US President Donald Trump has ditched his call for a ceasefire in Ukraine, backing instead Russian President Vladimir Putin’s push for a permanent peace agreement. That has not stopped some European leaders from pushing for a temporary truce first, even though the US president has seemingly decided one is not necessary.

Russia said Wednesday attempts to resolve security issues relating to Ukraine without Moscow's participation were a "road to nowhere," and that much diplomatic work needs to be done before Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy are ever in the same room.

ESPN's Stephen A. Smith praised Trump for Russia-Ukraine negotiations, as one of the few prominent figures on the left to praise Trump.

Meetings in Alaska and Washington were high on pomp and low on breakthroughs, but there were two potentially significant developments.

Oil prices rose on Wednesday as the American Petroleum Institute reported a drop in U.S. crude inventories and investors awaited the next steps in talks to end the Ukraine war, with sanctions on Russian crude remaining in place for now.

Polish police found metal and plastic fragments from an unidentified object in a field after they were dispatched to reports of an explosion.

Plus, a new survey of doctors finds that they're encountering more patients who are influenced by medical misinformation or disinformation.

Turkey supports efforts to establish a permanent peace in Ukraine with the participation of all parties, President Tayyip Erdogan told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in a phone call on Wednesday,

Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain called for an international force stationed in Ukraine, which could range from hundreds to tens of thousands of troops. Trump has suggested that Russia would accept European troop deployments, even though Russia has frequently rejected the idea.