CNN
 — 

They’d always loved being close to the mountains, but Jennie Vercouteren and her husband, Ward, never imagined that they’d end up living in the French Pyrenees.

The couple, who met while they were both working in Colorado, however, longed for a “quieter life” in Europe.

“We started coming to the south of France on vacation after we met,” Jennie tells CNN Travel, explaining that she and Ward, who is from Belgium, both had a lot of affection for the European country.

Jennie, who ran a co-working space for ecological entrepreneurs, found that being in France offered “such a contrast to the stress of city life,” and that she “preferred the culture in Europe.”

“I was stressed out 24 hours a day with business,” says Jennie, who is originally from Minnesota. “So I was just looking around, thinking, ‘This is like a dream. These people are just relaxed.’ It was so beautiful and calm.”

The prospect of actually relocating to the European country felt like an unreachable dream then.

But the couple, who’ve been married since 2014, began rethinking things when looking at real estate in Denver and realizing that they could only afford to buy a property that was located at least 40 minutes from the city.

“We’d be so far from anything, and it would take us 20 years to pay off,” says Jennie.

“So it really started to weigh on us — if we should really buy a house in the United States, when our longterm goal was to move to Europe, or actually just look at making the transition and buy a house in Europe at that point.”

Two things were holding them back: they wanted to bring their two dogs, Hobbes and Athena, with them, and they wanted to travel by boat.

Only one major cruise ship — The Queen Mary 2 — allows dogs and cats to travel with their owners on transatlantic crossings from the US to Europe.

“We’d been looking at that online, and it was a two-year wait list (for two dogs),” explains Jennie. “And they suddenly had an availability for two dogs.”

They decided to take a leap of faith and purchase the tickets, despite not really having a firm plan at that stage.

The couple went on to sell their holiday home in Colorado mountain resort Crested Butte, where they had been working remotely, shortly before setting off for France.

On December 8, 2016, they boarded the Queen Mary 2 in New York with their dogs in tow.

They arrived in the UK seven days later, before making their way to France.

As the wife of a European citizen, Jennie was able to enter on a Carte de Sejour, a French residence permit allowing foreign nationals to remain in the country.

The couple then began searching for their own home in the Aubeterre area of southwestern France.

“There we could afford to buy a house in cash,” adds Jennie, explaining that they planned to use the money from the sale of their business and holiday home to help establish themselves.

“And it’s a really beautiful area.”

But it was far from smooth sailing initially for the pair, and Jennie says she quickly realized that the life she’d envisioned was very different from the reality that they were experiencing.

“I had the dream of France … But the dream was not as easy as I thought at all,” she says.

One reason stands out: “Because I didn’t speak French. And I think that’s very, very difficult to be in a foreign country and not speak the language. You don’t understand anything that’s going on.”

Jennie, who went on to take a year-long intensive French course, describes their first few months in France as “very lonely” and “scary.”

“I didn’t really understand the country at all,” she says. “I didn’t really understand the customs. It’s a really different culture than the United States.”

Since Ward spoke French, Jennie relied on him to communicate for both of them.

“I had him translate everything,” she admits, “because I really like to know what’s going on.”

She adds, “So I think that was also hard for him. Because everything anyone said, I was like, ‘What did they say?’”

Ward echoes this sentiment, admitting that he struggled with being “the only point of reference” and didn’t necessarily find the process any easier than Jennie did.

“Obviously I did speak French and I could connect with people …” he notes. “It was a different experience, that’s for sure.”

Jennie also found it hard to get used to the schedule in France, especially the fact that most businesses were closed on Sundays.

“Now I love that,” she says. “But in the beginning it was just very jarring. It’s like, ‘Wait, nothing’s open on Sunday?’

“There’s a lot of boundaries that were hard for me to adjust to, that made life feel more lonely and a little bit harder at first.”

The couple eventually bought a three-bedroom house in the village of Saint Séverin for 120,000 euros (around $136,000) and embarked on their life in southern France.

However, while they’d felt as though they knew the area relatively well before, they’d only really visited in summer or spring, and life was very different during the colder months.

“In the winter time, it’s not that lively,” says Jennie. “So after living in that area for a year, we realized it actually was not the right place.

“And we had this vision of setting up Airbnbs or some type of business like that.”

Feeling as though they needed to try a new location, the couple took a trip to the Pyrenees mountains, and spent some time in an ancient village named Luz-Saint-Sauveur, which is about 200 miles south of where they’d been living.

“We actually went on vacation, not really expecting to buy a building,” she adds.

The couple were drawn to the idea of living in the mountains once again, and decided to see what type of properties were available there.

Ward did a search for buildings in the area priced under 100,000 euros (around $114,000) and came across a building that had been empty for several years, and which seemed like an ideal location for apartments.

“We were like, ‘This place is unbelievable, and it’s a year-round market,’” says Jennie.

They hired a construction expert to survey the building, which is situated next to an ancient church, to ensure it was stable, then the couple decided to purchase it and renovate it into two apartments.

“We first demolished everything in the building and then worked with a local construction company to rewire and plumb the place and put in all new walls and windows,” says Jennie.

“We did a lot of the work ourselves, the demolition and the finishes.”

As time went on and they got to know the local community, Jennie and Ward began to make more and more friends.

Jennie says her confidence grew while studying French, and eventually she became fluent.

“It was really thanks to that program,” she adds, describing the language course she took as “a pathway to connecting to French culture here.”

She explains, “Because I found it hard to learn French on my own. Then I also met friends through that program that were expats from different countries, so we all could share our experiences.”

“It was a very grounding experience to go to the university program, learn from the teachers about the culture,” she adds.

Reflecting on their initial struggles, Jennie admits that she hadn’t realized how difficult it would be without the support of friends and family in the United States.

“Even if you move cities, you still have connections,” she reflects. “And it’s really easy to meet people and connect.

“Whereas in France … we didn’t know anyone. And so it’s a really harsh process at first.”

Ward had only lived in the US for around three years before they moved to France, but says he found it much easier to make friends there.

“In the United States, things go very quickly,” he says. “And that’s really a charming thing… You can instantly become friends with people.

“You meet someone at a bar, next thing you know, the next week you’re hanging out with them.

“It’s a very unique phenomenon to the United States. It’s kind of a quick pace. No barriers. I really like that about the United States. In France, it’s a bit more reserved. So things will move a lot slower.”

While forming friendships has definitely been harder in France, the couple feels that the bonds they’ve built there are more meaningful.

“The friendships I found that I’ve made tend to be a lot deeper,” says Jennie. “Because you have a lot more time to get to know each other.”

She goes on, “And there’s a sense of really investing in friendships for the long term and in things for the long term, too.”

Jennie and Ward were able to build a third apartment in the attic of the building, which they named Chez Lolette, once they’d sold their country home and bought an apartment in Lourdes, a market town situated close to Luz-Saint-Sauveur in the Pyrenees, in 2023.

The entire renovation come to a total of around 170,000 euros (about $193,000.)

The couple are now very settled in Lourdes and love that the town is filled with people “from all over France that enjoy mountain living,” along with families who’ve lived there for years and a few entrepreneurs who’ve moved there more recently.

“It’s a really inexpensive place to live that’s really connected,” explains Jennie.

Although the slower pace of life in France proved to be frustrating for them at first, the couple now appreciates the fact that this allows “you to spend more time on thinking and figuring out who you are, what you like, what makes sense.”

“So you’re never really making on-the-spot decisions,” adds Ward.

As for the cost of living, Jennie and Ward say that France is “way more affordable” for them.

“The cost of housing is much less,” says Jennie. “The cost of food is much less. We can get really good food, and then health care is included.”

She adds, “You can walk everywhere too, so you don’t have pay for a car and gas to go everywhere. So just the overall lifestyle, I think it’s at least half the price for us from the US, and we live just as well. It’s a really nice lifestyle.”

Looking back on her life in Colorado, Jennie now recognizes that she had “this very American perspective,” despite the fact that her mother is originally from Denmark.

“Coming to France and getting connected to all these different cultures around the world, it’s given me a much more global perspective,” she says. “So I really feel more connected to the rest of the world.”

Jennie also feels that she’s developed a stronger connection to her Danish roots, as the culture in France is “similar to Denmark.”

“I’ve started to learn Danish again,” she says. “These are things I just would never have time for in the United States.”

But there’s at least one aspect of French culture that she’s never managed to adapt to — long “boring” dinners.

“I was like, ‘Whoa, we still have to sit at dinner? They haven’t done the cheese yet?’ jokes Jennie, adding that she sometimes misses the spontaneity of having a last-minute barbecue, rather than dinner being “a whole thing.”

“I think honestly that has been a little bit harder to get used to. Just how serious the customs can be, especially as an American.”

Although she initially had a Carte de Sejour, Jennie has since obtained an entrepreneur visa, which allows foreign nationals to establish a business in France, and she’s begun to apply for Danish citizenship.

Now that they’re settled in France, and are able to run Chez Lolette remotely, Jennie and Ward have a lot more free time and their life in France finally resembles the dream that they originally had many years ago.

Jennie spends a lot of time working on pottery, a hobby she’s taken up since living in France, and is in the process of launching a website focused on eco-gardening in the south of France.

“That’s my passion,” she adds.

Their beloved dogs, Hobbes and Athena, have since passed away, and the couple now have a Jack Russell named Teddy.

Although their time in France got off to a shaky start, Jennie and Ward say they are very happy about how things turned out, and can’t see themselves returning to the US.

“We don’t regret making the decision,” says Jennie. “We’re really happy that we did.”

She admits, though, that “you can lose the vision” for a moment.

“A couple times, I was like, ‘Wait, what are we doing? I can’t totally see the vision right now,’” she says, adding, “but then you get back to it.”

Jennie and Ward now enjoy small things like going for walks, heading to the local butcher for meat, picking up vegetables from the farmer’s market, and the fact that everyone in the village knows each other.

“I love how beautiful and calm life here is and how much time there is for friendship and enjoying daily life,” Jennie says.

CNN
 — 

It provides both good news and optics, but is ultimately a forced deal with a complex future.

Ukraine’s minerals agreement with the United States stems from months of fraught haggling, and originates in a Ukrainian idea first offered during the amicable climes of the Biden administration. It has since become a persistent thorn in the side of Kyiv and Washington’s febrile relationship. President Volodymyr Zelensky had little choice but to sign something, or risk another seismic rupture in his relationship with President Donald Trump.

Yet the document CNN has seen sets the stage for a longer-term relationship between the US and Ukraine. It does not give an ironclad guarantee of American profits in the next years of the Trump administration.

The symbolism was, however, largely the point. Trump needed to feel America was getting something back from Kyiv. Ukraine needed to show its relationship with this White House was functional and improving. Ukraine’s allies needed this done and dusted to remove a distraction from the complex talk of military aid and real peace that must now become their focus.

The deal’s text also contains two phrases that will be distinctly pleasing to Kyiv. First, it refers to the “large-scale destruction caused by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine” – an unambiguous statement of blame from a White House that has often preferred to pull its punches. And then it explains how Ukraine might buy arms from the US – vital given the escalating Russian onslaught across the front lines.

It says that if the US gives new military assistance to Ukraine, “the capital contribution of the U.S. Partner (to the fund) will be deemed to be increased by the assessed value of such military assistance”. In short, Ukraine will use this fund to pay for weapons. Until now, it’s been unclear whether the Trump administration would provide arms – especially desperately needed Patriot missile interceptors – at all. Here, they are explaining how Ukraine would pay for them.

It will add to a central message of this beleaguered process: that the pendulum swings of Trump’s position as he tries to broker this peace – vacillating between a wider cosiness with Moscow and maintaining US relations with Europe as a whole – have moved back in Ukraine’s favor. Trump is palpably seeing less progress with Moscow, which continues to reject the US-Ukrainian proposal of a 30-day unconditional ceasefire, itself now nearly 50 days old. The specific terms in the deal of how Ukraine might pay for future arms purchases will ring loud inside the Kremlin’s walls.

The symbolic nature of the document is also partially due to its long-term perspectives and how much political change will likely occur in the decades it needs to start really bringing money to US coffers. Neither Kyiv nor Washington will have the same administrations for more than another three years, even if the war ended tomorrow.

New presidents will choose to honor or revisit the deal. And anyone who has worked or done business in Ukraine knows they are masters at “interpreting” documents and deals in their favor. The world of natural resources is already opaque there, and it is unlikely this high-profile deal will suddenly usher in total business transparency. It’ll likely be messy once the immediate demands of the war end, that much is clear.

So it appears wide-ranging, huge, and game-changing, but at the same time its impact is not immediate, it is largely symbolic – an urgent Band-Aid. Contradictory and complex, but likely loud and clear enough for Trump.

CNN
 — 

New intelligence reviewed by US and Western officials suggests Russian President Vladimir Putin may have shifted his immediate focus in the Ukraine war toward the shorter-term objectives of solidifying his hold on territory his forces have seized and boosting his country’s struggling economy, multiple people familiar with the matter told CNN.

This represents an evolution from recent US and Western intelligence assessments suggesting that Putin felt the state of the war was to his advantage, that he had the momentum as well as the manpower to sustain a longer fight against a faltering Ukraine and seize the entire country.

The perception Putin may have shifted his thinking has played into President Donald Trump and his negotiators’ belief that the Russian president may be more willing to consider a potential peace deal than in the past, two US sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

However, senior US officials remain skeptical of Putin and his repeated assertions in ongoing talks that he wants a peace deal, even though what is being proposed by the US is incredibly generous to Russia, handing them most of the territory they’ve taken. There is also a widespread belief that even if Russia agrees to a version of the agreement on the table it may look to resume the war and try to seize more of Ukraine in the long-term.

“I think that he may be thinking – I don’t want to say thinking smaller – but thinking about what a reasonable nearer-term objective is,” said a senior western intelligence official.

The pressure exerted by an increasingly angry Trump administration, threatening more sanctions and a struggling Russian economy, have Putin in a potentially difficult position. There has also been strong emphasis in talks on the potential for investments between the US and Russia if the war ends, opportunities the US has called “historic.”

“All of this really depends on what is the US willing to put on the table so that he could not just claim victory domestically,” the official continued, “but really feel that he has achieved something that is worth a significant pause and then maybe retake up the fight at some point later.”

The official pointed to Putin’s repeated references to where the Russian people have historically come from and said he maintains “a long-term objective,” to seize more of Ukraine, “at least those portions that are the cradle of Russian civilization” in Putin’s eyes.

Moscow is willing to “play along” with the US and restrict its immediate objectives to improve its relationship with Washington, a senior European official agreed, but “clearly hasn’t given up on their maximalist war ends.”

The Kremlin hopes that a better relationship “draws the attention away after a tactical pause and that they can then use the mix of military, economic, informational and political tools to achieve Putin’s full objectives in Ukraine and beyond,” the official said.

Earlier this year, US intelligence officials cautioned now-senior Trump advisers that controlling Ukraine remained Putin’s top priority next to regime survival and warned he was eager to exploit any perceived rush to negotiations by the new administration, according to a source familiar with those conversations.

“Putin’s thinking has evolved because he thinks he has a sympathetic US president who doesn’t know what he’s doing and is more interested in short-term wins,” said Democratic Congressman Jason Crow, who sits on the House intelligence committee. Putin, he added, “thinks there can be a settlement, and it simply won’t be enforced.”

During negotiations that started under Trump, Ukraine’s leaders have repeatedly pleaded that the US and Europe provide security assistance and guarantees as part of a potential pact so that even if Ukraine does cede some land, Russia would be deterred from resuming the war to seize more of the country.

“The Russian objective is to get as much territory recognized as possible and have as weak of a Ukraine as possible,” said a senior US official who argued there’s “zero indication” Putin could actually conquer the rest of Ukraine when his forces have been unable to dramatically move the front lines in a long time.

So any shift in Putin’s thinking comes from that realization and the Trump administration’s efforts to get the two sides to negotiate an end to the conflict, said the official.

“The calculation of what more Putin could achieve at this given stage has probably changed, in part because there’s a desire to end the war,” the official said. “The calculus on the US side has changed [since the Biden administration], which contributes to the changing calculus of the Russians presumably.”

Discussions about where territorial lines could be drawn have focused on the five territories where Russia has the strongest foothold, including Crimea which Putin seized in 2014. Trump has said Ukraine will not get back most of the land it has lost to Russia.

Last week, Vice President JD Vance indicated the US envisions an eventual truce “somewhere close” to where the current front lines are with “some territorial swaps.”

“This peace deal is about these so-called five territories. But there’s so much more to it,” d, who has met with Putin four times this year, told Fox News after their third encounter. “I think we might be on the verge of something that would be very important for the world at large.”

CNN has reported that some European allies are highly alarmed by the framework being proposed as the US could recognize territory illegally seized by Russia.

Trump has said the US is ready to recognize Russian sovereignty in Crimea, while Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said this week that Moscow wants international recognition of all five Ukrainian territories Russia fully or partially holds, something Kyiv has said it would refuse to do.

Another senior US official, Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg, said Tuesday that the administration is just waiting on Russia to agree to a ceasefire.

“We’ve got one side [Ukraine], now you need to come up with the other side, and I think we’re close,” he told Fox News. “This is the last 100 yards to an objective. In the military, it’s the toughest 100 yards.”

But there has long been doubt among political and intelligence officials that Putin and the circle around him are negotiating in good faith, instead trying to stretch the talks out and continue their military campaign.

Sen. Roger Wicker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, echoed that skepticism this week, telling reporters it is “time to treat Putin like the deceptive war criminal he is” and reminding Trump that the Russian leader “cannot be allowed to drag the United States along.”

Trump has consistently insisted that he believes Putin wants peace and expressed optimism about a potential deal, but on Saturday appeared to question the Russian leader’s aims.

“Maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social following a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Vatican.

“We understand that Washington is willing to achieve a quick success in this process,” Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded on Wednesday. “But at the same time, we hope for an understanding that the settlement in the Ukrainian crisis is too complicated to be done overnight. There are lots of details and lots of tiny things to be tackled before a settlement.”

Trump had referenced recent Russian strikes on Kyiv and elsewhere that the senior western intelligence official said are in line with the argument that Putin is not engaging in truce talks with an intention of ending the war.

“But if something gets put on the table that is too good to pass up, I think that they could change the way they’re thinking a little bit on that,” said the official.