Ukrainian drones hit Russia's Sochi resort while Russian forces bombarded Odessa's residential areas and historic Pryvoz market, hours after ceasefire talks collapsed.

Following Russia’s attack on Kyiv during the night of 3-4 July, which damaged the consular section of Poland’s embassy, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski phoned US President’s special envoy Keith Kellogg and called for a resumption of arms supplies to Ukraine.

It was early morning on July 4 when Gen Keith Kellogg’s phone was illuminated with a call from Poland. On the other end of the line was Radoslaw Sikorski, Poland’s foreign minister, with what could be one of the defining interventions of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Russian and Ukrainian negotiators met in Istanbul on Wednesday for their first peace talks in more than seven weeks, with Moscow under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to strike a deal or face tough new sanctions.

Negotiators for the warring sides in Istanbul appeared to make little progress on ceasefire terms or a possible summit between their presidents – with their meeting ending after less than an hour.

Ukraine’s top military commander Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky called on President Trump to provide long-range missiles capable of attacking deep into Russia to cripple Moscow’s war machine.

Republican leaders said they were ready to vote as soon as this month on punishing penalties against Moscow but have paused after President Trump threatened to act unilaterally within weeks.

Russia and Ukraine have made some progress in a fresh round of talks--though a ceasefire is still not on the table. But these talks have been overshadowed as mass protests over a controversial bill on corruption sweep Ukraine.

Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) said first lady Melania Trump should receive some praise for President Donald Trump‘s pivot on Ukraine in its war with Russia. “Well, I’m glad that the president has pivoted on Ukraine,