President Donald Trump’s envoys were to meet Thursday with Ukrainian negotiators for the third time in two weeks to press his plan to end the war as his administration eased economic pressure on Russia.Two days after the envoys met Russian President Vladimir Putin, the US Treasury Department partially suspended measures that Trump had announced in October when he finally vowed to get tough on Moscow.The Treasury Department suspended until at least April 29 economic sanctions against Lukoil-branded gas stations outside of Russia.A ban remains in place to prevent the money from flowing back to Russia, which has been under sweeping US and EU sanctions since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.Trump’s sanctions had been one of the most concrete means to pressure Russia, which European diplomats accuse of trying to avoid pressure by pursuing negotiations.- Ukraine seeks ‘complete information’ -Steve Witkoff, Trump’s business partner-turned-roving global ambassador, and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, will meet in the Miami area for dinner late Thursday with the top Ukrainian negotiator, Rustem Umerov, a US official said.The gathering, which will be closed to the press, came two days after the Trump duo met with Putin for five hours, stretching into the early morning, in Moscow.”Our task now is to obtain complete information about what has been said in Russia and what other reasons Putin has found to prolong the war and to pressure Ukraine, to pressure us, our independence,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an evening address from Kyiv.”Ukraine is prepared for any possible developments. Of course, we will work as constructively as possible with all our partners to ensure peace is achieved, and that it is a dignified peace.”Trump said Wednesday that the envoys had a “reasonably good meeting” with Putin.Pressed on whether Witkoff and Kushner got any sense that Putin genuinely wanted to halt the invasion, Trump replied: “He would like to end the war. That was their impression.”But Putin showed no public signs of budging, as Russia makes slow but steady progress seizing land in eastern Ukraine.”This is a complex task and a challenging mission that President Trump took upon himself,” Putin said of the diplomacy in an interview published Thursday as he visited India.”Achieving consensus among competing parties is no easy task, but President Trump, truly, I believe — he sincerely tries to do this,” he said, according to magazine India Today.”I think we should engage with this effort rather than obstruct it.”Putin’s visit to India, a historic partner of Russia, comes as international isolation of him gradually eases.Trump in August welcomed Putin to Alaska where they made no clear progress on ending the Ukraine conflict.Also on the diplomatic front, Turkey, a key broker, summoned envoys from both Ukraine and Russia after Kyiv claimed drone attacks on Russia-linked tankers in the Black Sea.- Critical time for Ukraine -Trump has previously mused that Russia will inevitably win more land and that Ukraine would be better off settling.A first draft of the US plan would see Ukraine surrendering land that Russia has not been able to win on the battleground in return for security promises that fall short of Ukraine’s aspirations to join NATO.Witkoff and Kushner have been working on modifications since meeting with the Ukrainians on November 23 in Geneva. The two sides met again the following week in Miami alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio.The talks come at a delicate time for Zelensky, who was hailed as a hero in the West at the start of the war but has had a tumultuous relationship with Trump.Zelensky last week removed his top aide and negotiator Andriy Yermak, who days earlier had negotiated with Witkoff, as he came under investigation in a corruption scandal.

A Virginia man was arrested on Thursday for allegedly planting pipe bombs near the Democratic and Republican party headquarters on the eve of the January 6, 2021 US Capitol riot, officials said.The arrest of Brian Cole Jr, 30, of Woodbridge, Virginia, is the first breakthrough in the nearly five-year-old case, which spawned numerous conspiracy theories among the far right.Attorney General Pam Bondi said Cole faces charges of interstate transportation of an explosive device and attempted destruction using explosive materials.”There could be more charges to come,” Bondi said at a press conference.Bondi declined to speculate on whether the pipe-bombing was politically motivated, saying the investigation was ongoing.The pipe bombs — placed outside the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Republican National Committee (RNC) offices in Washington in the evening of January 5 — failed to detonate.The devices were discovered by authorities the next day as supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol in a bid to prevent the congressional certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory.The FBI released numerous photos and video clips of a masked and hooded suspect over the years and eventually increased the reward for information leading to an arrest to half a million dollars.Bondi said Cole’s arrest resulted from a reexamination of the existing evidence.The FBI and other law enforcement partners “worked tirelessly for months sifting through evidence that had been sitting at the FBI with the Biden administration for four long years,” Bondi said.”There was no new tip, there was no new witness, just good, diligent police work,” she said.FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said the authorities were determined to “track this person to the end of the earth.””You’re not going to walk into our capital city, put down two explosive devices and walk off in the sunset. Not going to happen,” Bongino said.According to the criminal complaint, Cole lived with his mother and other family members in Woodbridge, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Washington, and worked in the office of a bail bondsman.The complaint listed numerous purchases allegedly made by Cole of components that were used in the pipe bombs as well as tracking of his cellphone use on the day the devices were placed in downtown Washington.The failure of law enforcement to swiftly solve the case birthed a number of conspiracy theories among the far right, including baseless accusations that the bomber may have been a US Capitol police officer.After taking office for a second time in January, Trump pardoned more than 1,500 people charged or convicted of taking part in the assault on the US Capitol.