Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on May 24 cast doubt on the Vatican as a possible venue for future peace talks with Ukraine, saying the Catholic seat would not be an appropriate platform for negotiations between two Orthodox Christian nations,

Ukrainian troops struggle with exhaustion but pledge to fight ‘until we break the Russians’ belief that we can be defeated’

Russian drones and missiles again bombarded cities across Ukraine on Saturday night into Sunday morning despite an ongoing prisoner exchange.

Russia is still refusing to sign up to an unconditional comprehensive ceasefire. It has no intention of returning any of the Ukrainian land it has seized, occupied and claims to have annexed. On the contrary: it's pushing for more.

The announcement was made ahead of an expected prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia on Friday – an outcome of last week’s face-to-face talks in Turkey, the first time the two countries have held direct talks at any level in three years.

President Trump has shifted his stance on the Russia-Ukraine war, suggesting that the two nations must independently negotiate peace. Despite earlier promises to broker a quick resolution and threats of sanctions,