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.

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.

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.

Vladimir Putin does not want a ceasefire, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said, as 16 were killed in a drone attack on Kryvyi Rih.Mr Zelensky said: “People die every day. There is only one reason why this continues: Russia does not want a ceasefire,

The Kremlin said Russia and the U.S. were at work on a peace deal Ukraine after President Donald Trump said he was "pissed off" with Vladimir Putin.

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,

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.

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.

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