Russian President Vladimir Putin has directed drills of the country’s strategic nuclear forces that featured practice missile launches

President Donald Trump canceled his planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest, Hungary, due to insufficient progress toward peace negotiations, the White House said.

President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday oversaw a test of Russia's nuclear forces on land, sea and air to rehearse their readiness and command structure. The test included the launch of a land-based "Yars" intercontinental ballistic missile from a cosmodrome,

The European Union has imposed more economic sanctions on Russia. The new penalties announced on Thursday add to measures by U.S.

Long-range strikes on infrastructure are becoming increasingly critical as front-line advances stall.

MOSCOW/WASHINGTON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Kirill Dmitriev, Russian President Vladimir Putin 's special envoy for investment and economic cooperation, said on Friday he believes his country, the United States and Ukraine are close to a diplomatic solution to end Russia's war in Ukraine.

For a quarter century, President Vladimir Putin has faced the specter of Russia's shrinking and aging population. In 1999, a year before he came to power, the number of babies born in Russia plunged to its lowest recorded level. In 2005, Putin said the demographic woes needed to be resolved by maintaining "social and economic stability.”