President Joe Biden used his first meeting with a foreign leader since ending the war in Afghanistan to send the message that the United States — unburdened of its “forever war”— is determined to become a more reliable ally to its friends.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose hopes for a White House meeting played a central part in former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment, will finally get his chance for an Oval Office sit down late next month.

The Trump administration’s ambassador to the European Union and a pivotal witness in 2019 impeachment proceedings has sued former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in an effort to recoup $1.8 million in legal fees.

President Joe Biden is facing a fresh challenge to his oft-repeated commitment to diversity in his administration: assembling a diplomatic corps that gives a nod to key political allies and donors while staying true to a campaign pledge to appoint ambassadors who look like America.

Who is the woman at the center of the viral coffee chugging moment during Tuesday’s impeachment hearing? The woman dramatically chugged her cup of coffee as Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman testified Tuesday. She says she grabbed an oatmeal and large coffee on her way to the hearing, where the world saw her chug every last caffeinated drop. Meanwhile, bombshell testimony came from Gordon Sondland, the Ambassador of the European Union, on Wednesday. He was appointed ambassador to the European Union by Trump after he donated $1 million to the presidential inauguration.

WASHINGTON, DC Impeachment investigators have released closed-door testimony from a U.S. official in Ukraine who overheard a call between diplomat Gordon Sondland and President Donald Trump this summer. Transcripts were released late Monday from interviews with David Holmes, the diplomat who overheard the call, and from David Hale, the State Departments No. Holmes is scheduled to testify publicly Thursday about the call. He told lawmakers behind closed doors Friday that he overheard Sondland telling Trump that the president of Ukraine would do anything that Trump wanted, according to remarks obtained by The Associated Press. Hale is scheduled to testify publicly Wednesday.

(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)WASHINGTON, DC The Latest on President Donald Trump and the House impeachment inquiry (all times local):4:35 p.m.A State Department official who overheard a phone call between President Donald Trump and diplomat Gordon Sondland over the summer will testify publicly in Thursdays impeachment hearing. With the addition of Holmes, the House intelligence committee is hearing from nine witnesses publicly this week. Holmes will testify alongside Fiona Hill, a former White House Russia adviser, in the weeks final hearing. __12:32 a.m.Impeachment hearings are entering a crucial second week as Democrats are set to hear from eight witnesses about President Donald Trumps dealings with Ukraine. Three State Department officials have already testified about their concerns as Trump pushed Ukraine to investigate Democrats and withheld military aid.

A look at how Sondlands account differs from that of other witnesses:ON INTERACTIONS WITH MICK MULVANEYTHEM: Multiple witnesses describe a cozy relationship between Sondland and the White House acting chief of staff. Fiona Hill, another White House national security official, says Sondland repeatedly talked of meetings with Mulvaney. ___ON HIS ROLE IN UKRAINE POLICY:THEM: Hill describes a blowup with Sondland in June when he asserted he was in charge of the administrations Ukraine policy. Irritated and shocked, she said she responded, youre not. And I said, Who has said you're in charge of Ukraine, Gordon? Hill said. He said he doesnt recall mentioning Ukraine investigations or Burisma.

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)WASHINGTON, DC The House impeachment hearings are entering a crucial second week as Democrats are set to hear from eight additional witnesses about President Donald Trumps dealings with Ukraine. Whats ahead on the impeachment schedule:A PARADE OF WITNESSESThe House intelligence committee, which is conducting the impeachment hearings, has set a breakneck schedule ahead of the Thanksgiving recess. Morrison will testify alongside Volker, who was also involved in White House meetings. "There was no ambiguity," said Vindman, an Army officer detailed to the White House who showed up at the deposition in his military uniform. House Democrats are hoping to finish the process by the end of the year.

Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, center, arrives for a interview with the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and House Committee on Oversight and Reform on Capitol Hill in Washington. A National Security Council aide said that Ambassador Gordon Sondland told a Ukrainian official that the assistance would be delivered once a Ukraine official announced an investigation into the gas company for which Joe Bidens son worked. Morrison also recounted that Sondland told him he was discussing the Ukraine matters directly with Trump. Both Morrison and Sondland are scheduled to testify publicly next week. Holding up aid to Ukraine for political purposes is the central charge from Democrats investigating impeachment.

Several more witnesses scheduled to testify in the House impeachment hearings over the next week are expected to say they too worried about President Donald Trumps push for Ukraine to investigate Democrats as the U.S. withheld military aid from the country. Whats ahead on the impeachment schedule:MORE WITNESSESThe House intelligence committee, which is conducting the impeachment hearings, has set a packed schedule of open hearings over the next week. Eight more witnesses will testify next week, some in back-to-back hearings on the same day. Judiciary is expected to hold its own hearings and, eventually, vote on articles of impeachment. House Democrats are hoping to finish the process by the end of the year.

Military aid promised by the U.S. to Ukraine and the strange circumstances under which it was held up and eventually released is at the heart of the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. I am not part of whatever drug deal Sondland and (acting White House chief of staff Mick) Mulvaney are cooking up on this, Hill said Bolton told her. AUG. 12: The complaintA whistleblower files a formal complaint addressed to Congress that details concerns over the July 25 phone call and the hold placed on the military aid. AUG. 28: The articlePolitico publishes details that the military aid to Ukraine is on hold, setting off a scramble among diplomats in Ukraine and the United States. Taylor and other diplomats involved in Ukraine were not given a reason for the aid being released.

A second U.S. embassy staffer in Kyiv overheard a key cellphone call between President Donald Trump and his ambassador to the European Union discussing the need for Ukrainian officials to pursue investigations, The Associated Press has learned. The July 26 call between Trump and Gordon Sondland was first described during testimony Wednesday by William Taylor, the acting U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. Taylor said one of his staffers overhead the call while Sondland was in a restaurant the day after Trumps call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that triggered the House impeachment inquiry. The second diplomatic staffer also at the table was Suriya Jayanti, a foreign service officer based in Kyiv. A person briefed on what Jayanti overheard spoke to AP on condition of anonymity to discuss a matter under investigation.

The start of public impeachment hearings unfolding in Congress marks the first time the American public can watch and listen to the witnesses at the heart of the matter. Here are some key takeaways from Wednesdays hearing featuring the first public witnesses: George Kent and William Taylor. Ambassador Sondland responded that President Trump cares more about the investigations of Biden, which Giuliani was pressing for, Taylor said in his opening statement. Taylor said he only learned about the call last Friday and didnt know about it when he appeared for a closed-door deposition with House investigators conducting the impeachment inquiry. They all made the professional choice to serve the United States as public officials, helping shape our national security policy, towards Russia in particular.

President Donald Trump tells a reporter to be quiet as he speaks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Friday, Nov. 8, 2019, before boarding Marine One for a short trip to Andrews Air Force Base, Md. and then on to Georgia to meet with supporters. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)WASHINGTON, DC If Ukraine's new leader wanted an Oval Office welcome from Donald Trump and he did he would have to open a public probe into the president's Democratic foe Joe Biden and his son. That is what two key White House officials told impeachment investigators. According to transcripts released Friday in the House Democrats' impeachment inquiry, Vindman and Fiona Hill, a former White House Russia adviser, gave House investigators detailed updates of scenes central to the probe.

Giuliani and Trump wanted Ukraine to probe Democrat Joe Biden's family and Ukraine's role in the 2016 U.S. election. Like other witnesses, Sondland and Volker underscored the pivotal role Giuliani played in Ukraine policy and their concerns about it. The envoy said he told Giuliani: "Lutsenko is not credible. ___"TELL THE TRUTH"On Sept. 22, just as reports emerged that the whistleblower complaint was related to Ukraine, Giuliani texted Volker and said, "all I need is for you to tell the truth." But in his testimony, Volker said it's "not the truth" that Giuliani was acting at the behest of the State Department, as Giuliani had been implying.

With that stunning reversal, diplomat Gordon Sondland handed House impeachment investigators another key piece of corroborating testimony Tuesday. He acknowledged what Democrats contend was a clear quid pro quo, pushed by President Donald Trump and his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, with Ukraine. "It kept getting more insidious," Sondland told investigators, as the "timeline went on." Pressed by investigators, Sondland testified that it would be improper for the U.S. to prompt Ukraine to investigate the Biden family. The White House has instructed its officials not to comply with the impeachment inquiry being led by House Democrats.

Morrison had been featured prominently in previous testimony from Taylor, the top diplomat in Ukraine who testified before House investigators last week. It was Morrison who first alerted Taylor to concerns over Trump's phone call with the Ukraine president. Morrison testified Thursday that he initially knew so little about Burisma when he took over for Hill in July that he had to do a Google search but quickly understood the Biden connection. As the security funds for Ukraine were being withheld, Morrison told the diplomat, "President doesn't want to provide any assistance at all." Morrison told Bolton and the NSC lawyers of this call between Trump and Sondland, according to Taylor's testimony.

Photo by Alex Wong/Getty ImagesWASHINGTON - A progressive senator from Wisconsin has called for Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's salary to be withheld until EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland is allowed to testify in the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump, according to a report by The Hill. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) sent a letter to Pompeo on Tuesday saying the law allows Congress to withhold compensation if a federal official prevents another government employee from communicating with "any Member, committee, or subcommittee of the Congress." The State Department blocked Sondland from testifying in his scheduled House deposition on Tuesday. In his letter, Pocan referred to a piece of legislature signed by Trump himself earlier this year. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.