U.S. President Donald Trump started the week declaring a diplomatic breakthrough in his bid to prod Moscow and Kyiv closer to peace, announcing he had begun arranging for direct talks between Russia's Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Children that Ukraine says were taken by Russia are at the heart of peace talks thanks to a monthslong effort by Western officials and evangelical Christian groups.

Nahal Toosi is POLITICO’s senior foreign affairs correspondent. She has reported on war, genocide and political chaos in a career that has taken her around the world. Her reported column, Compass, delves into the decision-making of the global national security and foreign policy establishment — and the fallout that comes from it.

President Donald Trump offered his assurances that U.S. troops would not be sent to Ukraine to defend against Russia, after seeming to leave open the possibility.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that in two weeks he should know whether progress is possible in his bid to end Russia's invasion of Ukraine and he again raised the prospect of imposing sanctions on Moscow.

Russia's top military and political officials joined Putin in the closed city of Sarov, which houses the Russian Federal Nuclear Center, on Aug. 22.

The summits in Anchorage and Washington filled the family in the besieged city of Kharkiv with hope that peace would come at long last. Instead it was more drones.

Russia rains down 614 missiles and drones in massive overnight assault on Ukraine, hitting a US-owned company near NATO borders and raising questions about Putin's negotiation intentions.