Pope Leo XIV may have offered to host Russia-Ukraine peace talks at the Vatican, but neither the pope nor senior Vatican officials have spoken publicly about the possibility, leaving prospects for such talks uncertain.

Kyiv’s European allies have slapped new sanctions on Moscow, a day after a phone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to produce a breakthrough on ending the 3-year-old war in Ukraine.

The announcement was made ahead of an expected prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia on Friday – an outcome of last week’s face-to-face talks in Turkey, the first time the two countries have held direct talks at any level in three years.

It follows Donald Trump saying Russia and Ukraine will "immediately" start negotiating, after a two-hour phone call with Vladimir Putin.

Gold prices eased on Tuesday, as a slightly firmer dollar and optimism over a potential ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine dampened investor demand for safe-haven assets.

Russia has battered Ukraine overnight with its largest drone attack since the war began, Ukraine’s military said Sunday, as Moscow intensified its military assault despite holding direct peace talks with Kyiv Friday.

After a phone call Monday between Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia, Trump appears to be walking away from negotiations for a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.

For three years, two months and 19 days, Ellia Derektorenko waited in agony for any word from her husband, Andrii, a captured Ukrainian soldier. She received only one letter, in 2022, confirming that he was alive and in a Russian prison.