Russia-Ukraine updates: 2 US veterans who joined Ukrainian forces missing

A small group of Ukrainian troops who were in the U.S. for pre-planned military training when Russia invaded their country returned home Sunday, a senior U.S. defense official told reporters Monday. The Pentagon took advantage of their presence to train them on the Switchblade drones the U.S. is sending to aid Ukraine.

The official said the U.S. is looking into training more Ukrainians, possibly in the U.S.

"There's been no policy decision that I'm aware of that would prevent them from coming to the United States," the official said.

But the Pentagon is considering several options.

"As for additional training on systems like the Switchblade, we are reviewing and thinking about and considering a number of different options for how we could manage to get more Ukrainians trained on that system," the official said.

-ABC News' Matt Seyler

Gen. Alexander Dvornikov has been appointed to lead Russia's invasion effort, a senior U.S. defense official told reporters Monday. Dvornikov previously led Russians in the south of Ukraine, where they saw the most success.

"In the early days and weeks of the conflict, the Russians did achieve more success in the south than they achieved certainly in the north. I have no idea that was a factor in his selection," the official said.

But the official noted that Russian efforts in the south are now largely stalled, with no progress against Mariupol since last week and no success advancing on Mykolayiv.

The official said it is unclear how Dvornikov's selection could affect the fighting but said a pattern of brutality remains constant.

"What is clear is that the Russians continued to sink to new lows of depravity and brutality, as we saw with the missile strike on the train station last week," the official said.

The official said some of the Russian troops that withdrew from northern Ukraine are starting to move east toward the Russian cities of Belgorod and Valuyki.

"We believe that this line of vehicles that we talked about that are north of Izium came out of the Belgorod/Valuyki region, from there to the south," the official said.

-ABC News' Matt Seyler

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer started negotiations Monday in the Russian presidential residence, Russia's semi-official Interfax reported, citing Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

This marked the first visit to Russia by an EU leader since the invasion started.

After the meeting Nehammer told reporters this wasn't a "friendly visit" with Putin and that he addressed the "serious war crimes in Bucha," The Austrian Press Agency reported. Nehammer said he told the Russian leader that the sanctions will escalate if Ukrainians keep dying, according to The Austrian Press Agency.

At a virtual meeting on Monday, President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about Russia's war in Ukraine -- a topic that has caused some friction between the two countries as India has taken a more neutral stance.

Biden said, "I want to welcome India's humanitarian support from people in Ukraine, who are suffering a horrific assault, including a tragic shelling in a train station last week that killed dozens of innocent children and women and civilians attempting to flee the violence. The United States and India are going to continue our close consultation on how to manage the destabilizing effects of this Russian war."

Biden added, "I'm looking forward to our discussion today, Mr. Prime Minister. Our continued consultation and dialogue are key to ensuring the US-India relationship continues to grow deeper and stronger, delivering our people and our global good -- good that we all are seeking to manage particularly in your part of the world."

Modi said the situation in Ukraine was "very worrying," noting he has spoken to both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and called for peace and direct talks between the two.

Modi called the killings of civilians in the Ukrainian city of Bucha "very worrying." "We instantly condemned the killings and have called for an independent inquiry. We hope that the ongoing discussions between Russia and Ukraine will lead to peace," Modi said via a translator.

"We have also emphasized the importance of the security of civilians in Ukraine and the unhindered supply of humanitarian assistance to them," he added. "We have sent medicines and other relief material to Ukraine and to its neighboring countries. And on Ukraine's request, we will be sending them another consignment of medicines very soon."

After the leaders' call, a senior administration official told reporters that "there was no sort of concrete ask and concrete answer" on India's response to the war in Ukraine.

Asked about India's purchase of Russian oil during the conflict, the official said energy was brought up on the call but that the U.S. "hasn't asked India to do anything in particular."

"We know not all countries will be able to do what we've done" to ban Russian energy imports, the official said. "Other countries have to make their own choices."

"That said, we don't think India should accelerate or increase the import of Russian energy," the official said.

Asked about India's abstention from the United Nations General Assembly vote to suspend Russia from the U.N. Human Rights Council, the official said, "India is going to make its own judgements."

The official also suggested that India can play a role in mitigating the threat the war has posed to the global food supply, and that there was discussion "about what more India might be able to do."

-ABC News' Molly Nagle and Ben Siegel