Russian President Vladimir Putin has directed drills of the country’s strategic nuclear forces that featured practice missile launches

There was a stony silence in Moscow a day after President Donald Trump signalled he had lost his patience with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Ukraine and Russia have offered contrasting responses after Donald Trump imposed sanctions on its biggest oil firms in a major shift of policy - and sign of frustration with Vladimir Putin. Follow the latest on the Ukraine war.

President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday oversaw a test of Russia's nuclear forces on land, sea and air to rehearse their readiness and command structure. The test included the launch of a land-based "Yars" intercontinental ballistic missile from a cosmodrome,

On Tuesday, Lavrov made it clear that Russia was not keen on agreeing to a ceasefire anytime soon, making it the “basic difference which is existing now between Russia and the United States,” Andrei Fedorov, former deputy foreign minister of Russia, told NBC News.

Ukraine's president has urged the European Union to back a plan to release billions of euros in frozen Russian cash to help fund the country's defence. As EU leaders met in Brussels, Volodymyr Zelensky said he hoped they would make a "positive decision" about using €140bn (£122bn) in Russian assets currently held in a Belgian clearing house.

The postponement of Donald Trump’s much-anticipated summit with Vladimir Putin in Budapest had seemed to confirm all his critics’ fears. At the White House on Tuesday, the president explained that he did not want a “wasted meeting”.

At least six people were killed overnight, shortly after the American president announced that he did not "want to have a waste of time" holding a summit with the Russian leader.