Russian President Vladimir Putin has ratcheted up tensions with Europe, warning that if the bloc starts a war with Russia, Moscow is ready.

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said on Wednesday that Russia's recent battlefield progress in Ukraine had what he described as a positive impact on peace negotiations held with U.S. envoys in Moscow a day earlier.

As President Trump pushes Ukraine to accept a Russian landgrab in exchange for peace, a wounded soldier asks, "How much more can we give?"

Meanwhile, Zelensky says some things "still need to be worked out" in the draft peace plan, but the US is taking "serious steps" to end the war.

Russia and the U.S. did not reach a compromise on a possible peace deal to end the war in Ukraine after a five-hour Kremlin meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump's top envoys, the Kremlin said on Wednesday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed without evidence that Russian forces have taken control of Ukrainian cities Pokrovsk and Vovchansk.

Putin also claimed that Zelensky’s European allies have pushed for demands that are “absolutely unacceptable."

Russia launched its largest barrage of drones and missiles in a month across Ukraine, killing at least three people, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday, as a Kyiv delegation heads to the United States for fresh peace talks.

China and Russia reached "broad consensus" on a range of issues during the Chinese foreign minister's trip to Moscow this week, amid a burst of diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine and as Beijing seeks to rally support in a row with Tokyo.

Kyiv accuses Ross David Cutmore of helping Moscow plot assassinations and attacks on military training centres

Yuri Ushakov said the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Steve Witkoff was "very useful," but that no "compromise option has not yet been found."