Investors were watching for updates on President Donald

Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president who now serves as deputy head of the country’s Security Council chaired by Putin, indicated Tuesday there would be no let-up in Russia’s invasion of its neighbor.“The Istanbul talks are not for striking a compromise peace on someone else’s delusional terms but for ensuring our swift victory and the complete destruction of (Ukraine’s government),” he said.

In an apparent comment on the latest Ukrainian strikes, he declared that “retribution is inevitable.”“Our army is pushing forward and will continue to advance,” Medvedev said, adding that “everything that needs to be blown up will be blown up, and those who must be eliminated will be.”Ukrainians on the streets of Kyiv welcomed their country’s stunning drone strike on Russian air bases but were gloomy about the chances for a peace agreement.

The Russians “won’t negotiate peace with anyone,” said 43-year-old Ukrainian serviceman Oleh Nikolenko. “Russia has invested too many resources in this war to just … stop for nothing.”Anastasia Nikolenko, a 38-year-old designer, said diplomacy can’t stop the fighting. “We need to show by force, by physical force, that we cannot be defeated,” she said.

Russia has recently expanded its attacks on Sumy and in the Kharkiv region following Putin’s promise to create a buffer zone along the border that might prevent long-range Ukrainian attacks hitting Russian soil.

Sumy is about 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the Russian border. It had a prewar population of around 250,000.ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — It’s time to peek at the peak peonies.

Visitors are making the annual pilgrimage to the University of Michigan this week to see -- and smell -- one of the world’s premier collections of the garden plant, featuring showy red, white and pink blooms of countless shades and varieties.Melanie Millar and her friends visited the Ann Arbor school’s Nichols Arboretum on Monday to take some graduation photos.

The 18-year-old Millar is set to graduate from a Detroit-area high school in a matter of days.“I’m here with my best friends — a bunch of girls. … We just came here to get pictures since it’s going to be a nice day, and the Peony Garden seemed like a nice place to go to,” Millar said.