The Cabinet minister also suggested that Donald Trump’s timetable for a peace deal was slipping towards Easter

The Russian president celebrated his 50th birthday at a winery in Moldova. After the invasion of Ukraine, it moved the bottles he was given away from public view.

If Ukraine falls, it will be hard to spin as anything but a debacle for the United States, and for its president.

Ahead of Trump's inauguration on January 20, the President-elect has said he is planning a meeting with Russia's leader, which the Kremlin has denied.

Russia's invasion, which began in February 2022, has also been a source of religious controversy within the Eastern Orthodox Church and has driven a split among believers in both Russia and Ukraine.Vi

With soaring inflation and the ruble dropping to one of its lowest levels against the dollar since President Vladimir Putin launched his war in Ukraine, this year Russians will have to pay more for the dish, which is traditionally served alongside caviar and tangerines, before the New Year is toasted in.

The Ukrainian president told podcaster Lex Fridman that without security guarantees for Ukraine, Putin "will destroy everything."

US President-elect Donald Trump said Thursday that Russian leader Vladimir Putin wanted to meet and that a rendezvous between the pair was being arranged.

Kremlin welcomes meeting with Trump as ‘supermarket hit with US missile’ in Donetsk - Russia accused Kyiv of using a US-supplied HIMARS to strike a supermarket in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine

Trump, who will be inaugurated on January 20, has repeatedly said he can bring a swift end to the nearly three-year war between Russia and Ukraine.

Speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort, the incoming US president claimed talks with Russia over the Ukraine war were in the works - and shared his thoughts on a friendly exchange with political rival Barack Obama on Thursday.