Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov drew attention in Anchorage on Friday when he arrived for a high-profile summit between US president Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin wearing a vintage sweatshirt bearing the Soviet-era “CCCP” emblem.
In recent months, the U.S. and Russia have engaged in crucial diplomatic talks, despite rising tensions over Ukraine, nuclear arms, and cybersecurity. What’s behind these meetings, and why do they matter?
Residents in Russian-controlled Melitopol - a municipality in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, southeastern Ukraine - expressed mixed hopes ahead of Putin-Trump talks in Alaska on Friday, where the leaders will discuss U.S.-Russia relations and prospects for ending the conflict in Ukraine.
Moscow and Pyongyang strengthen their relationship after Russian State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang during an official visit on Thursday (14 Aug).
Ukraine’s allies say U.S. President Donald Trump has indicated a willingness to support security guarantees for Kyiv in a Germany-hosted virtual meeting on Wednesday, a potentially significant, though still vague, commitment one day before a high-stakes U.S.-Russia summit on ending the war.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the United States was making “genuine efforts” to end the conflict in Ukraine and indicated that Moscow and Washington might reach a nuclear arms agreement as part of a broader push to promote peace.
Eyewitness footage showed the moment a Ukrainian drone struck a residential building in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don on Thursday.
WhatsApp said Russia was trying to block its services because the social media messaging app owned by Meta Platforms META.O offered people's right to secure communication, and vowed to continue trying to make encrypted services available in Russia.
U.S. President Donald Trump threatened "severe consequences" if Russia's Vladimir Putin does not agree to peace in Ukraine but also said on Wednesday that a meeting between them could swiftly be followed by a second that would include the leader of Ukraine.
Russian and Belarusian armies are going to hold Zapad-2025 joint exercises in September. The trainings will include drills on the planned deployment of nuclear weapons and Russian-made, intermediate-range hypersonic Oreshnik missile, Belarus’s Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin said on 13 August.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki took part in a teleconference on Ukraine with U.S. President Donald Trump and European leaders on Wednesday, his office announced, replacing Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who had initially been expected to attend.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump has stressed Ukraine must have a seat at the table in any negotiations over territory as part of a ceasefire deal with Russia.
Russian authorities are moving to limit certain calling functions on Telegram and WhatsApp, the messaging service owned by Meta Platforms, the Interfax news agency reported on Wednesday, citing communications regulator Roskomnadzor.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has claimed that Russian forces are suffering battlefield losses nearly three times higher than those of Ukraine, even as Moscow maintains a significant numerical advantage in manpower and artillery.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin on Wednesday before joining a German-hosted virtual conference with U.S. President Donald Trump, NATO and European leaders, two days ahead of Trump’s first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin since 2021.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned of ongoing Russian troop advances in eastern Ukraine ahead of the upcoming Trump-Putin summit, emphasizing Ukraine’s determination to hold the Donbas region and calling for territorial talks only after a ceasefire and security guarantees.
The Russian and Belarusian armed forces will hold joint strategic drills in Belarus from 12 to 16 September, the Belarusian Defence Ministry announced on Tuesday.
Russian forces have advanced up to 10 km near Dobropillia in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, military trackers say, sparking warnings from analysts of a potentially serious escalation days before a Trump-Putin summit on ending the conflict.
U.S. President Donald Trump said any peace deal between Ukraine and Russia would require both sides to cede territory, ahead of his planned talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.
The Kremlin said on Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a phone call, during which Pashinyan updated Putin on his recent talks with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Russia said it continued developing intermediate and shorter-range nuclear-capable missiles during a moratorium on their deployment and now holds a “substantial” arsenal, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has said.
Three people were killed in Ukrainian drone attacks overnight in Russia’s Tula and Nizhny Novgorod regions, with several others injured, as Moscow's air defences intercepted dozens of drones, officials said on Monday.
Twenty people were injured when Russian forces launched guided aerial bomb strikes on the city of Zaporizhzhia, targeting the central bus station and the university clinic, Ukrainian emergency services reported.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance says a possible settlement between Russia and Ukraine will probably leave both Moscow and Kyiv unhappy, as Washington works to bring leaders together for talks.
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