The first contacts with the new American administration give us some hope,” the Russian president said in televised comments on Thursday.

The Kremlin has softened President Vladimir Putin's remarks on its English-language website, making them less emotionally charged.

Kirill Dmitriev wrote on Elon Musk’s X platform for the first time since 2012 this week to declare US-Russia cooperation was “key to address world challenges.” Then he posted a video graphic depicting a joint mission to Mars with the US and Saudi Arabia on what appears to be one of Musk’s SpaceX rockets.

Meanwhile the US president says Europe should provide the security guarantees after any ceasefire deal with Russia.

Putin welcomed the idea of sweeping joint defense cuts and suggested the world's biggest defense spender could join.

Wednesday on the RealClearPolitics podcast, Andrew Walworth chats with James Robbins from the Institute of World Politics about how the Trump administration seeks to remake U.S. relations with Russia.

The war in Ukraine will be a focal point of the meeting between the US president and UK prime minister in Washington later.

A top security aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim as the Kremlin builds ties with Southeast Asian nations seeking to offset the risks of the growing competition between the US and China.

A US-educated former Goldman Sachs banker, with no formal diplomatic role at the time, Dmitriev cut an unexpected figure at the talks next to more conventional members of the Russian delegation such as foreign minister Sergei Lavrov.

"There can be no settlement" without involving Kyiv, Bridget Phillipson tells BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg.

"The View" co-host Joy Behar suggested that President Donald Trump might owe something to Russian Vladimir Putin during a discussion about his admin's posture on the war.

Ukraine holds trillions of dollars worth of rare earth elements, which are critical for the modern high-tech economy.