Russia's army said Tuesday that its forces had captured two more villages in Ukraine, claiming advances along the southeastern front.

The villages of Novodarivka in the southern Zaporizhzhia region and Romanivka in the eastern Donetsk region had been seized, the military posted on Telegram.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Ukraine for the first time in more than 2 1/2 years Monday, just weeks after he was criticized by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for having a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

That call came at a time of widespread speculation about what the new administration of President-elect Donald Trump will mean for Ukraine as the incoming president has promised to end the conflict. In a major shift, Zelensky signaled Friday that an an offer of NATO membership to territory under Kyiv's control could end "the hot stage of the war" in Ukraine.

The International Criminal Court's member states open their annual meeting Monday while the court faces pushback over arrest warrants for Israeli officials, sexual harassment allegations against the court's chief prosecutor and a very empty docket.

The Assembly of States Parties, which represents the ICC's 124 member countries, will convene its 23rd conference to elect committee members and approve the court's budget against a backdrop of unfavorable headlines.

President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday named Massad Boulos, a Lebanese American businessman who is the father-in-law of Trump's daughter Tiffany, as a senior adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs.

Boulos arranged Trump campaign efforts to engage the Arab American community in Michigan, organizing dozens of meetings in areas with large Arab American populations angered by Democratic President Joe Biden's backing of Israel's offensives in Gaza and Lebanon. Trump won the majority Arab American city of Dearborn Heights on his way to sweeping Michigan and other swing states.

On a bright winter day, workers at a Ukrainian thermal power plant repair its heavily damaged equipment as drops of water from melted snow leak through gaping holes in its battered roof.

Several weeks earlier, the facility was targeted by a Russian air attack that left scorch marks, shrapnel scars on the walls, and missile fragments scattered across the production floor.

Desertion is starving the Ukrainian army of desperately needed manpower and crippling its battle plans at a crucial time in its war with Russia, which could put Kyiv at a clear disadvantage in future ceasefire talks.

Facing every imaginable shortage, tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops, tired and bereft, have walked away from combat and front-line positions to slide into anonymity, according to soldiers, lawyers and Ukrainian officials. Entire units have abandoned their posts, leaving defensive lines vulnerable and accelerating territorial losses, according to military commanders and soldiers.

Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov arrived in North Korea on Friday for talks with North Korean military and political leaders as the countries deepen their cooperation over Russia's war in Ukraine.

In announcing the visit, Russia's Defense Ministry didn't say whom Belousov would meet or the purpose of the talks. North Korean state media didn't immediately confirm the visit.

Iran, Britain, France and Germany were meeting in Geneva on Friday under a shroud of secrecy to discuss Tehran's nuclear program, amid surging tensions even before Donald Trump's return to the White House.

In a rare show of discretion, the countries foreign ministries were providing no details on the topics to be discussed, or even the specific time and venue for the talks or how long they were due to last.

Russia could fire its new Oreshnik hypersonic missile at the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in response to Ukraine's strikes on its territory, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday.

The Biden administration kept President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration closely apprised of its efforts to broker the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah that took effect early Wednesday, according to the outgoing Democratic administration.

Trump's team, meanwhile, was quick to spike the football and claim credit for the rare spot of good news for a Democratic administration that's been dragged down by the grinding Mideast conflict.