Russian and Ukrainian officials are due to sit down on Monday in the Turkish city of Istanbul for their second round of direct peace talks since 2022, but the two sides are still far apart on how to end the war and the fighting is stepping up.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held a phone call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio after Ukraine’s Operation Spider’s Web rattled its five airfields and 40 bombers

By making harsh, uncompromising demands in peace talks with Ukraine while continuing to pummel it with waves of missiles and drones, Russian President Vladimir Putin is sending a clear message: He will only accept a settlement on his terms and will keep fighting until they’re met.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed on Sunday prospects for settling the conflict in Ukraine and Russia-Ukraine talks set for Monday in Turkey, Lavrov's ministry said.

Dozens of Russian military aircraft have been destroyed in an unprecedented large-scale drone attack deep inside Russia, a Ukrainian official has said. Codenamed ‘spider web’, the operation saw first-person view (FPV) drones smuggled deep inside Russian territory,