None of that matters to President Donald Trump, who announced Friday night that he would meet the globally shunned leader this Friday in Alaska. What does matter to Trump is that he may be able to stop the bloodshed in Ukraine, the worst European conflict since World War II, fulfilling one of his biggest campaign promises.

The threats, pressure and ultimatums have come and gone, but Russian President Vladimir Putin has maintained Moscow’s uncompromising demands in Ukraine, raising fears he could use a planned summit with U.

Washington’s push to negotiate an end to the war has raised concerns the Trump administration will make concessions to Moscow that Kyiv cannot accept.

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia may be seeking to build support among countries that have backed Moscow or remained neutral in the conflict.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday flexed his country’s ties with India and China ahead of President Trump’s announcement of a planned meeting with Putin in Alaska on Aug. 17. Putin held phone calls with both Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday,

NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that he spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone and thanked him for sharing the latest developments on Ukraine. The conversation between the two leaders came days after U.