Hello, this is Hui Jie writing to you from Singapore. Welcome to another edition of CNBC's Daily Open.
Ukraine launched more than 1,000 drones at targets across Russia over the weekend, with strikes setting energy facilities ablaze in St. Petersburg. But tensions between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump on the diplomatic front have also complicated Ukraine's warfighting efforts.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy is fighting a war of attrition against Russia, and an increasingly difficult war of persuasion in Washington.
Even as Kyiv launches a massive drone strike against the Russian city of St Petersburg and tries to hold back Russian forces on the ground, Zelenskyy is fighting on the diplomatic front to keep Washington in his country's corner.
Over the weekend, Trump defended his decision to lift sanctions on Russian diesel export, as well as suspending new duties on Russian goods and major Russian energy buyers.