The talks build on last week's phone call between President Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin during which the two leaders agreed to work together toward a negotiated end to the war.
After meetings in Israel, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in Saudi Arabia to push President Trump's plan for Gaza and to meet with Russian counterparts on steps to ending the war in Ukraine.
Several NATO allies stressed that Ukraine and Europe must not be cut out of any peace talks, as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth denied that the U.S. is betraying Ukraine.
President Trump says he spoke with the presidents of Russia and Ukraine in separate phone calls Wednesday, discussing the two countries' war and other issues.
National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said Fogel was released in what he called "an exchange" with Russia and was on his way back to the United States. Terms of the exchange were unclear.
The severing of electricity ties to Russia is rich in geopolitical significance. Work on it sped up after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine.
At least a dozen figure skaters, coaches and their family members were on the plane that crashed near Washington, D.C., including two teenage competitors and a Russian husband-and-wife coaching duo.
Ukrainian officials say Russia is using drones to target civilians in Kherson. Some Russian soldiers appear to be bragging about the deadly attacks on social media.
Russia attacked the Ukrainian capital with a barrage of drones and missiles Saturday, leaving at least four people dead, while industrial sites in Russia were set ablaze by Ukrainian strikes.
Pro-Kremlin social media accounts and outlets have been spreading a baseless narrative that mansions belonging to Ukrainian officials burned down in Los Angeles.
The war has reached a critical point. A real peace seems unlikely, but a ceasefire is possible, most experts agree. The question is whether it can be achieved without placing Ukraine in further peril.
Marco Rubio drew bipartisan support among Senate Foreign Relations Committee members at Wednesday's hearing and appears headed for confirmation under President-elect Donald Trump's administration.
A decades-long Russian-Ukrainian transit gas deal to Europe ended on Jan. 1. For now, the most acute effects are being felt in a region called Transnistria, on the eastern edge of Moldova.
Photographer Michael Robinson Chávez visits a city in Ukraine that was partly famous as a site for Russian travelers and intellectuals, but since 2022 has come under Russian attack.
