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United States Vice President JD Vance told reporters aboard Air Force Two while departing Italy after his discussion with Pope Leo on Monday, indicating negotiations regarding the Ukraine conflict have reached "a bit of an impasse." "We realize there's a bit of an impasse here," Vance added. "Putin doesn't seem to quite know how to get out of the war. If Russia is not willing to engage, eventually the US has to say that this is not our war." Vance said he anticipates US President Donald Trump will question Russian President Vladimir Putin about his "serious" interest in peace during...

Vice President J.D. Vance came face-to-face with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for the first time since their Oval Office showdown earlier this year. The two attended Pope Leo XIV's first Sunday mass after being elected the new leader of the Catholic Church – and the first American to ever hold the top post in Vatican City. After the service, Secretary of State Marco Rubio joined Vance and Zelensky in Rome for talks aimed at advancing the goal of ending the war between Russia and Ukraine. 'The leaders discussed their shared goal of ending the bloodshed in Ukraine and provided updates...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took the opportunity while in Rome for Pope Leo XIV's inaugural Mass to meet with top U.S. officials and European leaders on Sunday ahead of a high-stakes phone call Monday between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine. Zelenskyy spoke with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the U.S. ambassador's residence in Rome. Zelenskyy said on social media he had underscored the need for "real diplomacy" and reaffirmed Ukraine's commitment to a "full and unconditional ceasefire." "We have also touched upon the need for sanctions...

Russian state TV aired a video of Vladimir Putin warning Donald Trump to stop trying to dictate the terms of a ceasefire with Ukraine. Putin stressed that he plans to finish what he started three years ago and warned that Trump should not push him into a US blueprint for stopping the war.

WASHINGTON, May 17 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday he will speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday to discuss stopping the war in Ukraine, days after the first face-to-face talks in three years between Russia and Ukraine took place in Istanbul.Trump had offered to travel to Turkey for the talks while in the Gulf last week if Putin would also attend, but Putin declined to take him up on the offer.The Reuters Tariff Watch newsletter is your daily guide to the latest global trade and tariff news. Sign up here.The president has been pressuring Putin...

Russia told Ukraine it could fight for at least another 21 years during peace talks that ended in acrimony in Istanbul. Vladimir Medinsky, a Kremlin aide who led the Russian delegation, said Moscow wanted peace but would fight “however long it takes”. “We don’t want war, but we’re ready to fight for a year, two, three, however long it takes. We fought Sweden for 21 years. How long are you ready to fight?” he told the Ukrainian delegation. The Great Northern War, fought between Russia and Sweden, lasted for 21 years, from 1700 to 1721 during the rule of Peter...

The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv has issued a warning about a potentially large-scale Russian airstrike that could occur at any moment within the next few days. According to Censor.NET, this was stated in an official message published by the U.S. diplomatic mission. "The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv has received information about a potentially significant air attack that could take place at any time over the next several days," the statement reads. The Embassy urges U.S. citizens to be prepared to immediately seek shelter in the event of an air raid alert. The Embassy’s website contains recommended safety actions and emergency...

Russians and Ukrainians sat face-to-face for under two hours Friday in Istanbul for the first direct talks in over three years aimed at ending their war, with expectations low for breakthroughs.Kyiv is seeking an "unconditional ceasefire" in Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II which has also destroyed large swathes of Ukraine and displaced millions of people.Moscow says it wanted to address the "root causes" of the conflict and revive failed 2022 negotiations in which it made sweeping territorial and political demands of Ukraine.

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday sacked Russia's chief of land forces, General Oleg Salyukov, the Kremlin said, in the latest removal of a high-profile military establishment figure amid the war in Ukraine. Salyukov, 70, will become a deputy to ex-Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who was removed last year and made Secretary of the Security Council. The move was announced in a Kremlin decree. Less than a week ago, Salyukov was running the grand Victory Day military parade in Red Square with current Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, marking the 80th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany. Russian law enforcement has charged...

Russia seems to be preparing a significant offensive in Ukraine as it is moving troops toward key positions on the front, the Financial Times reported on May 13, citing undisclosed Ukrainian intelligence officials. These reported preparations indicate Moscow's efforts to escalate the war despite expected ceasefire talks this week and calls by Kyiv and its partners for an unconditional 30-day truce. Russia has rejected ceasefire proposals unless accompanied by a halt on military aid for Ukraine and continues ground assaults along the front and long-range strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure. Some 163 clashes were recorded at the front over the past...

Hunter Biden flew to Moscow for a meeting with a now-sanctioned Russian oligarch with reportedly close ties to Vladimir Putin, laptop files reveal. Vladimir Yevtushenkov, 73, owns a company which reportedly supplied Putin's forces with drones used for deadly bombing raids in Ukraine and until last year owned key Russian defense contractor RTI. But while he was added to the UK and Australian sanctions lists this month but remains one of a handful of oligarchs unsanctioned by the Biden administration. Hunter's multiple meetings and apparent business deals with him are the latest in a troubling web of his connections to...

Russia has reportedly warned that those who protest Vladimir Putin's decision to call up reservists to fight in Ukraine will be drafted into the military. Protests are planned to take place across the country on Wednesday evening, opposing Putin's decree to partially mobilize Russia's armed forces. Russian media outlets have warned that anyone taking part in "illegal rallies" will be subject to military conscription, according to Samuel Ramani, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies. Top Kremlin propagandist Vladimir Solovyov shared a post on Telegram outlining the measures.

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that attempted overnight Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow ahead of the commemorations of the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany showed Kyiv's tendency to commit "acts of terrorism." Russian air defense forces downed 14 Ukrainian drones on Wednesday, the city's mayor said, as Kyiv targeted the Russian capital for the third consecutive day. The drones forced most of the Russian capital's airports to close hours before Chinese President Xi Jinping was due to fly in for a visit that Kyiv has made clear it opposes. In a call with...

Shortly after Russia’s unprovoked invasion, Putin put his military’s nuclear forces on high alert. Putin formally reduced the requirements for the Kremlin to deploy its nuclear weapons last year following Ukrainian attacks on the western Russian city of Kursk. That cleared the way for Russia to use nukes against any nation that attacks its territory and has the backing of a nuclear power. Recently, Trump has begun to sound more glum about the prospects of getting a deal done between the two sides. “Maybe it’s not possible to do,” Trump told NBC’s “Meet the Press” in an interview that aired...

Ukraine has signed a deal with the United States, giving the U.S. access to Ukraine's rare minerals as it continues to work with the Trump administration in an effort to end its three-year war with Russia. Ukrainian Economy Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko flew to Washington, D.C., Wednesday to help finalize the deal. "On behalf of the Government of Ukraine, I signed the Agreement on the Establishment of a United States–Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund. Together with the United States, we are creating the Fund that will attract global investment into our country," she wrote on X. Upon taking...

The Failure of the London peace talks last Week was a critical defining moment. The “peace talks,” which were meant to take place in London on Wednesday, April 23, 2025, collapsed as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Steve Wytkoff cancelled their attendance. Instead, Wytkoff headed for Moscow for his fourth meeting with Vladimir Putin. This was indeed what some will refer to as a watershed moment for European powers, demonstrating that they are not about to lure Trump into supporting their war of conquest and vengeance against Russia for the days of the Bolsheviks. logEventsShopKnowledge Center Contact Us...

Once again, a pattern repeats itself: on the eve of important negotiations, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky goes to the press to make bombastic statements that undermine the whole purpose of the meeting.This time, the Kiev regime leader repeated his position that he will never recognize Crimea as part of Russia, and also presented a slew of other demands – it sounds like he believes his country is winning the war.Besides that, in the UK there was nasty a reporting with official sources stating that host Foreign Secretary David Lammy was to ‘make sure Kiev’s negotiators were not led into an ambush’.With...

A peace proposal by the Trump administration that includes recognizing Russian authority over Crimea shocked Ukrainian officials, who say they will not accept any formal surrender of the peninsula, even though they expect to concede the territory to the Kremlin, at least temporarily. Giving up the land that was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014 is also politically and legally impossible, according to experts. It would require a change to the Ukrainian constitution and a nationwide vote, and it could be considered treason. Lawmakers and the public are firmly opposed to the idea. “It doesn’t mean anything,” said Oleksandr Merezkho,...

Russia on Saturday publicly acknowledged for the first time that North Korean forces are fighting on its side against Ukraine. While reporting to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the situation in Kursk, southern Russia, General Valery Gerasimov praised North Korean DPRK soldiers for their efforts. Gerasimov said the troops had shown “high professionalism, fortitude, courage and heroism,” fulfilling combat tasks “shoulder to shoulder” with Russian servicemen. Following this admission, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that “Russia will never forget its friends from the DPRK.”

President Trump on Saturday said he thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin may be stringing him along after the latest deadly strikes on Ukraine, as the U.S. seeks to bring an end to the war in Eastern Europe. “There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days,” Trump posted Saturday on Truth Social. “It makes me think that 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?’ Too many people are dying!!!” His...