A Kremlin spokesman says Russia and Ukraine have no scheduled direct peace talks. The statement Thursday came nearly a week after their first face-to-face meeting since the early weeks of Moscow's invasion in 2022 and days after U.

Russia on Wednesday rejected Ukrainian and European accusations it was trying to drag out the peace process around Ukraine, but said that no decision had yet been made on a venue for talks when asked if they could be hosted by the Vatican.

Diplomatic efforts have seen little progress in halting the fighting, including Monday's phone call between President Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Ukrainian forces made a surprise incursion into Kursk in August 2024, before being pushed out by Russian troops nine months later.

Moscow said last month it had retaken full control of the region — a claim denied by Ukraine, which first took parts of Kursk in August. Putin last visited the border region in March, donning military fatigues for the only time since ordering the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and visiting a command post.

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the western Kursk region on Tuesday, the first time he stopped by since Russian forces ejected Ukrainian troops from the area.

The Vatican has a deep history of conflict mediation, with varying degrees of success. An effort by the pope to end the war in Ukraine would face long odds.

"The conditions for that will be negotiated between the two parties, as it can only be, because they know the details of a negotiation that nobody else would be aware of," Trump s

Without waiting for Washington, the European Union and the U.K. announced a new raft of sanctions against Russia.