Last month was the deadliest since Putin launched his full-scale war on Ukraine three and a half years ago. In July alone, 286 civilians were killed and another 1,388, according to official data.

Major questions remain over what both sides might accept after Trump held successive talks with Putin and Zelensky.

The White House says that Vladimir Putin told President Trump that he would meet with the man whose country Russia invaded, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It comes as Trump is ruling out sending U.

"The Black Sea will define the future of the European security order for generations to come," write Galip Dalay and Natalie Sabanadze.

President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are scheduled to meet Friday at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, to discuss the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

As he heads to Alaska for talks with President Trump, the Russian leader projects confidence that his edge on the battlefield will secure a peace deal on his terms. It’s the result of a yearslong re-engineering of his country’s military and economy.

The day of meetings followed Trump's Friday summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska -- and it came The high-stakes group meeting at the White House on Tuesday amounted to a "significant" step toward ending Russia's war in Ukraine,

President Donald Trump is willing to “crush” Russia's economy with sanctions if Russian President Vladimir Putin refuses to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy