Russia will make no big concessions on a peace plan for Ukraine, a senior Russian diplomat said on Wednesday, after a leaked recording of a call involving U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff showed he had advised Moscow on how to pitch to Donald Trump.

The strikes occurred in a strategic maritime corridor, raising concerns about energy security and navigational safety.

President Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff will travel next week to Moscow as momentum builds for a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine.

Russia's state communications watchdog threatened on Friday to block WhatsApp entirely if it fails to comply with Russian law, news agencies reported.

Kenya, Nepal, Tajikistan. They say they were deceived by Russia into joining a war they did not want to fight.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul warns that intelligence shows Russia may attack NATO by 2029, citing Moscow's military buildup and economic shift toward war.

A court in Russia on Thursday convicted eight people on terrorism charges over an attack on a bridge linking Russia to Moscow-annexed Crimea that is a key supply route for Kremlin forces in the war with Ukraine.

Russia on Thursday ordered Poland to close its consulate in the Siberian city of Irkutsk in retaliation for Warsaw's decision to close the last Russian consulate in Poland after a railway explosion that was blamed on Moscow.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has met President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, days before Russia holds talks on a US push to end the war in Ukraine. Orban is seen as one of Putin's closest allies in Europe and he has consistently angered his Nato and EU allies by undermining solidarity against Russia.