U.S. President Donald Trump’s phone calls with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine deepened expectations that progress might soon be made on ending those countries’ more than three-year war, though frustration at the slow pace of negotiations and the absence of any significant breakthrough kept hopes low.

Russia's Investigative Committee said on Tuesday that it had launched criminal proceedings against a prominent journalist who heads a publication in neighbouring Latvia providing critical coverage of the three-year-old conflict in Ukraine.

KYIV (Reuters) -President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday that Kyiv and its partners were considering arranging a high-level meeting between Ukraine, Russia, the United States, European Union countries and Britain as part of a push to end Moscow's war in Ukraine.

The president announced that “Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War.”

Kyiv’s European allies have slapped new sanctions on Moscow, a day after a phone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to produce a breakthrough on ending the 3-year-old war in Ukraine.

Andrei Mordvichev led the brutal assault on Mariupol and has previously hinted that Russia has no intention of stopping at Ukraine.

Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day. President Trump spent two hours on the phone with Vladimir Putin on Monday, hoping to learn when the Russian leader was going to end his war in Ukraine.

ROME (Reuters) -European and U.S. leaders have welcomed Pope Leo XIV's readiness to host Russia-Ukraine talks at the Vatican, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Monday.