Ukrainian officials say more than 19,000 children have been unlawfully deported to Russia or occupied areas, with reports suggesting the number could be far higher.

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.

Russia’s illegal seizure of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 was quick and bloodless, and it sent Moscow’s relations with the West into a downward spiral unseen since the Cold War.

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.

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.

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.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has accused European leaders of trying to undermine progress which he said had been made at last week's U.S.-Russia summit in Alaska on a possible peace deal in Ukraine.