One of Russia’s most powerful men, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, is set to visit North Korea this weekend, in a sign of deepening relations between Moscow and Pyongyang as North Korea gets pulled deeper into Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Kyiv was the main target of an hourslong assault that killed at least two people, officials said. The barrage came hours before the top American and Russian diplomats met.

One of those key frontline areas is Pokrovsk, a strategic hub in eastern Ukraine, which Moscow has been trying to capture for more than two years. According to the head of Ukraine's army Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, Russia has concentrated some 111,000 troops in that area.

Facing a numerically superior foe, Ukraine is under pressure to replenish its ranks on the battlefield where, after three years of war, recruitment is already a challenge.

Latest news and live updates as Marco Rubio meet with Russian foreign minister amid tensions over Ukraine and Trump releases tariff letters to trading partners.

Italy said on Thursday that firms that have helped Russia fund its war on Ukraine by doing business with the country should be excluded from profiting from Ukraine's reconstruction. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said earlier that participants at a Rome conference on the economic recovery of Ukraine had pledged more than 10 billion euros ($11.

Europe’s human rights court found Moscow responsible for the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 and abuses including transferring Ukrainian children to Russia.

NATO members that border Russia are buying US-made HIMARS. One defense minister told BI that the war shows deep strike abilities are needed.