President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “has to be realistic” about the war with Russia and questioned when Ukraine would next hold elections. Trump’s remarks at the White House followed calls with the leaders of France,

Ukraine’s leader said Wednesday he anticipates handing over a revised peace proposal to the US “in the near future.”

President Vladimir Putin said in an interview published on Thursday that Russia would take full control of Ukraine's Donbas region by force unless Ukrainian forces withdraw — something Kyiv has flatly rejected.

Ukrainian forces were fending off an unusually large Russian mechanised attack inside the strategic eastern city of Pokrovsk, Kyiv's military said on Wednesday, a battle taking place as the U.S. presses for an agreement to end Russia's war in Ukraine.

U.S. President Donald Trump's diplomatic efforts to end the nearly-four-year-old war have run into sharply conflicting demands by Russia and Ukraine.

Zelenskyy's remarks suggest he will not bend to pressure from Russian President Vladimir Putin or President Trump.

Kateryna Lomova, 97, stood her ground as police rescuers and family members begged her to evacuate her ramshackle home in an area of eastern Ukraine battered by Russian artillery, bombs and drones fired from some 15 km (nine miles) away.

Russia unleashed a major missile and drone barrage on Ukraine overnight into Saturday, after U.S. and Ukrainian officials said they’ll meet on Saturday for a third day of talks aimed at ending the nearly four-year-old war.

Putin mixed a readiness to engage with the U.S. over a possible peace plan with several warnings that Russia was prepared to fight on if necessary and take more of Ukraine.

When Russia launched its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, Ukraine cut diplomatic relations with Moscow, formally severing the main line of communication. Yet, as the war enters its fourth year, discreet communication between Ukraine and Russia has continued — through humanitarian contacts,