By Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali, Humeyra Pamuk and Erin Banco WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Days before a surprise U.S. ceasefire agreement with Houthis, U.S. intelligence started picking up indications the Yemeni fighters were looking for an exit after seven weeks of relentless U.

India has rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim that he helped New Delhi and Islamabad reach a ceasefire in exchange for trade concessions.

India and Pakistan engaged in the most intense fighting in decades with four days of escalating conflict that included fighter jets, missiles and drones packed with explosives. It ended almost as abruptly as it began.

President Vladimir Putin said, according to a translation by the BBC: "We are determined to have serious negotiations with Ukraine. The purpose is to eliminate the root causes of the conflict and establish long-term, lasting peace with a historical perspective.

Russia resumed mass drone attacks in Ukraine early on Sunday, after its self-declared three-day pause expired.

As tensions ratcheted up over the last week of fighting, Pakistan did not consider deploying nuclear warheads to strike India, the country’s foreign minister Ishaq Dar told CNN on Monday.

Zain and Urwa, 12-year-old twins, died from injuries sustained in a shell explosion in Indian-administered Kashmir.

The ceasefire had been expected to bring a swift end to weeks of escalating clashes triggered by the mass shooting of tourists last month that India blames on Pakistan.

The agreement to release Edan Alexander came after talks between Washington and Hamas that did not include Israel.