Russian President Vladimir Putin told President Donald Trump in a phone call Wednesday that he was obligated to respond to Ukraine’s weekend drone attack, Trump said, setting up a potential escalation in the conflict just as the US president hopes to broker an end to the war.

Trade talks between the European Union and the United States are going in the right direction, Europe's top trade negotiator said, while criticising a doubling of U.S. metals tariffs as a move that did not help with the negotiations.