Russia’s troops are continuing their slow war of attrition in eastern and northern Ukraine, even as the conflict enters a pivotal phase with a series of high-level meetings that are part of U.S.

Russia said Wednesday attempts to resolve security issues relating to Ukraine without Moscow's participation were a "road to nowhere," and that much diplomatic work needs to be done before Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy are ever in the same room.

After a pair of historic summits, President Trump continues to push for a path to the end of the war in Ukraine. NBC News White House Correspondent Monica Alba, NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel and former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul discuss the next phase of talks.

Stephen A. Smith argued that Democratic presidents Biden, Obama and Clinton are responsible for the Russia-Ukraine war breaking out, not Trump, during his podcast on Monday.

Ukraine’s Donbas region, consisting of Donetsk and Luhansk, is at the heart of Moscow’s goals. An industrial powerhouse in the Soviet era, it also has rich farmland, important rivers and a coastline on the Sea of Azov.

Learn more English vocabulary from the news with our Learning English from the News archive. To learn more phrasal verbs like 'head something off', try Phrasal verbs with Georgie . Find a list of all our programmes. Trump meets Putin, then Zelensky for talks on the war in Ukraine.

Russia has yet again ignored Donald Trump’s bid to hold a summit between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky and said attempts to resolve security issues for Kyiv without Moscow’s participation was a “road to nowhere”.