Russia ’s deputy foreign minister Alexander Grushko also repeated the Kremlin ’s position that Moscow is categorically against the deployment of Nato observers to Ukraine. The Kremlin has confirmed that Russian president Vladimir Putin will talk to US president Donald Trump by phone tomorrow.

Russia is amassing troops along its border with Ukraine for a looming attack while Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin ignores a US-backed cease-fire proposal, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says.

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are set to hold a call about the Russia-Ukraine war in the coming week, a US official said, as Washington seeks to broker a ceasefire deal. Trump envoy Steve Witkoff on Sunday told CNN he had a “positive” meeting with Putin and that the Russian and Ukrainian parties “are today a lot closer” in negotiations.

Russia has retaken about two-thirds of the territory Ukraine seized last summer in the Kursk region of Russia, but at a fearful cost in lives.

Ukrainian forces have pulled almost entirely out of the Kursk region of Russia, ending an offensive that had stunned the Kremlin over the summer with its speed and audacity.

Ukrainian troops are still fending off Russian and North Korean forces in the Kursk region but face a potential new attack on Ukraine's northeast Sumy region, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday.