Diplomats face an uphill battle to reconcile Russian and Ukrainian “red lines” as a renewed U.S.-led push to end the war gathers steam, with Ukrainian officials attending talks in the U.S. over the weekend and Washington officials expected in Moscow early this week.

Fiona Hill, a Russian expert and former White House adviser, who witnessed meetings between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, tells The Independent podcast World of Trouble’s Sam Kiley that the Russian president knows how to mesmerise his US counterpart,

The United States is ready to eecognise Russia's authority over Crimea and additional Ukrainian regions under occupation, it is understood. Donald Trump has sent his peace and Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff,

WASHINGTON -- WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday his plan to end the war in Ukraine has been “fine-tuned” and he’s sending envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll to meet with Ukrainian officials.

When will Donald Trump see that Vladimir Putin wants this war? - THE INDEPENDENT VIEW: Editorial: Fiona Hill, a former White House adviser, tells The Independent that the Russian president is manipula

Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared last week to be cautiously optimistic on the U.S. 28-point peace plan to end his invasion of Ukraine.

The road to a peace deal has been fraught with changing dynamics involving President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The proposed 28-point deal ignores European security interests and has drawn condemnation from Zelensky and European allies who see it as dangerously tilted toward Moscow.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio was due to meet his Russian Counterpart Sergey Lavrov ahead of the summit to agree details of a potential peace deal - but that meeting has reportedly been axed

An earlier proposed Trump-Putin summit in Hungary was scrapped when it became clear Russia would not agree to the U.S. president's demand for an immediate ceasefire in the Ukraine war.