Ukraine and Russia have been exchanging major drone and missile strikes, with each seeking to gain an advantage as US President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration nears

"Russians greeted Trump's victory with great enthusiasm. They think that because there are people around Trump who are naive about Russia's threat to the United States, Trump will be willing to impose a peace that enables Putin to take political control of Ukraine.

Advisers to President-elect Donald Trump now concede that the Ukraine war will take months or even longer to resolve, a sharp reality check on his biggest foreign policy promise - to strike a peace deal on his first day in the White House.

Trump has reaffirmed his intention to broker peace in Ukraine, declaring earlier this month that “Putin wants to meet” and that such a meeting is being set up. In the past, he has criticized U.S. military aid for Ukraine and even vowed to end the conflict in a single day if elected.

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Russia says it has detected a shift from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and his team towards recognising the "realities" on the ground in Ukraine, and sees this as a welcome sign as it prepares to study his plan for ending the war.

Donald Trump has said he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin "very quickly" after his inauguration, as he looks to end the war in Ukraine

Russia is prepared to study U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's peace initiatives on Ukraine when he takes office next week, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday. Lavrov cautioned that Trump's comments on the war - which he previously said he could end within 24 hours of entering the White House - were being made before his inauguration,