Witkoff did not communicate his travel plans to Rubio or other State Department officials. This lack of communication was perceived by sources as an attempt to negotiate with Ukraine independently.
The jailed Briton was named as 30-year-old Hayden Davies by Russia's Prosecutor General, who said he had been tried by a court in a part of Russian-controlled Donetsk.
A Russian military court jailed a Belarusian man for 22 years over two 2023 bomb attacks on freight trains in Siberia that Moscow says were ordered by Ukraine’s intelligence services.
Putin warned that Russia would push forward militarily in Ukraine if diplomacy does not bring results, while asserting progress on all fronts.
The navy said the vessel was called the Viva and had 11 Turkish citizens on board. It added that nobody was hurt and the vessel was continuing its journey to Egypt.
North Korea has been publicly honoring its troops who fought for Russia in the war in Ukraine.
Ukraine's special forces, in coordination with local resistance, strike two Russian ships transporting military equipment in the Caspian Sea. The extent of the damage remains unclear.
When asked about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's suggestion that a referendum be held on any territorial concessions, Uri Ushakov responded; ‘the entire Donbas region belongs to Russia.'
President Trump says the US may send a representative to Europe this weekend for Ukraine ceasefire talks, depending on the likelihood of progress.
The three countries, along with other European partners and Ukraine, have been working frantically in the last few weeks to refine the original US-backed peace proposal.
Zelensky says Ukraine will do whatever it can to organize a high-level meeting with the US within the next two weeks on a peace deal.