Zelensky hopes to finish war this year

* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says "we hope that we can finish this war this year, not in three", on the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion.

*  Earlier, Zelensky said a peace deal with Russia could start with a "full" exchange of prisoners of war, the BBC reported.

* Meanwhile, a Ukrainian official said the US and Ukraine were close to agreeing a minerals deal

* UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said Russia doesn't "hold all the cards" - a reference to earlier comments from US President Donald Trump.

AP United Nations

On the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the UN General Assembly is expected to vote on Monday on duelling resolutions - Ukraine's European-backed proposal demanding an immediate withdrawal of Russian forces from the country and a US call for a swift end to the war that never mentions Moscow's aggression.

The United States pressured the Ukrainians to withdraw their nonbinding resolution in favour of its proposal, a US official and a European diplomat said on Sunday. But Ukraine refused, and it will be put to a vote in the 193-nation assembly, two European diplomats said. All spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks were private.

It's a reflection of the tensions that have emerged between the US and Ukraine. It also underscores the strain in the transatlantic alliance with Europe over the Trump administration's extraordinary turnaround on engagement with Moscow. European leaders were dismayed that they and Ukraine were left out of preliminary talks last week.

In escalating rhetoric, Trump has called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a "dictator," falsely accused Kyiv of starting the war and warned that he "better move fast" to negotiate an end to the conflict or risk not having a nation to lead. Zelenskyy responded by saying Trump was living in a Russian-made "disinformation space."

Since then, the Trump administration not only declined to endorse Ukraine's U.N. resolution, but at the last minute proposed its own competing resolution and pressed its allies to support that version instead. It comes as Trump plans to host French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday in Washington.

The US also wanted a vote on its proposal in the more powerful UN Security Council. China, which holds the council presidency this month, has scheduled it for Monday afternoon. The General Assembly has become the most important UN body on Ukraine because the 15-member Security Council, which is charged with maintaining international peace and security, has been paralyzed by Russia's veto power. 

There are no vetoes in the assembly, and the Ukraine resolution, which is co-sponsored by all 27 members of the European Union, is almost certain to be adopted. Its votes are closely watched as a barometer of world opinion, but the resolutions passed there are not legally binding, unlike those adopted by the Security Council.