Ukraine closed out its third round of direct talks with Russia on Wednesday with a proposal to hold a “leaders’ summit” by the end of August with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russian President Vladimir Putin,

Russia and Ukraine discussed further prisoner swaps on Wednesday at a brief session of peace talks in Istanbul, but the sides remained far apart on ceasefire terms and a possible meeting of their leaders.

Russia was offered to hold a leaders' summit that, in addition to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, would include the Presidents of Türkiye and the United States - Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Donald Trump,

Vasily Astrov, expert on the Russian economy at the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, told Newsweek that "inflation has really subsided markedly over the past few months. The outcome of this policy has been a marked cooling of domestic demand, with the welcome side effect of rapid disinflation.