Vladimir Putin used Russia's Victory Day parade on Red Square — notably stripped of military hardware and attended by only a handful of allied leaders amid heightened security — to frame the Ukraine war as a just struggle against a NATO-backed aggressor, while a US-brokered three-day ceasefire and 1,000-prisoner swap briefly paused hostilities at Donald Trump's urging.

Fighting in and around the Strait of Hormuz has escalated to its worst level since an informal ceasefire was declared last month, with the US and Iran each accusing the other of breaching the truce. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington is awaiting Tehran's response to an interim deal proposal, even as Donald Trump's aborted naval mission to reopen the waterway appears to have inflamed tensions further.