Russia’s parliament will hold consultations next week on an idea to appeal to President Vladimir Putin to recognise two pro-Russian breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent states, the chamber’s speaker said on Friday. Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, made the announcement …

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Friday that a weekslong standoff over Ukraine is at a “critical moment,” as he headed into talks with his Russian counterpart amid rising concerns that Europe could again be beset by war. Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov lowered expectations ahead of …

Short of an all-out invasion, Russian President Vladimir Putin could take less dramatic action in Ukraine that would vastly complicate a U.S. and allied response. He might carry out what President Joe Biden called a “minor incursion” — perhaps a cyberattack — leaving the U.S. and Europe divided on the …