内容摘要：Putin backs calls for a ceasefire before peace negotiations, “but before it’s done, it’s necessary to answer a few questions and sort out a few nuances,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Putin is also ready for direct talks with Ukraine without preconditions to seek a peace deal, he added.

Putin backs calls for a ceasefire before peace negotiations, “but before it’s done, it’s necessary to answer a few questions and sort out a few nuances,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Putin is also ready for direct talks with Ukraine without preconditions to seek a peace deal, he added.

During his nightly address, he said that, per the signed agreement, there were no debts to be paid from past U.S. aid to Kyiv. He said the agreement will be sent to the parliament to be ratified and that Ukraine was “interested in ensuring that there are no delays with the agreement.”According to Zelenskyy, the agreement is “truly equal” and “creates an opportunity for investments in Ukraine.”

“This is working together with America and on fair terms, when both the Ukrainian state and the United States, which help us in defense, can earn in partnership,” he added.Despite that, America’s top diplomat highlighted the uncertainty of a larger peace deal that the U.S. is trying to broker between Ukraine and Russia.In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, rescuers help evacuate an elderly resident from her damaged house following Russia’s air raid in Odesa, Ukraine, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, rescuers help evacuate an elderly resident from her damaged house following Russia’s air raid in Odesa, Ukraine, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)“They’re still far apart. They’re closer, but they’re still far apart,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity” on Thursday night. “And it’s going to take a real breakthrough here very soon to make this possible, or I think the president is going to have to make a decision about how much more time we’re going to dedicate to this.”

Tymofiy Mylovanov, former economy minister and current president of the Kyiv School of Economics, said that despite what he described as “unimaginable pressure” during negotiations on the minerals deal, Ukraine succeeded in defending its interests.

“This is a huge political and diplomatic win for Ukraine,” Mylovanov wrote on Facebook. “The deal looks fair.”In the Sviatoshynskyi district, a fire broke out across multiple upper-floor apartments of a nine-story building after an impact of drone debris, according to the Kyiv City Military Administration. Five people were rescued from the blaze.

Michelle L. Price in Washington, Illia Novikov in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Liudas Dapkus in Vilnius, Lithuania, contributed to this report.Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at

A previous version of this story was corrected to change “Beijing” to “Putin” being isolated diplomatically by the West.MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Right after Sunday worship at St. Paul’s-San Pablo