As Russian President Vladimir Putin explores a potential peace settlement to end the war in Ukraine, hawkish anti-Western nationalists at home are waging a campaign to keep the conflict going.

A meeting between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin is the “only way” to move forward talks on ending the war in Ukraine, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday.

On May 5, Ukraine's National Guard released a clip it said showed how it used drones to rebuff a Russian motorcycle onslaught of troops trying to plant their flag on the ruins of a building. The video ends with the bodies of wounded or dead Russian soldiers lying next to their motorcycles.

BASEL, Switzerland (AP) — Ukraine’s musicians can’t escape war, even at the Eurovision Song Contest. Rock band Ziferblat were in Basel, Switzerland to represent their country when they learned the home of backing singer Khrystyna Starykova in a frontline region of eastern Ukraine had been destroyed by Russian shelling.

Moscow's goal in the expected peace talks with Ukraine in Istanbul is achieving "sustainable peace" by addressing the "root causes of the conflict" rather than a ceasefire, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on May 15.

Satellite imagery has revealed an increase in Russia's military activity near its border with Finland signaling its intention to beef up its troops by NATO 's eastern flank.

Last weekend saw a flurry of diplomatic activity surrounding the war in Ukraine. First, European leaders assembled in Kyiv on Saturday with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a show of unity to put pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin for a ceasefire.