Russian troops currently control about 20% of Ukrainian territory, but the Ukrainian constitution forbids giving up territory or trading land.

Stephen A. Smith argued that Democratic presidents Biden, Obama and Clinton are responsible for the Russia-Ukraine war breaking out, not Trump, during his podcast on Monday.

Russia said Wednesday attempts to resolve security issues relating to Ukraine without Moscow's participation were a "road to nowhere," and that much diplomatic work needs to be done before Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy are ever in the same room.

Russia’s illegal seizure of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 was quick and bloodless, and it sent Moscow’s relations with the West into a downward spiral unseen since the Cold War.

The second Oval Office meeting in six months between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy went off smoothly, in sharp contrast to their disastrous encounter in Febru

Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov visited the "north" group of forces fighting in Ukraine, where he was briefed on the battlefield situation there, Zvezda, the official outlet of the defence ministry, said on Thursday. The RBC outlet separately reported that Colonel General Yevgeny Nikiforov was appointed commander of the "north" grouping.

Oil prices edged up on Thursday, bolstered by signs of strong demand in the United States, with uncertainty over efforts to end the war in Ukraine also lending support.