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Reuters) - Russian troops are trying to carve out a buffer zone in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region, although so far without substantial success, the regional governor said on Tuesday. The Sumy region borders on Russia's Kursk region, where Russian forces have lately recaptured territory seized last year in the Ukrainian military's only major cross-border incursion of the war. Kyiv has said for months that it is concerned about Moscow's troops trying to advance into Sumy. Russia has said its forces have captured some territory there and have driven all Ukrainian troops out of Kursk.

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Vice President JD Vance said the U.S. must understand both Russia and Ukraine's strategic red lines to end the war, and dismissed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's "absurd" suggestion that Washington is taking Moscow's side. Zelensky had told CBS' 60 Minutes program that he believes "Russian narratives are prevailing in the U.S." and that he understood Vance to be "somehow justifying Putin's actions" by presenting Ukraine as an aggressor, too. Why it Matters There are ongoing tensions between the leaderships in Washington and Kyiv as the Trump administration tries to broker an end to Russia's war. Some in Washington see Zelensky...

“I think it was terrible and I was told they made a mistake, but I think it’s a horrible thing,” Trump told reporters on-board Air Force One on Sunday evening. “I think the whole war’s a horrible thing.”Moscow’s recent missile strikes in Ukraine that killed dozens of civilians show Russian President Vladimir Putin is “mocking” President Donald Trump, Poland’s Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has said. WHY IT MATTERS Ukrainian authorities said that Russia launched two ballistic missiles at the Ukrainian city of Sumy as residents attended church services marking Palm Sunday. Ukraine’s state emergency service said late Sunday that 34...

"Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the conscription of 160,000 men into the army, state media reported, marking the largest draft initiative in years, even as ceasefire talks with Ukraine continue under U.S. mediation. The timing and scale of the draft raise doubts about Russia's commitment to diplomacy. Ukraine has accused the Kremlin of using negotiations to delay while reinforcing its position on the battlefield, particularly in the Sumy, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia regions. On Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump said he would issue secondary tariffs on Russian oil if he believed Moscow was standing in the way of a peace...

Ukraine’s military was forced to dismiss Donald Trump’s claim that thousands of its troops are encircled in Russia’s Kursk region as “false”.Its general staff instead accused Russia of fabricating reports for “political manipulation and to exert pressure on Ukraine and its partners”, while Volodymyr Zelensky said Vladimir Putin was lying about the battlefield situation.Putin claimed on Thursday night that his forces had encircled thousands of Ukrainians in the western Kursk region, which Ukraine invaded in August, warning they would have to “surrender or die”.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he believes someone other than Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky should lead his nation. Host Kristen Welker said, “Welker said, “Senator Lindsey Graham on Friday floated that President Volodymyr Zelensky may need to resign in order for there to be a peace agreement. Do you agree with that statement?” He added, “Either he needs to come to his senses and come back to the table in gratitude, or someone else needs to lead the country to do that,” I mean, it’s up to the Ukrainians to figure that...

The Russian Defense Ministry has confirmed the ATACMS missile strike on the Taganrog military airfield in the Rostov region. According to the military department, there are casualties among the personnel, as well as minor shrapnel damage to buildings and vehicles. - On the morning of December 11, 2024, the Kiev regime launched a missile strike with Western high-precision weapons on the Taganrog military airfield in the Rostov region. - It has been reliably established that 6 ATACMS (USA) ballistic missiles were used. - 2 missiles were shot down by a Pantsir air defense missile and gun system, the rest were...

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Tuesday that the Ukraine war would continue until the goals set by President Vladimir Putin were achieved by military action or by negotiation.Putin has demanded that Ukraine abandon its ambition to join NATO and withdraw fully from four regions of the country that Russia has claimed as its own - terms Kyiv has rejected as tantamount to surrender."The special military operation will end when all the objectives set by the president and commander-in-chief have been achieved," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, using Moscow's term for the conflict."These goals can be achieved as...

Russia has captured 162 square miles of the Ukrainian territory since June 14, the Interfax news agency said Tuesday, citing Sergei Shoigu, the secretary of Russia's security council. Russian forces have captured the village of Tymofiivka in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, Interfax news agency quoted the defense ministry as saying Tuesday. Also, Russian forces have thwarted a Ukrainian attempt to penetrate the border in Russia's Kursk region, the interim governor of the region said Tuesday.