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Donald Trump’s “minerals-for-aid” offer to Ukraine last week has put the spotlight on the country’s vast and rare mineral resources, to which Washington wants rights as payback for past military support. Ukraine has large underground deposits worth up to $11.5tn of critical minerals, including lithium, graphite, cobalt, titanium and rare earths such as gallium, that

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Richard Walker, executive chair of food retailer Iceland, has given the Labour party a lacklustre “six out of 10” for its performance in government despite having introduced Sir Keir Starmer at the launch of his

Western capitals are braced for a potentially decisive week for European security, as the US and Russia begin talks to end the war in Ukraine and European leaders hold an emergency meeting to respond to the fast-moving negotiations taking place without them. Europe’s most powerful leaders will gather in Paris on Monday for crisis talks

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rejected a US bid to take ownership of around 50 per cent of the rights to his country’s rare earth minerals and is trying to negotiate a better deal, according to several people familiar with the matter. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent offered Zelenskyy the deal during a visit to Kyiv

The US has asked European capitals to provide detailed proposals on the weaponry, peacekeeping troops and security arrangements they could provide Ukraine with as part of any security guarantees to end its war with Russia. The request was sent to capitals this week, four western officials briefed on the document told the FT. It came

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Glencore has held preliminary discussions about selling its multibillion-dollar copper and cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in what would be a significant shift in strategy by the biggest western investor in the

Emmanuel Macron has described Donald Trump’s return as an “electroshock” that should force Europe to secure its own future as well as Ukraine’s. In an interview at the Élysée Palace shortly after Trump agreed with Vladimir Putin of Russia to hold imminent peace talks, the French president championed the need for Europe to “muscle up”

European officials fear they will have to bear the cost of postwar security and reconstruction as they reel from being cut out of US-Russia peace negotiations on Ukraine. Donald Trump said on Wednesday, after talking to Russian President Vladimir Putin, that their delegations would “start negotiations immediately” to end the war, blindsiding European capitals. More

President Donald Trump said Washington and Moscow will begin negotiations “immediately” on ending the war in Ukraine after speaking with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Wednesday’s call indicated a dramatic turnaround in the US-Russia relationship amid signs Washington would dial back its support for Ukraine after almost three years of war. Trump wrote on his

Holding bitcoin is cool again. President Donald Trump has vowed to make America the “crypto capital of the planet”, words that have helped supercharge the token’s price to eye-watering six-figure highs. Wall Street banks and money managers are preparing to jump in. Investors hope Trump will turn the often-derided token into a mainstream financial asset

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his military to mass around the Gaza Strip and threatened to resume “intensive fighting” against Hamas if the Palestinian militant group failed to release Israeli hostages by midday on Saturday. Netanyahu’s ultimatum on Tuesday came after Hamas’s announcement that it was delaying “until further notice” the planned release of

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. “Trump trade” bets on a stronger dollar and higher bond yields have backfired so far this year, as investors take a more bearish view on the economic fallout from the new US administration’s global trade

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Italy’s business elite has been roiled by a scam that used an artificial intelligence-generated voice mimicking Italian defence minister Guido Crosetto to ask tycoons to wire millions to overseas bank accounts to help pay ransoms

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free Your guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the world A federal judge in New York has temporarily blocked Elon Musk and his team from accessing the US Treasury department’s payments data, warning that it risked leading to the disclosure of sensitive information.

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free Your guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the world Donald Trump announced Nippon Steel had abandoned its plan to buy US Steel but would “invest heavily” in the iconic Pittsburgh producer. At a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba

Donald Trump’s new cryptocurrency has sparked a flood of imitators, leading to warnings that investors risk being duped. More than 700 copycat and spam coins have been sent to Trump’s digital wallet by people apparently seeking to suggest their creations have his endorsement, according to a Financial Times analysis. It comes after the president and

Financial markets have been roiled by US President Donald Trump’s announcement of tariffs on key trading partners, and investors are bracing for further volatility ahead. Here’s how they are trading Trump’s on-again, off-again trade war. Equities: ‘impossible to avoid risk’ Wall Street has been working since before November’s presidential election on how it should position

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free Your guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the world President Donald Trump’s plans for the US to take over Gaza have been met with anger and dismay across the Arab world, and raised fears of reigniting conflict in the region. The US

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free Your guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the world China has revived antitrust investigations into Google and Nvidia, while considering a new probe against Intel, as Beijing looks for leverage in talks with US President Donald Trump. China’s State Administration for Market

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. A revival in investment banking helped BNP Paribas to lift its profits by more than 15 per cent in the fourth quarter, as France’s largest lender said it was launching a plan to boost the