Russia peace talks in the Vatican marks a significant development for the first US-born pontiff, just as the Trump administration appears to be stepping back from leading negotiations.The Vatican has helped arbitrate delicate matters of diplomacy in the past.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s phone calls with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine have deepened expectations that progress might soon be made on ending those countries’ more than three-year war

With future U.S. aid in doubt, Kyiv is ramping up domestic production of arms such as its Bohdana howitzer.

The European Union has agreed fresh sanctions to impose on Russia, notably targeting almost 200 ships from the shadow fleet illicitly transporting oil to skirt Western restrictions imposed over the war on Ukraine.

Andrei Mordvichev led the brutal assault on Mariupol and has previously hinted that Russia has no intention of stopping at Ukraine.

The law to shoot down drones violating Romanian airspace was initially drafted in October following a spate of Russian drones landing in the NATO member. Their target had been southern Ukraine's Odesa Oblast.