The Kremlin has welcomed a meeting with US president-elect Donald Trump just days after he claimed Vladimir Putin wanted to sit down with him.Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said there could be progress on setting up the meeting after Trump is sworn in as US president on 20 January.

The Kremlin has been discussing Donald Trump's claims that a meeting between him and Vladimir Putin is being set up. Meanwhile, Russian elites are concerned with Vladimir Putin's efforts to wage a full-scale war in Ukraine.

It seems that 2024 was the deadliest year of the war so far for Moscow's forces, with thousands of elite troops killed on the battlefield.

"The whole [Trump] team is obsessed with strength and looking strong, so they’re recalibrating the Ukraine approach," one European official told the Financial Times.

Russia has been battling Ukraine in Kursk since August 2024, when Kyiv launched a surprise cross-border incursion into Russian soil. Ukraine still controls roughly half of the territory it seized in the late summer, although Moscow has been battling to peel back Kyiv's grip across the border.

On peace negotiations, Meloni said that Ukraine would need security guarantees to avoid another invasion from Moscow. She also said that Russia was becoming "bogged down" in Ukraine. 15:15:01

Ukraine sees tactical advances in Russia’s Kursk, while Moscow claims to have secured front line town in Donbas.

The United States warned on Wednesday that North Korea is benefiting from its troops fighting alongside Russia against Ukraine, gaining experience that makes Pyongyang "more capable of waging war against its neighbors.

Membership in NATO is the only credible long-term security guarantee Ukraine can receive against future Russian aggression, Finland's top diplomat said on Wednesday. Donald Trump's return to the White House on Jan.

The Kremlin has welcomed a meeting with US president-elect Donald Trump just days after he claimed Vladimir Putin wanted to sit down with him.Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said there could be progress on setting up the meeting after Trump is sworn in as US president on 20 January.

As international sanctions continue to pressure Moscow, Belgrade is shopping for military gear elsewhere, including in Israel, China and Europe.