Russia said Friday that Western demands for it to pull out of Ukraine for any future negotiations would rule out any such negotiations, as Russian strikes continued and a Ukrainian official set his country’s battle losses at up to 13,000 troops.

Kremlin spokesman Dimitry Peskov reiterated that Russian President Putin remains open to talks but the Western demand that Moscow first withdraws its troops from Ukraine is unacceptable.

President Biden has declared that Democrats should give up “restrictive” caucuses and prioritize diversity at the start of their presidential primary calendar, dealing a major blow to Iowa’s decades long status as the state that leads off the process.

In a letter Thursday to the rule-making arm of the Democratic National Committee, Biden did not mention specific states he’d like to see go first.

Christian Pulisic is on track to play for the United States in its World Cup match against the Netherlands on Saturday.

Pulisic left Tuesday’s final group match against Iran at halftime after bruising his pelvic bone in a collision with the goalkeeper while scoring in the 38th minute.

Sam Larson can be reached at lars4378@stthomas.edu