European nations are rushing to spend more as America threatens to withdraw its longstanding protection.

Ukraine holds trillions of dollars worth of rare earth elements, which are critical for the modern high-tech economy.

President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin spoke via telephone on Monday afternoon “at the request of the latter,” according to state broadcaster China Central Television.

President Vladimir Putin on Sunday appointed the chief of Russia's sovereign wealth fund, Kirill Dmitriev, as a special envoy on international economic and investment cooperation, according to a decree quoted by Russian news agencies.

But, from Mr Putin’s point of view, he had good reason to be part of it. As the boss of one of Russia’s state-backed investment funds, Mr Dmitriev has been cutting deals for more than a decade. Mr Putin wants America to loosen sanctions on his economy.

NC, on the Senate floor Thursday and broke from the president and denounced Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling him a cancer. Sen. Tillis also pushed back on Trump's comments blaming Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the war in Ukraine.

A mix of stories lead Friday's newspaper front pages, including the latest in the rift between the US and Ukraine.

China and Russia “cannot be moved away” from one another, Chinese leader Xi Jinping told his counterpart Vladimir Putin Monday, in their first phone call since US President Donald Trump upended American foreign policy with a sweeping pivot toward Moscow as he pushes for peace in Ukraine.

It'll be a deal with rare earths and various other things,” he said, adding that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy might come to the Oval Office as early as this week to sign the agreement. In a post on Truth Social on Monday,

Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, has gained significant access to Vladimir Putin's inner circle through his personal relationships.

The comments come after Donald Trump said he and Vladimir Putin had agreed to start negotiations on ending the war "immediately" More now on the drone attack that Ukraine says it experienced overnight.