内容摘要：Ukraine’s economy minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, flew to Washington on Wednesday to help finalize the deal.

Ukraine’s economy minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, flew to Washington on Wednesday to help finalize the deal.

“without preconditions” on Thursday in Istanbul about the more thanto meet in Turkey in person.

Lula has maintained close ties with Putin despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — a position that has caused tensions with the Kyiv government and raised eyebrows in the West.Lula on Wednesday stopped over in Moscow on his return from a state visit in China, where he told journalists: “When I get to Moscow, I’m going to try to talk to Putin. It won’t cost me anything to say, ‘Hey, comrade Putin, go to Istanbul and negotiate.”They did not meet, but the Kremlin said he and Putin spoke by phone. The Kremlin said Lula referenced the peace talks and “intends to do everything in his power to ensure their success.” It said Putin expressed gratitude for efforts to find ways to resolve the conflict.

The Kremlin did not mention any discussions of Putin’s possible travel to Istanbul.Lula’s communications department said the Brazilian leader encouraged Putin to attend the talks, acknowledging, however, that it’s the Russian leader’s prerogative to select the delegation for the meeting.

The Kremlin on Wednesday said Putin’s aide Vladimir Medinsky will head the Russian delegation, which will also include Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin and Igor Kostyukov, chief of the General Staff’s main directorate.

Medinsky led the Russian delegation at peace talks that took place in Belarus and Turkey in the first weeks of the war in 2022.Europe’s “big mistake” was undertaking major military downsizing following the Cold War and thinking “this war started in February 2022 and not in February 2014,” when Moscow invaded and then annexed Crimea, said Thomas Gomart, director of IFRI, a French international affairs think tank.

Europeans are scrambling to acquire weapons for themselves and for Ukraine, while confronting constraints onSome extra production capacity could come from Ukraine, which has ramped up manufacturing of ammunition and drones since Russia’s invasion. Much harder to replace, experts said, are advanced American weapons, including air defenses.

An Airbus A330 MRTT tanker and transport aircraft is being built at the Airbus manufacturing plant in Getafe, central Spain, on March 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)An Airbus A330 MRTT tanker and transport aircraft is being built at the Airbus manufacturing plant in Getafe, central Spain, on March 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)