U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to ramp up arms shipments to Ukraine is a signal to Kyiv to abandon peace efforts, Russia said on Thursday, vowing it would not accept the "blackmail" of Washington's new sanctions ultimatum.

Russia's Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its forces downed at least 70 Ukrainian drones overnight into Tuesday morning. Among the areas targeted was the southwestern Voronezh region, which borders northeastern Ukraine. At least 24 people were injured there, Gov. Aleksandr Gusev said on Telegram.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine's new government plans to boost domestic arms production to meet half its military’s needs within six months.

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.

Yuliia Svyrydenko becomes Ukraine's new prime minister amid President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's executive branch shake with Russian war in fourth year.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused "neocolonial" Western powers of modern "robbery and looting" in the pursuit of rare earth metals to gain an advantage in the artificial intelligence race.

Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky are considering a deal that involves Washington buying battlefield-tested Ukrainian drones in exchange for Kyiv purchasing weapons from the US.The Ukrainian president said his latest talks with Mr Trump focused on a deal that would help each country bolster its aerial technology.