The announcement appears to preclude any kind of top-level meeting or breakthrough ahead of the 50-day deadline for an agreement given by President Donald Trump.

Officials from Russia and Ukraine ended a third round of formal negotiations in Istanbul with an agreement to swap more prisoners but little sign of progress on a deal to halt the war.

Almost 50 people including children are feared dead after a Soviet-era passenger plane crashed in Russia’s far eastern Amur region, state media reported on Thursday, citing local officials.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on Wednesday declassified additional materials on the intelligence community's assessment of Russia's actions in the 2016 election, claiming in a social media post and at a White House press briefing that they showed Obama administration officials "manufactured" information in order to undermine then-candidate Donald Trump.

One day after President Donald Trump accused former President Barack Obama of treason over the intelligence assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 election and sought to help Trump, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard declassified a highly sensitive congressional report she claimed was more evidence of a “treasonous conspiracy.