Former Russian President Medvedev calls for preemptive strikes while Trump gives Putin a 50-day ultimatum to reach peace with Ukraine or face sanctions.

U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to ramp up arms shipments to Ukraine is a signal to Kyiv to abandon peace efforts, Russia said on Thursday, vowing it would not accept the "blackmail" of Washington's new sanctions ultimatum.

As Russia delays peace negotiations with Ukraine, U.S. elected officials in Congress are considering a new sanctions bill to force Russia to end its war.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune says Republicans will vote on a Russia sanctions bill once Trump approves it, as pressure mounts on Moscow to negotiate peace in Ukraine.

Russia and China's foreign ministers on Sunday discussed their relations with the United States and the prospects for ending the war in Ukraine, Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement. President Vladimir Putin's foreign minister,

Trump said the United States would put secondary tariffs on countries that do business with Russia if a peace deal is not reached in 50 days.

Pentagon officials said details were still being worked out, and experts doubted Mr. Trump’s threat of huge tariffs for Russian trading partners.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni praised the United States' increasing assertiveness towards Russia, labeling it beneficial. In a Rome press conference with Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker,

Georgia was the poster child of post-Soviet countries on their way to democracy and freedom. US lawmakers hope a bill will help combat democratic backsliding.

China and Russia declared a "no limits" partnership in February 2022 when Putin visited Beijing, days before he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine. Putin has sometimes described China as an "ally".

Donald Trump’s plan to allow the European Union pay for arms supplied to Ukraine is piling pressure on EU officials negotiating how to finance the bloc’s defense-spending ambitions.