The Kremlin said contacts between the U.S. and Russia had taken place, the first time Moscow has hinted the two countries are discussing a potential plan to end fighting in Ukraine.

Moscow claims to have seized the eastern Ukrainian village of Novovasylivka as it appears to be slowly closing in on the key logistic city of Prokrovsk. View on euronews

He is the author of Does Conquest Pay? The Exploitation of Occupied Industrial Societies. Today, about 20 percent of southeastern Ukraine is under Russian occupation, including Crimea and large parts of the Donetsk,