European leaders may have rushed to Washington ostensibly to throw a protective arm around President Zelensky and head off any repeat of February's Oval Office bust-up. But their real aim is to stop US President Donald Trump threatening long-term European security after his abrupt change of course over how best to end the war in Ukraine.

For more than a decade, the industrial heartland of eastern Ukraine has been the focal point of intense battles and diplomatic disputes between Kyiv and the Kremlin. Now it could be on the table in peace talks with the United States.

Russia’s illegal seizure of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in March 2014 was quick and bloodless, and it sent Moscow’s relations with the West into a downward spiral unseen since the Cold War.

Ukraine’s Donbas, consisting of Donetsk and Luhansk, is at the heart of Moscow’s goals. An industrial powerhouse in the Soviet era, it also has rich farmland, important rivers and a coastline on the Sea of Azov.

Ukrainian officials working on a joint investment fund with the U.S. are preparing for a visit by their American counterparts in September, Kyiv's economy minister said on Monday.

Hungary accused Ukraine of an "outrageous and unacceptable" attack that disabled a Russian oil pipeline supplying the NATO ally—and fired a warning to Kyiv about its reliance on Hungarian electricity supplies. Newsweek has contacted the Ukrainian foreign ministry for comment.

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough on Monday morning stated two obvious facts about the Ukraine War that get lost in the commentary sometimes: JOE SCARBOROUGH: Let's underline two things here--just again, to set expectations.

The dollar gained on Monday as U.S. President Donald Trump prepared to host talks on ending Russia's war in Ukraine, and traders pared bets on a September rate cut before a speech on Friday by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.