Melania Trump took the unique step of crafting a letter calling for peace in Ukraine, having her husband Donald Trump deliver it to Vladimir Putin.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump discussed the idea of "raising the level of representatives" at Ukraine talks in a 40-minute call following the U.S. leader's meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy,

Ukraine’s Donbas region, consisting of Donetsk and Luhansk, is at the heart of Moscow’s goals. An industrial powerhouse in the Soviet era, it also has rich farmland, important rivers and a coastline on the Sea of Azov.

President Trump said that he and Russia's Vladimir Putin made progress in talks to end the war in Ukraine, but the two leaders did not announce any steps toward reaching a ceasefire.

Special U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff says Russian leader Vladimir Putin agreed to allow the U.S. and Europe to offer Ukraine a security guarantee resembling NATO's collective defense mandate.

At the top of Vladimir Putin’s shopping-list is the western part of Donetsk province, which is still firmly in Ukrainian hands. But it is not just the symbolism that is important to him. The real prize is to force Ukraine to abandon its strategically critical “fortress belt”,