Moscow

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov announced that preparations are underway for a visit to Russia by Iranian President Masoud Pezeskyan, though the exact timing remains unclear.

Peskov noted that it is uncertain whether the visit will occur this year, but if necessary, a date could be set quickly.

Russia today accused the West of seeking a ceasefire in Ukraine to buy time to rearm Kyiv, whose forces are facing serious difficulties on the front lines against the Russian army.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz made a surprise visit to war-torn Ukraine on Monday to reaffirm Berlin's support for Kiev in its fight against Russia.

His visit comes as Ukrainian forces are losing ground on the frontline and amid fears about future US support once Donald Trump returns to the White House in January.

The EU's new top diplomat Kaja Kallas and head of the European Council Antonio Costa arrived in Kiev on Sunday in a symbolic show of support for Ukraine on their first day in office.

"We came to give a clear message that we stand with Ukraine, and we continue to give our full support," Costa told media outlets accompanying them on the trip.

Jihadists and rebels have seized most of Aleppo, Syria’s second-largest city, including its airport, during a lightning assault that left over 320 people dead, a monitoring group reported on Saturday, as the international community voiced concern.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested that a ceasefire agreement could be reached if Ukrainian territories were brought “under the NATO umbrella.”

This, he said, would allow him to negotiate the return of the remaining territories later “in a diplomatic way.”

On a bright winter day, workers at a Ukrainian thermal power plant repair its heavily damaged equipment as drops of water from melted snow leak through gaping holes in its battered roof.

Several weeks earlier, the facility was targeted by a Russian air attack that left scorch marks, shrapnel scars on the walls and missile fragments scattered across the production floor.

U.S. President Joe Biden stressed yesterday (Thursday) “the importance of support to the Ukrainian people” in the wake of the massive bombing launched earlier by Russia’s armed forces.

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday threatened to strike "decision-making centres" in Kiev with Russia's new hypersonic missile, hours after Moscow pummelled Ukraine's energy grid in an attack that left a million people without power.

Russian President Vladimir Putin made new threats from a council in Kazakhstan where he spoke and commenting on a New York Times report said that if Ukraine gets nukes, Moscow will use all means of destruction against it.