Russia and the U.S. have agreed to start working toward ending the war in Ukraine and improving their diplomatic and economic ties.

After nearly three years of living under constant threat of Russian airstrikes while their troops fight a grinding campaign against Russia’s invasion, many Ukrainians long for an end to the war.

An Air Force plane carrying Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, Sen. Jim Risch, to Germany for the Munich Security Conference was forced to return to Washington late Thursday after developing a mechanical issue.

The U.S., U.K. and Australia have sanctioned a Russian web-hosting services provider and two Russian men who administer the service in support of Russian ransomware syndicate LockBit.

The U.S. on Thursday imposed sanctions on a network of more than a dozen people and firms that are accused of facilitating the shipment of millions of barrels of Iranian oil to China.

Congolese security forces have tried to slow the advance of Rwanda-backed M23 rebels who say they have captured Goma after entering eastern Congo’s largest city.

The Philippine coast guard says Chinese coast guard ships and a Chinese navy helicopter harassed a group of Philippine fisheries vessels conducting a scientific survey in a hotly disputed area of the South China Sea, forcing them to cancel the operation.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio will make his first official trip abroad next week to Central America.