US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held crunch war talks in the heart of the Vatican minutes before the start of the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday, as the White House mounts an increasingly urgent push to strike a peace deal in Ukraine.

Moscow and Kyiv must hold direct talks soon to end the Ukraine war President Donald Trump posted on social media on his arrival in Rome to attend the funeral of Pope Francis. Trump's post said that most major issues had been addressed and called for an "end to this cruel and senseless war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed that his country has regained control of Kursk, the border region where Ukraine launched a surprise offensive last year, though Ukraine’s army says fighting continues.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces denied Russian President Vladimir Putin's claim Saturday that Russian forces had fully retaken the Kursk region, where Ukraine launched an offensive last year.

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed on Saturday what he said was the complete failure of an offensive by Ukrainian forces in Russia's Kursk region after Moscow said they had been expelled from the last village they had been holding.