Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told ABC News that he is "very much confident and pretty sure" that Moscow and Kyiv are "on the verge" of a deal to end the war, as U.S.-brokered peace talks make slow but steady progress.

Talks on ending Russia’s war in Ukraine have intensified, with France and other European powers stressing the need for robust security guarantees for Kyiv before any discussion of territorial concessions.

A senior Kremlin official says Russian police and the National Guard will stay on in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas even if a peace settlement ends the war.

Ukraine has used long-range drones to attack Russian oil platforms as it expands its strikes on the country's energy sector.

Ukraine claims it has carried out the first successful combat strike by an underwater drone against a submarine, damaging a Russian Kilo-class boat in the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk and potentially removing a key cruise missile launch platform from the war.

Washington and Kyiv appear to have made notable shifts to secure progress, but big questions remain, not least whether Moscow will once again reject making concessions.

Ukraine struck an oil tanker belonging to Russia’s so-called shadow fleet in the Black Sea on Wednesday, according to an official in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).