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During the Istanbul talks between Russia and Ukraine, when presented with Moscow’s demand that Kiev’s troops must withdraw from territory of the four regions that they have partially conquered (Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporozhie and Kherson), the Ukrainian delegation reacted with a strong rejection of this point. It’s been widely reported that, at this point, Russian negotiators warned their foes: ‘Next time, it won’t be four regions, but six or eight’. That could, of course, be nothing but bragging, except that today the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that units of the 90th Tank Division have reached & crossed the western border...

The United States of America may withdraw from the negotiation process to resolve the full-scale war in Ukraine if White House leader Donald Trump believes he is being "used," warns White House Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg on ABC News. "I think when you talk about walking away if he believes he's being used and that there is no hope in progress going forward, he goes: 'We’re done with this. Europe, we leave it over to you'," Kellogg stated, commenting on Trump’s threats to exit the negotiation process. Negotiations on resolving war in Ukraine Over the past few months,...

Months before President Vladimir Putin’s inauguration in May, he met with Defense Ministry officials who pushed for a fresh round of mobilization to recruit more troops to offset Russia’s losses on the front line in Ukraine, said a person briefed on the exchange. Putin dismissed the idea, saying he wanted to use only those who were voluntarily signing military contracts, the person said. The exchange highlighted a thorny dilemma facing Putin. While he has resisted a troop mobilization that could come at a political cost, Western estimates suggest Russia is now losing more men on the battlefield than it can...