As Washington ramps up its negotiations with Ukraine and Russia and U.S. President Donald Trump expresses optimism that a peace deal could be close, there are still some very critical and contentious issues on which Kyiv and Moscow are in deep disagreement.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has described the situation surrounding the war in Ukraine as "volatile" and "dangerous" and accused Russia of having no "real intent" of engaging in peace talks. Her comments came shortly before Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was "premature" to speak about striking a peace deal.

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

A U.K. patrol ship has intercepted a Russian corvette and a tanker in the English Channel, according to the Defense Ministry.

An overnight drone strike triggered a fire at the Shatura power plant supplying Moscow, as Russia and Ukraine step up attacks on energy infrastructure amid a peace plan pushed by the Trump administration.

Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Congressional Ukraine Caucus criticized a reported peace plan backed by the Trump administration.

Ukraine struck a heat and power station in the Moscow region on Sunday with drones, triggering a major fire and cutting off heating for thousands in one of Kyiv's biggest attacks to date on a power station deep inside Russia.

DONALD Trump has declared that Vladimir Putin is “making concessions” and Volodymyr Zelensky is “happy” with progress towards a peace deal. It comes as the US president