President-elect Donald Trump will return to office on Monday having promised a peace deal to end Russia's war on Ukraine, still raging after nearly three years of combat.

Just three days before US President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House, Russia and Iran have finally signed a “comprehensive partnership agreement,” a deal that had been in the works for months.

Mr Trump's unpredictable, forceful style could yet bring something new to the table and enable a compromise previously impossible to imagine.

President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for White House budget director is declining to commit to doling out congressionally approved funds, specifically U.S. military aid to Ukraine.

Scott Bessent, Donald Trump's nominee for Treasury Secretary, said during a confirmation hearing Thursday that he is "perplexed" that the Biden administration did not impose more sanctions and tariffs on Russia's economy.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Friday that he does not expect the United States to halt military aid to Ukraine after President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated on Jan. 20.

Millions of Ukrainians eligible for military service have not updated their details with the government as required by law.

A top adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin was asked on Friday if Moscow will be sending a representative to President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration following news China's vice president will attend the event.

Advisers to President-elect Donald Trump now concede that the Ukraine war will take months or even longer to resolve, a sharp reality check on his biggest foreign policy promise - to strike a peace deal on his first day in the White House.

Just as he once stated that he would resolve the healthcare crisis in the US easily, then backtracked to say “nobody knew that health care was so complicated ”, Trump’s advisors have now admitted the war in Ukraine can’t be easily negotiated.

Since Trump’s election victory, his team has not outlined a peace proposal to Ukraine’s leadership, according to two sources close to Ukraine’s government and a former U.S. diplomat.