Russia-Ukraine updates: Putin suspends key US-Russia nuclear treaty in speech denouncing West
President Vladimir Putin said he'd sought an "open dialogue" with the West.
Almost a year after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine, the two countries are engaged in a struggle for control of areas throughout the east and south.
Putin's forces pulled out of key positions in November, retreating from Kherson as Ukrainian troops led a counteroffensive targeting the southern port city. Russian drones have continued bombarding civilian targets throughout Ukraine, knocking out critical power infrastructure as winter sets in.
For previous coverage, please click here.
Latest headlines:
Belarus will fight alongside Russia if it is attacked, president warns
Belarus would only join the war in Ukraine, fighting alongside Russia, if it is attacked, President Alexander Lukashenko told state-run Belta news agency.
"We don't want a war. And in no case are we going to send our troops into the territory of Ukraine. Unless you commit aggression against the territory of Belarus from there. Here is my answer. It was given a long time ago," Lukashenko said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed Lukashenko's threat in an interview with the BBC.
"I hope [Belarus] won't join [the war]," he said. "If it does, we will fight and we will survive."
Allowing Russia to use Belarus as a staging post for an attack again would be a "huge mistake," he added.
Russian forces launched part of their full-scale invasion from Belarus 12 months ago. They drove south toward Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, but were fought back and made to retreat within weeks, after suffering heavy casualties.
Lukashenko is set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.
-ABC News' Will Gretsky and Tanya Stukalova
Zelenskyy rules out territorial deal with Putin in BBC interview
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has ruled out giving up any of his country's territory in a potential peace deal with Russia.
In a BBC interview to mark a year since Russia's full-scale invasion, he warned conceding land would mean Russia could "keep coming back," while Western weapons would bring peace closer.
However, he does believe Ukrainian forces can keep resisting Russia's advance until they are able to launch a counteroffensive -- although he repeated his calls for more military aid from the West.
"Of course, modern weapons speed up peace. Weapons are the only language Russia understands," Zelensky told the BBC.
-ABC News' Will Gretsky
Russian strikes hit infrastructure in Lviv, Ukrainians shoot down 8 Russian missiles: Officials
An infrastructure object was hit in Lviv in the early morning hours of Thursday, the head of the Lviv Regional Military Administration, Maksym Kozytskyi, said on Telegram.
There were no casualties, and the fire from the impact has since been put out, Kozytskyi said.
Six Kalibr missiles were also shot down over the Mykolaiv region, and two Kalibr missiles were shot down over the Kherson region overnight, Odesa Military Administration spokesman Serhii Bratchuk posted on Telegram.
All eight of the missiles were fired from a Russian ship in the Black Sea, Bratchuk said in the post.
-ABC News' Ellie Kaufman
6 'reconnaissance' balloons shot down over Kyiv
Authorities in Kyiv are investigating who owns six balloons that were in Ukraine's airspace and what the balloons were doing over Kyiv. The balloons were shot down by Ukrainian air defense.
After a preliminary assessment, authorities think the balloons had intelligence gathering equipment.
-ABC News' Will Gretsky
Harris meets with British, Finnish, Swedish PMs
Vice President Kamala Harris met with the British, Finnish and Swedish prime ministers before departing Munich on Saturday.
Amid concerns in Europe that Republican lawmakers could dampen U.S. aid to Ukraine, the Finnish prime minister, Sanna Marin, thanked Harris for saying U.S. support for Ukraine would persevere domestic political differences.
Both Marin and Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, spoke with hope about joining NATO. But in recent days, there have been signals from NATO, the Finnish and the Swedish that perhaps they will not join at the same time as they had hoped due to continued Turkish objections over Swedish membership.
-ABC News' Ben Gittleson