Washington and Kyiv appear to have made notable shifts to secure progress, but big questions remain, not least whether Moscow will once again reject making concessions.

The United States just wrapped up two days of talks with Ukrainian and European negotiators in Berlin, followed by more discussions among leaders in Europe – all of which ended with positive signals about a future peace agreement.

That is Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin this evening. He was welcoming President Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. The two Americans were there to try and bridge differences with the Russian leader ...

By Ben Aris in Berlin Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was in Berlin on December 14 to meet top EU leaders and appears to be trying to stitch together a string of bi-lateral security deals that would allow him to conclude a peace deal with Moscow.

Meloni also told the ​Italian ‌parliament that ‍finding a ⁠legal way to use frozen Russian assets to help finance Ukraine remained "far from ​easy". She reaffirmed Italy's support for Kyiv, insisting Moscow must pay for war damages,