Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has threatened the West with “preemptive strikes” if it continues to escalate its support for Ukraine, a belligerent response to President Trump’s new hardline policy.

Russia's nuclear rules say it can use atomic weapons if the country — or one of its allies — is attacked, especially if the attacker is a non-nuclear nation backed by a nuclear power. That clause could be seen as applying to Ukraine,

Russia and Ukraine have exchanged more bodies of their war dead, a Kremlin aide said on Thursday, part of an agreement struck at the second round of peace talks in Istanbul in June. Vladimir Medinsky,