Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told ABC News that he is "very much confident and pretty sure" that Moscow and Kyiv are "on the verge" of a deal to end the war, as U.S.-brokered peace talks make slow but steady progress.

Deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov reiterated that Moscow would not give back land to end the war, and would not accept any Nato peacekeepers stationed in a post-war Ukraine. As Russia was accused of stalling efforts to end the conflict, hundreds of thousands of people were left without power in Ukraine following heavy bombardment nationwide.

The attack appeared to have been inspired by white supremacist ideology, Telegram channels close to intelligence agencies reported.

By bnm Tehran bureau Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov condemned Western pressure on Iran's nuclear programme and defended Tehran's rights under international law during an interview with Iran's state broadcaster IRIB on December 15,

The Bank of Russia filed a lawsuit in Moscow seeking 18.2 trillion rubles ($229 billion) from Euroclear, the state-run Tass news service reported Monday.

Russia’s Central Bank says it has filed a lawsuit against Belgian financial institution Euroclear. That's the Brussels-based clearing house that holds most of Moscow’s frozen assets in Europe.

Construction is progressing on a planned Far Eastern route to supply Russian natural gas to China, Beijing’s ambassador to Moscow, Zhang Hanhui, told Russia’s RIA news agency in remarks published on Wednesday.

The Bank of Russia said it’s taking legal action in Moscow against the Euroclear depository over frozen state assets and threatened the European Union with a global campaign of retaliation to recover hundreds of billions of euros if the bloc makes any use of the funds.

Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky plays down hopes of peace by Christmas after Putin rejects holiday truce - Officials say Trump has offered 'platinum standard' security guarantees but Moscow is exp