L ONDON and KYIV, Ukraine -- The Kremlin's top foreign policy aide, Yury Ushakov, confirmed there is a "preliminary agreement" for U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff -- and likely Jared Kushner -- to visit Moscow next week, as the White House claims momentum toward a possible Ukraine-Russia peace plan.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has described the situation surrounding the war in Ukraine as "volatile" and "dangerous" and accused Russia of having no "real intent" of engaging in peace talks. Her comments came shortly before Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was "premature" to speak about striking a peace deal.

White House envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Moscow next week, the Kremlin said, amid accelerating efforts to cement a US-backed peace proposal that many Ukrainians -- and European leaders -- are wary of.

Kenya, Nepal, Tajikistan. They say they were deceived by Russia into joining a war they did not want to fight.

Ukraine struck a heat and power station in the Moscow region on Sunday with drones, triggering a major fire and cutting off heating for thousands in one of Kyiv's biggest attacks to date on a power station deep inside Russia.

A U.K. patrol ship has intercepted a Russian corvette and a tanker in the English Channel, according to the Defense Ministry.

An overnight drone strike triggered a fire at the Shatura power plant supplying Moscow, as Russia and Ukraine step up attacks on energy infrastructure amid a peace plan pushed by the Trump administration.

As Washington ramps up its negotiations with Ukraine and Russia and U.S. President Donald Trump expresses optimism that a peace deal could be close, there are still some very critical and contentious issues on which Kyiv and Moscow are in deep disagreement.

Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Congressional Ukraine Caucus criticized a reported peace plan backed by the Trump administration.

Leaked call transcripts between special envoy Steve Witkoff and a Putin advisor could derail President Trump's progress, as they show Witkoff coaching Moscow on pitching a Russia-friendly peace plan.Then,

DONALD Trump has declared that Vladimir Putin is “making concessions” and Volodymyr Zelensky is “happy” with progress towards a peace deal. It comes as the US president