Russia fired dozens of drones at Ukraine in nighttime attacks, Ukrainian officials said Wednesday, disregarding a unilateral ceasefire announced by Kyiv that began at midnight.

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that Ukraine hadn't abided by its own ceasefire, saying that air defenses shot down 53 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions, the illegally annexed Crimean peninsula and the Black Sea between Tuesday evening and dawn Wednesday.

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing would play a "greater role" in ending hostilities in the Middle East during talks with his Iranian counterpart on Wednesday, a week before U.S. President Donald Trump is due to meet Xi Jinping.

U.S. President Donald Trump said early Wednesday that he has paused the so-called "Project Freedom" to see whether a deal can be signed with Iran, after "great progress" was made toward "a complete and final agreement."

Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned on Tuesday that they would respond firmly to any ships that diverge from the Islamic republic's approved route through the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump is renewing his criticism of Pope Leo XIV even as Rubio prepares to visit Vatican City, ostensibly to ease tensions between Washington and the Holy See.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will travel to Beijing on Tuesday for talks, the foreign ministry said, amid stalled negotiations with the United States to end the Middle East war.

"During the visit, he will meet his Chinese counterpart (Wang Yi) to discuss bilateral ties and regional and international developments," the ministry said in a brief statement.

U.S. President Donald Trump urged Iran Tuesday to "do the smart thing" and make a deal, saying even as a Middle East ceasefire teetered that he did not want to kill more Iranians.

The United States is "not looking for a fight" over the Strait of Hormuz and its ceasefire with Iran still holds, but any attack on commercial shipping will be met with a "devastating" response, the Pentagon chief said Tuesday.

The warning from Pete Hegseth came on the second day of a U.S. effort to facilitate the transit of commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran had closed in response to the U.S.-Israeli war against the Islamic republic.

World leaders on Tuesday piled pressure on Tehran to stick to diplomacy to bring an end to the Middle East war, after a salvo of attacks in the region left a ceasefire crumbling.

Iran's powerful chief negotiator warned the United States against any further escalation in the Strait of Hormuz, after a spate of attacks risked reigniting the Middle East war.