Pope Leo XIV may have offered to host Russia-Ukraine peace talks at the Vatican, but neither the pope nor senior Vatican officials have spoken publicly about the possibility, leaving prospects for such talks uncertain.

The announcement was made ahead of an expected prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia on Friday – an outcome of last week’s face-to-face talks in Turkey, the first time the two countries have held direct talks at any level in three years.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s phone calls with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine deepened expectations that progress might soon be made on ending those countries’ more than three-year war, though frustration at the slow pace of negotiations and the absence of any significant breakthrough kept hopes low.

KYIV (Reuters) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday he had spoken by telephone to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, and that they had discussed joint steps and the need to put pressure on Russia to secure "a just peace".

Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia has suffered more than 63,000 casualties in Kursk and that Ukrainian operations there continue, hours after Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to the region.

Kyiv’s European allies have slapped new sanctions 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.

Footage captured the moment a Ukrainian Himars rocket launcher was destroyed by an elite Russian drone unit just 10km (six miles) from the front line last month.

Trump has made no effort to use his leverage to force Putin into a deal, and the Russian leader has "no desire" to see war end, says former V.P. Dan Quayle.