New intelligence reviewed by US and Western officials suggests Russian President Vladimir Putin may have shifted his immediate focus in the Ukraine war towards the shorter-term objectives of solidifying his hold on territory his forces have seized as well as boosting his country’s struggling economy,

President Vladimir Putin is open to peace in Ukraine and intense work is going on with the United States, but the conflict is so complicated that the rapid progress that Washington wants is difficult to achieve,

US President Donald Trump has not said whether he trusts Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, but suggested that Putin "would like to stop the war". Trump has added that if he had not won the election, Putin would have taken "over all of Ukraine".