Hours after Trump declares Russia and Ukraine "closer than ever" to peace, Moscow claims a failed drone strike will alter its negotiating position.

A defence analyst tells the ABC an attack on the Russian President's state residence would be "technically" possible but would not make sense strategically for Ukraine.

Russian commanders told Putin during an inspection visit that Moscow's forces had captured towns in Ukraine's eastern region of Donetsk.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told ABC News during an exclusive interview in Moscow on Monday that he believes the warring parties are close to a deal.

The original theater was destroyed when it was targeted by a Russian airstrike on March 16, 2022, as Moscow’s forces besieged the city. An AP report found 600 people were killed.

Moscow-installed authorities marked the rebuilding of the Donetsk Academic Regional Drama Theater with a gala concert on the building’s new main stage Sunday night.

A day before his scheduled meeting with US President Donald Trump in Florida, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “man of war” after Moscow carried out the year’s longest sustained attack on Kyiv and the surrounding region.

By WILL WEISSERT, SEUNG MIN KIM and ELISE MORTON WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump will host his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on Sunday to try to close out a

Putin’s war on Ukraine was once a popular enterprise. But domestic support is softening as the conflict's material, human and reputational costs continue to mount.

Russia and Ukraine on Monday remained far apart on ‌territorial ​issues that are blocking a peace deal, despite progress on ‌security guarantees for Kyiv at talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy.