Britain and France are accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of dragging his feet over Ukraine ceasefire talks and ramped up pressure on Moscow by insisting that he owes the United States an immediate answer.

One of the largest rounds of conscription to Russia’s military for several years is underway, as President Vladimir Putin pushes ahead with an expansion of the country’s military at a crucial moment in the war in Ukraine.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio revealed on Friday that he had met with an envoy for President Vladimir Putin this week and sent him back to Moscow with a message: the clock is ticking on when there needs to be a breakthrough in the peace talks to end the Ukraine war.

The appeal by some of Kyiv's key western allies is an attempt to call Moscow out on its willingness to reach a ceasefire. Emerging from three days of meetings with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) foreign ministers in Brussels,

Russia's largest military draft in 14 years sees 160,000 men called up as Putin plans a spring offensive on Ukraine. Despite stalled U.S. ceasefire talks, the Kremlin insists conscripts won't fight.

The meeting between US and Russian officials was held as the Trump administration continues to press Russia and Ukraine to agree to a ceasefire.

After arrival, the Kyiv-born and US-educated envoy said that unnamed forces were trying to stir tension between Washington and MoscowMeanwhile, Russian military bloggers have claimed that hundreds of Ukrainian troops have sought shelter from Moscow’s advancing forces in a Kursk monastery.

President Trump continued his criticism of Volodymyr Zelenskyy but turned the tables and also criticized Russia's Vladimir Putin as he pressed for a Ukraine war ceasefire.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said his nation will soon overwhelm and destroy the Ukrainian military, and suggested the United Nations take control of the country if the war ends. Putin made the bellicose comments,