Low-level delegations from Russia and Ukraine held their first direct peace talks in three years in Istanbul on May 16. The talks, which lasted two hours, brought no significant breakthrough, although both sides agreed to the largest prisoner exchange of the war. It was carried out last weekend and freed 1,000 captives on each side.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday urged Europe and Asia to build a new alliance to hold off big powers seeking to build "spheres of coercion", in a swipe at China and Russia.

Berlin is charting a new course in its European defence strategy as Chancellor Friedrich Merz pledges direct support for Ukraine’s independent long-range missile development, in a break from

Serbia and Russia will jointly investigate how Serbia-made ammunition reached Ukraine, President Aleksandar Vucic said, after Moscow accused Belgrade of exporting arms to the government in Kyiv.

Moscow’s dual campaign of intensified frontline attacks and bombardment of Ukrainian cities has further reduced the prospects for an end to the fighting.

Inspectors from the U.N. nuclear watchdog have not seen signs of Russia moving to immediately restart the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant

THEODORE BUNZEL is Managing Director and head of Lazard Geopolitical Advisory. He has worked in the political section of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and at the U.S. Treasury Department.

European leaders are racing to figure out how to keep Ukraine supplied with weapons as US President Donald Trump appears to be walking away from the war. One option: buy American.

Europe must assert its independence by significantly increasing defense spending and admitting Ukraine into the European Union, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said during a speech upon receiving the Charlemagne Prize for European unity,