U.S. officials have finalized new economic sanctions against Russia, including banking and energy measures, to intensify pressure on Moscow to embrace U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to end its war on Ukraine,

US Vice President JD Vance has said in an interview with Fox News that there is a "very big gulf" between Ukraine and Russia regarding their visions of how to end the war, and that Donald Trump's administration will work to "try to sort of bring these two sides closer together".

Ukraine managed to wrangle some more favorable terms out of the United States before signing the long-awaited minerals deal on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump’s administration will approve its first sale of military equipment to Ukraine. This is an indication that the newly signed minerals deal by the two countries this week may open a path to renewed weapons shipments.