This week's prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine was the largest since the war’s onset. But skepticism of a lasting truce, and President Trump’s peace-making, remains. Bridget Brink resigned as ambassador to Ukraine in April,

The first direct Ukraine-Russia talks did not deliver a ceasefire but it did result in the largest prisoner swap of the war. CHERNIHIV REGION, Ukraine — For hours Friday, a crowd of hopefuls stood on the roadside wrapped in blue-and-yellow flags and clutching photos of captured Ukrainian soldiers — their eyes peeled for any sign of buses.

Russian armed forces are creating a “security buffer zone” along the border between Russia and Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday.

Ceasefire negotiations between Russia and Ukraine may soon be under way, but Ukraine’s economic recovery will be hobbled unless the European Union fast-tracks the war-torn country’s membership and provides hundreds of billions of euros’ worth of insurance and investment, experts tell Al Jazeera.

Ukraine pioneered the use of small drones on the battlefield. But in Russia’s Kursk region, Moscow’s fiber-optic cables helped turn the tide.

Finland, which shares hundreds of miles of border with Russia, joined NATO two years ago, swiftly followed by neighboring Sweden.

After a phone call Monday between Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia, Trump appears to be walking away from negotiations for a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.