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US President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, will visit Moscow on Sunday to try for a breakthrough in negotiations on the Ukrainian conflict, according to US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker. Trump has also announced that Witkoff will travel to Russia, although he gave no specific timeline. The special envoy has previously met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on several occasions during past diplomatic efforts. DETAILS TO FOLLOW

More than 120 firefighters were trying to extinguish a blaze at an oil depot in the Russian city of Sochi that was sparked by a Ukrainian drone attack, regional Governor Veniamin Kondratyev has said on the Telegram messaging app. In the Krasnodar region, where Sochi is located, a fuel tank with a capacity of 2,000 cubic metres was on fire, Russia's RIA news agency reported on Sunday, citing emergency officials. Rosaviatsia, Russia's civil aviation authority, said on Telegram that flights were halted at Sochi's airport to ensure air safety. The attack, which Kondratyev said was in the Adler district of...

MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Russia has started production of its newest hypersonic missiles and reaffirmed its plans to deploy them to ally Belarus later this year. Sitting alongside Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko on Valaam Island near St. Petersburg, Putin said the military already has selected deployment sites in Belarus for the Oreshnik intermediate range ballistic missile.… Putin has praised the Oreshnik’s capabilities, saying its multiple warheads that plunge to a target at speeds up to Mach 10 are immune to being intercepted and are so powerful that the use of several of them in one...

President Donald Trump issued a rare threat of nuclear escalation on Friday, saying he had ordered two nuclear submarines to be strategically positioned near Russia in response to what he said were aggressive remarks by Dmitry Medvedev, the country’s former president and current deputy chairman of its Security Council. “I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that. Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances. Thank you for your...

Donald Trump, the US president, is preparing “shock and awe” sanctions on Russian exports, a senior Republican has said. Senator Jim Risch, the chairman of the powerful Senate foreign relations committee, said Mr Trump would make good on his pledge to impose crippling economic penalties on Moscow’s trading partners by Aug 8. The US president this week shortened his deadline for hitting Russia with the most severe sanctions on its oil experts to date, giving Vladimir Putin 10 days to reach a deal to end the war in Ukraine. “When and if secondary sanctions hit, it’s going to be shock...

Donald Trump announced that he had ordered the deployment of two nuclear submarines towards Russia in response to threats from the country’s former president. The US president said he was sending the vessels to “appropriate regions” in a move that broke decades of Pentagon secrecy around high-level deployments. It comes after Mr Trump was engaged in a war of words with Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian president and the deputy chairman of the country’s security council.

More than three years into Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukrainians across the country retreat each night to bomb shelters and metro stations in a nightly ritual necessitated by the long reach of Moscow's drones and missiles. This summer, Ukrainians are spending more time in such shelters than ever before. The first bombardments of Kyiv and other major cities began in the early morning of Feb. 24, 2022, as Russian troops surged across Ukraine's borders on several axes. In the years since, the attacks have never stopped. Through July, Russia launched a record 6,443 drones and missiles into the country, according to...

Russia said on Thursday it had captured the town of Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine after nearly 16 months of fighting, opening the way for potential further advances. Russia's Defence Ministry said in a brief statement its forces had "liberated" the town.

A host of European leaders welcomed the news that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a law restoring independence to his country’s main anti-corruption agencies. A total of 331 out of 340 lawmakers present voted in favor of the bill on Thursday, forming an overwhelming constitutional majority.

US President Donald Trump said on July 31 that Russia’s actions in Ukraine were “disgusting” and indicated that new sanctions against Moscow were coming over its invasion of its neighbour. “Russia – I think it’s disgusting what they’re doing. I think it’s disgusting,” Mr Trump told journalists. He also said he would send his special envoy Steve Witkoff, currently in Israel, to visit Russia next. Russian President Vladimir Putin has already met Mr Witkoff multiple times in Moscow, before Mr Trump’s efforts to mend ties with the Kremlin came to a grinding halt. Washington has given Moscow until the end...

US President Donald Trump again displayed anger with Russia following its latest deadly attack on Kyiv -- a strike that killed 16 people and injured dozens -- calling the action “disgusting” and vowing to slap new sanctions on Moscow. “Russia, I think it’s disgusting what they’re doing,” Trump told reporters at the White House on July 31. “I think what Russia’s doing is very sad. A lot of Russians are dying.”