The Russian currency has gained value, only months after sanctions had seen it plunge in relation to the greenback.

Europe's participation in Ukraine peace talks will be needed eventually but Moscow first wants to build trust with Washington, President Vladimir Putin said on Monday, while suggesting that a deal to end the conflict may still be far off.

China and Russia “cannot be moved away” from one another, Chinese leader Xi Jinping told his counterpart Vladimir Putin Monday, in their first phone call since US President Donald Trump upended American foreign policy with a sweeping pivot toward Moscow as he pushes for peace in Ukraine.

Volodymyr Zelensky believes that Vladimir Putin could put five other European countries at risk in a bid to extend his control of the region. On the third anniversary of the war, the Ukrainian president suggested that countries with "Russian roots" and former Soviet Union members could be in danger.