Ukraine and European allies had demanded Russia accept a 30-day ceasefire starting Monday before holding talks, but Moscow effectively rejected the proposal and called for direct negotiations instead.
As the Trump administration works toward a halt in the fighting, many experts fear that Ukraine will be forced to accept a ceasefire deal that will only give Russian forces a badly needed breather.
The talks build on last week's phone call between President Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin during which the two leaders agreed to work together toward a negotiated end to the war.
The Kremlin said air defense systems were firing near Grozny due to a Ukrainian drone strike as the airliner attempted to land, but stopped short of saying it was shot down by Russian air defenses.
A Navalny spokesperson said the assailant smashed a window of Leonid Volkov's car, sprayed tear gas into his eyes and started hitting him with a hammer in Lithuania's capital.
In a sign of Navalny's ability to inspire the public, in 2017 his followers chanted words in Putin's hometown that are among the most dangerous to utter in their country: "Russia without Putin."
Yekaterina Duntsova is a former journalist-turned-politician who opposes the Ukraine war and hopes to challenge Putin, but her efforts to run stalled after election officials rejected her nomination.
Russian President Vladimir Putin resumed his traditional year-end press conference, after canceling last year, when Russia was doing badly on the battlefield. He combined it with a call-in program.
Vladimir Putin moved to prolong his repressive and unyielding presidency for at least another six years, announcing his candidacy in the election next March that he is all but certain to win.
Russia and China have forged an informal alliance against the United States and other democratic nations that is now complicated by the Israel-Hamas war.
The leaders met at Russia's Vostochny Cosmodrome for a summit that underscores how their interests are aligning in the face of their countries' separate, intensifying confrontations with the U.S.
On Monday, a dark green train with yellow trim was spotted at the border where Russia, China and North Korea meet. It runs with one passenger in mind: the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un.
African leaders are leaving two days of meetings with Vladimir Putin with little to show for their requests to resume a deal that kept grain flowing from Ukraine and to find a path to end the war.
Maj. Gen. Ivan Popov said Russia's military leadership was angered by his frank talk about challenges faced by his forces, particularly the shortage of equipment that resulted in Russian casualties.
