Russia's economy is not doing well. It dealing with shortages, inflation and huge spending costs. And the US is about to implement much tougher sanctions.

By Dmitry Antonov and Andrew Osborn MOSCOW, June 24 (Reuters) - Russia wants to know if Donald Trump has really changed his stance on the Ukraine war after French President Emmanuel Macron suggested at this month's G7 summit that the U.

US President Donald Trump will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of this week's NATO summit in Ankara, the White House announced on July 5, as Washington seeks to revive stalled diplomacy over Russia's war while pressing European allies to take greater responsibility for the continent's defense.

Ukraine has moved past the 28-point draft plan to end the war with Russia and is pushing for a better deal now that the battlefield conditions have changed, officials told The Post. Ahead of a critical sit-down between President Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday at the NATO summit,

The move eases a yearslong effort by the US and its allies to squeeze Russia's finances in response to its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

"The risk is that Russia could take advantage of this window of opportunity," one European security expert told Newsweek.

The International Skating Union lifted a ban on Russian and Belarusian skaters in place since the 2022 military invasion of Ukraine. They may compete as neutral athletes.