Russian President Vladimir Putin told US President Donald Trump in a phone call Wednesday that Moscow was obligated to respond to Ukraine’s weekend drone attack, Trump said, setting up a potential escalation in the conflict just as the US president hopes to broker an end to the war.

President Donald Trump said he spoke with Russian leader Vladimir Putin for well over an hour about Ukraine's latest attack on Russian airplanes and nuclear talks with Iran. "It was a good conversation,

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday dismissed Russia’s ceasefire proposal as “an ultimatum” and renewed his call for direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to break the deadlock over the war,