Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told ABC News during an exclusive interview in Moscow on Monday that he believes the warring parties are close to a deal.

A 1,000-strong "dark fleet" of rogue tankers evading sanctions has become a new target for the U.S. and Ukraine, according to a senior maritime intelligence analyst.

Ukraine has relinquished its ambition of joining the NATO military alliance in exchange for Western security guarantees as a compromise to end the war with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said ahead of talks with U.S. envoys in Berlin.

The Kremlin has described Ukraine’s push to join NATO as one of the “root causes” of the conflict. U.S. President Donald Trump has ruled out Ukrainian membership in the Western defensive alliance. Zelensky is searching for compromises that could secure a peace deal to end Russia’s ongoing invasion.

At the core of the discussions in Berlin is the 20-point peace plan proposal presented to the US by Ukraine last week to counter an initial American plan which was seen as heavily favouring Russia.

U.S. peace negotiators have told Ukraine during peace talks in Berlin that it must agree to withdraw its forces from the eastern Donetsk region as part of any deal to end the nearly four-year-old war,