Syria’s President Ahmed Al-Sharaa will meet Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for the first time, as both countries seek to rebuild relations following the toppling of Syrian autocrat Bashar al-Assad,

Major Chinese airlines on Tuesday urged the Trump administration to abandon a plan to bar them from flying over Russia on U.S. flights, saying it would increase flight times, raise air fares and could disrupt some routes.

Donald Trump has warned Russia that the war must end because it’s not making the country look good. The US president said: "I had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin, but he just doesn't want to end that war, and I think it's making them look very bad.

The Kremlin will negotiate only if missiles and drones bring the pain of war home to Russians, Ukrainian officials say.

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Tuesday it had opened a criminal case against exiled Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, accusing him of creating a "terrorist organisation" and of plotting to violently seize power.

Belarus remains one of Russia's closest allies in the war against Ukraine. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russian authorities have reportedly been recruiting Belarusians through draft commissions operating inside Belarus.

A representative of Ukraine's state-owned rail company said the attacks coincide with Russia's "dramatic increase" in drone production.

Domestic theatre: For Putin, confronting the West plays well at home. As Dmitry Medvedev, the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia, recently claimed, “Europe fears its own war”. For the Kremlin, that fear reinforces the narrative that Russia is the assertive power, and that the West is indecisive.

Scores of sanctions from the US, EU, UK and others have weakened Russia’s economy, but not its resolve to carry on fighting. What’s now needed is not just more but smarter penalties, experts say.