Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Wednesday that Moscow will seek to extend its gains in Ukraine if Kyiv and its Western allies reject the Kremlin's demands in peace talks. U.S. President Donald Trump has unleashed an extensive diplomatic push to end nearly four years of fighting following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, right, Russian presidential foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov, left, Russian Direct Investment Fund CEO Kirill Dmitriev, second right, and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, arrive for meetings in Moscow on Dec. 2, 2025. | Kristina Kormilitsyna, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

President Donald Trump has directed U.S. officials to help to facilitate a “lasting and durable peace" between Ukraine and Russia, with a "very, very strong" package being presented.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told ABC News during an exclusive interview in Moscow on Monday that he believes the warring parties are close to a deal.

Russia’s war economy is not collapsing, but neither is it stable. It survives by pushing strain into the future – into labour markets, public finances and the everyday lives of Russian households.

Two days of talks between President Volodymyr Zelensky and allies have brought some progress on security guarantees, but Russia remains opposed to any foreign forces in Ukraine.

Russian crude prices are at their lowest since the war in Ukraine began, as sanctions deepen the discounts the nation’s oil industry needs to offer and benchmark futures tumble.

The new head of Britain’s foreign intelligence service MI6 will warn the nation that the “front line is everywhere” in her first public speech on Monday, as the UK faces emerging threats.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin with the heads of government of the member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Moscow, Russia November 18,