An annual strategy document, which has described threats from China to Russia, directs some of its harshest language at NATO allies.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow would seize the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine “in any case,” including by military means, digging in on one of his key demands as Ukrainian officials prepare for more peace talks that have yet to yield a deal.

A U.K. inquiry says Russian agents "carry out Putin's bidding," blaming him for a deadly 2018 attack in England using the nerve agent Novichok.

Putin also claimed that Zelensky’s European allies have pushed for demands that are “absolutely unacceptable."

Family ties may become strained for former South African President Jacob Zuma after his eldest daughter accused her half-sister of deceiving 17 men – half of whom are reportedly relatives – into fighting for Russia in Ukraine.

The officials in a joint statement said they made progress on creating a security framework for postwar Ukraine and are urging Russia to commit to peace.

In talks with Russia, European officials say that President Trump’s advisers have positioned the U.S. as an independent arbiter rather than as the leading voice of NATO.

Economic and military pressures could force Russia’s hand. Its economy is strained but not enough to do that, analysts say. And President Vladimir V. Putin says Russia is winning the war.

NATO fighter jets were scrambled and air defense systems put on alert in Poland in response to Russia's latest overnight drone and missile strikes in Ukraine, the Armed Forces Operational Command in Warsaw said in a series of social media posts.