Petro O. Poroshenko, who led the country before Volodymyr Zelensky, said that peace talks could be smoothed if opposition figures were included in the government.

© Finbarr O’Reilly for The New York Times

The new Trump foreign policy team has brought a dizzying message to European allies on A.I., Ukraine and more. It has already left many angered and chagrined.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and European defense ministers had expressed concern that they might not be present for talks between President Trump and Russia’s leader to end the war.

The group said that mediators were working “to remove obstacles and close gaps” after the cease-fire deal with Israel hit a roadblock. Israel has yet to comment.

In his first trip abroad, the new U.S. defense secretary told Ukrainian and NATO officials that a durable peace could only come ‘with a realistic assessment of the battlefield.’

As Israel and Hamas accuse each other of violating the cease-fire deal, Israel’s prime minister has vowed a return to “intense fighting” if hostages are not freed by Saturday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said the cease-fire would end if Hamas did not release captives held in Gaza. But he did not say how many hostages had to be freed.

Hamas and President Trump have threatened to upend the cease-fire. Analysts say those words could prove hollow, but the deal still may not last beyond early March.

Deterring Russia from re-invading Ukraine, once this war ends, could require 150,000 troops and American help with air cover, intelligence and missile defense, experts say.

My father’s killer is being released to save hostages.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday at the U.S. Capitol, Thune told Breitbart News on Wednesday, a meeting in which Thune hopes to convey the importance of U.S.-Israel ties to deepen peace talks in the region.

The post Exclusive — Thune on Meeting with Netanyahu: Democrats’ Anti-Israel Behavior Will Not Deter U.S. Support for Israel appeared first on Breitbart.

Hamas freed three Israelis and five Thai nationals in exchange for more than 100 Palestinians. But the militant group struggled to control crowds, prompting a delay.

Legislation that goes into effect on Thursday bars UNRWA from operating in the country. That will affect aid delivery to Gaza and beyond.

Bloodshed over the weekend highlighted the brittleness of the cease-fires in both places. Still, Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah each have reasons to postpone a new escalation, at least for a few weeks.

The fate of the Israel-Hamas agreement will require huge effort.

Palestinians returning to parts of the enclave have been picking their way through vast piles of rubble and trying to salvage what they can.

President-elect Donald J. Trump has made big promises on Ukraine, Iran, China and crises around the globe. But he will have to make difficult choices.

They daydreamed about the people they would hug as soon as the truce took hold, the graves they would visit and the homes they would rebuild.

The agreement removed one of the most vexing international conflicts that hovered over the start of his second term.

An agreement offers Gazans at least some respite, and for Israelis it means the release of hostages. But the deal’s ambiguity leaves open the possibility that fighting could resume within weeks.