Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in a statement on Tuesday that Pope Leo had confirmed during a phone call with her his willingness to host in the Vatican the next round of negotiations to try to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.

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

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Kyiv’s European allies slapped new sanctions Tuesday on Moscow, a day after a phone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to produce a breakthrough on ending the 3-year-old war in Ukraine.

Russia said on Tuesday that Ukraine had to decide whether or not it would cooperate in discussing a memorandum ahead of a potential future peace accord that Moscow has discussed with the United States.

In highly anticipated peace talks, Russian and Ukrainian officials agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners, the war’s largest swap. While they agreed to keep talking, there was no breakthrough for peace and the two sides seemed even further apart.

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) — Russia and Ukraine held their first direct peace talks in three years Friday, gathering in Istanbul for Turkish-brokered negotiations, but officials and observers expected them to yield little immediate progress on stopping the more than three-year war.

Russia has battered Ukraine overnight with its largest drone attack since the war began, Ukraine’s military said Sunday, as Moscow intensified its military assault despite holding direct peace talks with Kyiv Friday.

Ukrainian President Vlodomyr Zelenskyy shared details on his meeting with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Rome on Sunday.