahead of a high-stakes phone call Monday between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on ending the war in Ukraine.
The discussions came as Russia launched what Ukraine called its largest drone barrage against Ukraine since the start of its full-scale invasion in 2022, after the first direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv in years failed to yield a ceasefire Friday.
Click to Gallery
This picture made available by Vatican Media on Sunday, May 18, 2025, shows Pope Leo XIV meeting Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Vatican. (Vatican Media via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, a man reacts at the body of a killed resident following Russia's drone attack in the Kyiv region, Ukraine, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire following Russia's drone attack in the Kyiv region, Ukraine, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire following Russia's drone attack in the Kyiv region, Ukraine, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire following Russia's drone attack in the Kyiv region, Ukraine, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire following Russia's drone attack in the Kyiv region, Ukraine, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
Zelenskyy spoke with U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the U.S. ambassador's residence, after attending the inaugural Mass for Pope Leo XIV in St. Peter’s Square.
Zelenskyy said on social media he had underscored the need for “real diplomacy” and reaffirmed Ukraine's commitment to a “full and unconditional ceasefire.”
He said they discussed sanctions against Russia, bilateral trade, defense cooperation and plans for the upcoming prisoner exchange with Russia that was agreed in talks between the two sides in Istanbul.
Trump has said he plans to speak with Putin about stopping the “bloodbath” in Ukraine, and then speak to Zelenskyy and leaders of various NATO countries.
Zelenskyy also met with the new pope after the Mass. “The authority and voice of the Holy See can play an important role in bringing this war to an end,” the Ukrainian president wrote on social media. He thanked the Vatican for its readiness to become a platform for direct negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.
Rubio on Saturday said the Vatican could be a venue for peace talks, taking up the Holy See’s longstanding offer after Leo vowed to personally make “every effort” to help end the war.
Ahead of a meeting in Rome with Vance and Italy’s Premier Giorgia Meloni, EU Commission head Ursula Von der Leyen urged parties to “push things forward."
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he spoke to Zelenskyy and Rubio on the sidelines of the pope’s inauguration. Merz said he had agreed with the leaders of France and Britain “that we will speak again with the American president in preparation for this conversation.”
Merz told reporters that “my firm impression is that both the Europeans and the Americans are determined to work together, but now also in a goal-oriented manner, to ensure that this terrible war ends soon."
Putin spurned Zelenskyy’s offer to meet face-to-face in Turkey after he himself proposed direct negotiations — although not at the presidential level — as an alternative to a 30-day ceasefire urged by Ukraine and its Western allies, including the U.S.
The talks in Istanbul broke up after less than two hours, although both sides agreed on exchanging 1,000 prisoners of war each, according to the heads of both delegations. Ukraine’s intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, said on Ukrainian television Saturday that the exchange could happen as early as next week.
Russia on Sunday fired a total of 273 exploding drones and decoys targeting Ukraine's Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions, Ukraine’s air force said. Of those, 88 were intercepted and 128 lost, likely being electronically jammed.
Yuriy Ihnat, head of the air force's communications department, told The Associated Press the barrage was the biggest drone attack since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.
Previously, Russia’s largest known single drone attack was on the eve of the war’s third anniversary, when Russia pounded Ukraine with 267 drones.
Kyiv regional Gov. Mykola Kalashnyk said a 28-year-old woman was killed in a drone attack and three other people, including a 4-year-old child, were wounded.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down seven Ukrainian drones overnight and another 18 Sunday morning.
Morton reported from London. Associated Press writers Yehor Konovalov and Volodymyr Yurchuk in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
This picture made available by Vatican Media on Sunday, May 18, 2025, shows Pope Leo XIV meeting Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Vatican. (Vatican Media via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, a man reacts at the body of a killed resident following Russia's drone attack in the Kyiv region, Ukraine, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire following Russia's drone attack in the Kyiv region, Ukraine, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire following Russia's drone attack in the Kyiv region, Ukraine, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire following Russia's drone attack in the Kyiv region, Ukraine, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire following Russia's drone attack in the Kyiv region, Ukraine, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
President Donald Trump posted Wednesday on social media that anything less than U.S. control of Greenland is “unacceptable,” hours before Vice President JD Vance was to host Danish and Greenlandic officials for talks.
“NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the UNITED STATES,” Trump wrote.
On Iran, Trump's threat to impose a 25% tax on imports from countries doing business with the Islamic Republic could raise prices for U.S. consumers and further inflame tensions in a country where inflation is running above 40%.
And as Senate Republicans face intense pressure from Trump to vote down a war powers resolution Wednesday aimed at limiting him from carrying out more military action against Venezuela, an AP-NORC poll conducted after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s Jan. 3 capture found that 56% of U.S. adults think Trump has overstepped on military interventions abroad, while majorities disapprove of how he's handling foreign policy.
The Latest:
The Washington Post says FBI agents have searched a reporter’s home as part of an investigation into a government contractor accused of sharing government secrets.
The Post says journalist Hannah Natanson had her phone and a Garmin watch seized by agents at her Virginia home.
An FBI affidavit says the search was related to an investigation into a system administrator in Maryland who, authorities allege, took classified reports home.
An FBI spokesperson declined to comment. Justice Department officials haven’t responded to an Associated Press request for comment.
Natanson covers the Trump administration’s transformation of the federal government and recently published a piece describing how she gained hundreds of new sources, leading a colleague to call her “the federal government whisperer.”
U.S. President Donald Trump has made an American takeover of Greenland a focus of his second term in the White House, calling it a national security priority while repeating false claims about the strategic Arctic island.
In recent comments, he has floated using military force as an option to take control of Greenland. He has said that if the U.S. does not acquire the island, which is a self-governing territory of NATO ally Denmark, then it will fall into Chinese or Russian hands.
▶ Take a closer look at the facts
China’s trade surplus surged to a record of almost $1.2 trillion in 2025, the government said Wednesday, as exports to other countries made up for slowing shipments to the U.S. under President Donald Trump’s onslaught of higher tariffs.
China’s exports rose 5.5% for the whole of last year to $3.77 trillion, customs data showed, as Chinese automakers and other manufacturers expanded into markets across the globe. Imports flatlined at $2.58 trillion. The 2024 trade surplus was over $992 billion.
In December, China’s exports climbed 6.6% from the year before in dollar terms, better than economists’ estimates and higher than November’s 5.9% year-on-year increase. Imports in December were up 5.7% year-on-year, compared to November’s 1.9%.
▶ Read more about how economists expect exports to impact China’s economy
Although he doesn’t always follow through, Trump seems intent on doubling and tripling down whenever possible.
“Right now I’m feeling pretty good,” Trump said Tuesday in Detroit. His speech was ostensibly arranged to refocus attention on the economy, which the president claimed is surging despite lingering concerns about higher prices.
Trump has repeatedly insisted he’s only doing what voters elected him to do, and his allies in Washington remain overwhelmingly united behind him.
Republican National Committee spokesperson Kiersten Pels predicted that voters will reward the party this year.
“Voters elected President Trump to put American lives first — and that’s exactly what he’s doing,” she said. “President Trump is making our country safer, and the American people will remember it in November.”
It’s only two weeks into the new year, and Trump has already claimed control of Venezuela, escalated threats to seize Greenland and flooded American streets with masked immigration agents. That’s not even counting an unprecedented criminal investigation at the Federal Reserve, a cornerstone of the national economy that Trump wants to bend to his will.
Even for a president who thrives on chaos, Trump is generating a stunning level of turmoil as voters prepare to deliver their verdict on his leadership in midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.
Each decision carries tremendous risks, from the possibility of an overseas quagmire to undermining the country’s financial system, but Trump has barreled forward with a ferocity rattling even some of his Republican allies.
“The presidency has gone rogue,” said historian Joanne B. Freeman, a Yale University professor.
▶ Read more about the turmoil Trump is creating ahead of this year’s votes
Nearly half of Americans — 45% — want the U.S. to take a “less active” role in solving the world’s problems, the new AP-NORC poll found.
About one-third say its current role is “about right,” and only about 2 in 10 U.S. adults say they want the country to be more involved globally.
Democrats and independents are driving the desire for the U.S. to take a “less active” role. At least half of them now want the U.S. to do less, a sharp shift from a few months ago.
Republicans, meanwhile, have grown more likely to indicate that Trump’s level of involvement is right. About 6 in 10 Republicans — 64% — say the country’s current role in world affairs is “about right,” which is up slightly from 55% from September.
About half of Americans believe the U.S. intervening in Venezuela will be “mostly a good thing” for halting the flow of illegal drugs into the country, according to a new AP-NORC poll.
And 44% believe the U.S. actions will do more to benefit than harm the Venezuelan people. But U.S. adults are divided on whether intervention will be good or bad for U.S. economic and national security interests, or if it simply won’t have an impact.
Republicans are more likely than Democrats and independents to see benefits to the U.S. action, particularly its effects on drug trafficking. About 8 in 10 Republicans say America’s intervention will be “mostly a good thing” for stopping the flow of illegal drugs into the country.
▶ Read more about the poll’s findings
Most U.S. adults — 56% — say President Trump has “gone too far” in using the U.S. military to intervene in other countries, according to a new AP-NORC poll conducted from Jan. 8-11, after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s capture.
Democrats and independents are driving the belief that Trump has overstepped. About 9 in 10 Democrats and roughly 6 in 10 independents say Trump has “gone too far” on military intervention, compared with about 2 in 10 Republicans.
The vast majority of Republicans — 71% — say Trump’s actions have been “about right,” and only about 1 in 10 want to see him go further.
▶ Read more about the poll’s findings
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington, as Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio listen. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Trump said in a social media post on Monday that he would impose a 25% tax on imports to the United States from countries that do business with Iran. The sanctions could hurt the Islamic Republic by reducing its access to foreign goods and driving up prices, which would likely inflame tensions in a country where inflation is running above 40%.
But the tariffs could create blowback for the United States, too, potentially raising the prices Americans pay for imports from Iranian trade partners such as Turkish textiles and Indian gemstones and threatening an uneasy trade truce Trump reached last year with China.
The Trump administration has offered scant details since announcing the new tariffs targeting Iran. It’s also unclear what legal authority the president is relying on to impose the import taxes. He invoked the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act to justify his most sweeping tariffs last year. But businesses and several states have gone to court arguing that Trump overstepped his authority in doing so.
▶ Read more about Trump’s threat of new tariffs
The Smithsonian Institution gave the White House new documents on its planned exhibits Tuesday in response to a demand to share precise details of what its museums and other programs are doing for America’s 250th birthday.
For months, Trump has been pressing the Smithsonian to back off “divisive narratives” and tell an upbeat story on the country’s history and culture, with the threat of holding back federal money if it doesn’t.
By Tuesday, the Smithsonian was supposed to provide lists of all displays, objects, wall text and other material dedicated to this year’s anniversary and other purposes. Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch III told staff, in an email obtained by The New York Times and The Washington Post, that “we transmitted more information in response to that request.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment, leaving it unclear whether it was satisfied with the material it received.
▶ Read more about the Smithsonian
Trump said Wednesday that anything less than U.S. control of Greenland is “unacceptable,” hours before Vice President JD Vance was to host Danish and Greenlandic officials for talks.
In a post on his social media site, Trump reiterated his argument that the U.S. “needs Greenland for the purpose of National Security.” He added that “NATO should be leading the way for us to get it” and that otherwise Russia or China would.
“NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the UNITED STATES,” Trump wrote. “Anything less than that is unacceptable.”
Greenland is at the center of a geopolitical storm as Trump is insisting he wants to own the island, and the residents of its capital, Nuuk, say it is not for sale. The White House has not ruled out taking the Arctic island by force.
▶ Read more about Trump’s comments
President Donald Trump walks down the stairs of Air Force One upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)
