Vladimir Putin News

This week’s visit to India of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has drawn New Delhi’s long relationship with Moscow into the spotlight. The India-Russia bond has been strong and steady, as evident in the fact that it has outlasted many shifts in global geopolitics. Looking at the cooperation between the two, whether it is on defence materiel or navigating past twists and turns in the global order, India and Russia have understood each other’s requirements and managed to support each other in their time of need.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. BACK IN THE White House, President Donald Trump says that he will end the war in Ukraine—although not in a day, as he used to promise. But there is a problem: Vladimir Putin appears to be in no hurry to make concessions and accept a deal that is not on his terms.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday confirmed that the death toll from recent Russian strikes has reached 16 in Kryvyi Rih, including six children, while five others were killed in Kharkiv following a targeted drone attack. He further said that 34 people were also injured in the strike, which involved six «Shahed» drones. Sharing a post on X, Zelenskyy wrote, «Rescue operations are currently underway in Kryvyi Rih following a Russian missile strike. As of now, 16 people are confirmed dead, including six children. In Kharkiv, rescue efforts continued all day after a targeted Russian drone strike. A deliberate attack by six „Shahed“ drones. Sadly, five people were killed. Thirty-four were injured. My condolences to all the families and loved ones. In Kherson — another targeted strike by a Russian FPV drone hit an energy facility — the Kherson thermal power plant.» He further said, «These strikes cannot be accidental — the Russians know exactly what they're hitting. They know these are energy facilities that should be protected from attacks under what Russia itself promised to the American side. Every Russian promise ends with missiles or drones, bombs or artillery. Diplomacy means nothing to them.»

Vladimir Putin of dragging his feet in ceasefire talks to bring a halt to fighting in Ukraine and ramped up pressure on Moscow by insisting that he owes the United States an immediate answer. Russia has effectively rejected a U.S. proposal for a full and immediate 30-day halt in the fighting after a Kremlin official said on Monday that Moscow views efforts to end its three-year war with Ukraine as «a drawn-out process.» «Our judgment is that Putin continues to obfuscate, continues to drag his feet,» British Foreign Secretary David Lammy told reporters at NATO headquarters, standing alongside his French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot in a symbolic show of unity. Britain and France are helping to lead a multinational effort known as the «coalition of the willing» to set up a force to police any future peace in Ukraine. Lammy said that while Putin should be accepting a ceasefire, «he continues to bombard Ukraine. It's civilian population. It's energy supplies. We see you, Vladimir Putin. We know what you are doing.»

The rationale, as given by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, was that US sanctions already prohibit «meaningful trade» with these nations, so further tariffs were not needed, according to Axios. But although this argument may make sense, the US continues to trade more with Russia than with nations such as Mauritius or Brunei, which did find themselves on Trump's tariff list, reported Axios.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. President Trump’s pursuit of breakneck diplomacy to end the war in Ukraine is colliding with Moscow and Kyiv’s go-slow approach. Russia is putting sticks in the wheels of Trump’s cease-fire drive, playing for time as it presses its gains on the battlefield and pushes for maximum concessions in negotiations.

Donald Trump’s threat of more penalties against Russia raised concerns over potential disruptions to oil flows. State-owned Bharat Petroleum Corp. and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. are seeking additional supplies for May arrival from regions such as the Middle East, North Sea and Mediterranean, said people familiar with the matter. The trading cycle for barrels delivered next month is typically concluded in early March. On Sunday, Trump raised the prospect of so-called secondary tariffs on buyers of Russian oil if President Vladimir Putin refused a ceasefire with Ukraine. The comments drove benchmark futures higher, with West Texas Intermediate surging 3.1% on Monday, the biggest gain in almost 11 weeks.

What matters now is the reaction of the other three key players to this latest move by the mercurial and inconsistent U.S. leader. Do Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping believe that Trump will actually follow through, and if he does what will it mean for their energy situation?

Russia and the United States have started talks on joint rare earth metals and other projects in Russia, and some companies have already expressed an interest in them, President Vladimir Putin's investment envoy said in remarks published on Monday. Amid efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump to end the war in Ukraine, minerals cooperation has been floated by both Kyiv and Moscow, though Trump said on Sunday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wants to back out of a proposed deal. Putin in February suggested that the United States might be interested in exploring joint exploration for rare earth metals deposits in Russia, which has the world's fifth-largest reserves of the metals used in lasers and military equipment. Kirill Dmitriev, Kremlin special envoy on international economic and investment cooperation, told the Izvestia newspaper in remarks published on Monday that talks had already begun. «Rare earth metals are an important area for cooperation, and, of course, we have begun discussions on various rare earth metals and (other) projects in Russia,» said Kirill Dmitriev, who is also the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. THE PREMIERE on February 28th of a new staging of “Macbeth" at the venerable Franko theatre in Kyiv was initially eclipsed by the diplomatic disaster unfolding the same day between Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump in the White House. Since then the production has become the talk of the city’s elite.

Trump said Sunday he was «very angry, pissed off» with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, NBC reported, marking a sharp change of tone as Washington seeks to end the war in Ukraine. NBC's Kristen Welker said Trump had called her to express his anger over Putin questioning Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's future as a leader — something that Trump himself has done. Welker, on her NBC show «Meet The Press» on Sunday, quoted directly from an early-morning telephone conversation with the president. Trump said that «if Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia's fault» then he would impose «secondary tariffs on all oil coming out of Russia.» Welker said Trump told her «I was very angry, pissed off» when Putin started making comments about Zelensky's credibility and talking about new leadership in Ukraine.

secondary tariffs of 25% to 50% on all Russian oil if he feels Moscow is blocking his efforts to end the war in Ukraine, and they could start within a month if there is no ceasefire. Trump told NBC News he was angry and «pissed off» when Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized the credibility of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's leadership, NBC reported. Trump told NBC News by phone that he planned to speak with Putin this week. During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump promised repeatedly to end what he calls a «ridiculous» war in Ukraine, and he has focused heavily on the issue since taking office on January 20. Trump himself has called for new elections in Ukraine and falsely called Zelenskiy a dictator. Putin on Friday suggested Ukraine could be placed under a form of temporary administration to allow for new elections and the signature of key accords, which could effectively push out Zelenskiy.

News reports indicate that Putin is struggling with serious health issues such as cancer and Parkinson's, as evidenced by shaking limbs and puffy features. The Kremlin persists in denying everything.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. President Trump acknowledged that his rapid drive to end the war in Ukraine had hit a snag, observing that Russia appeared to be slow-walking the U.S.-brokered negotiations as it angles for further concessions from the West. Trump’s comments came hours after the White House announced a Black Sea cease-fire deal and Russia promptly demanded additional steps from the West on sanctions relief before complying with such a truce.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. PARIS—Two weeks after Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron descended 20 stories beneath Paris to send a message to Moscow. He entered France’s nuclear bunker deep under his regal presidential palace to lead an exercise dubbed Poker.

Ukraine. The war correspondent for Russia's main pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia was killed in Kharkiv region on Monday, the outlet announced. «Izvestia correspondent Alexander Fedorchak was killed in the zone of the special military operation,» Izvestia said, using Moscow's term for its full-scale offensive in Ukraine, adding that he was killed «in the Kharkiv region». Fedorchak was killed as both Russia and Ukraine held talks with the United States on a potential partial ceasefire. The newspaper said that its correspondent died «in the Kupyansk direction» — a city that has been under intense Russian attack and where Russian forces have been advancing. «His last report was broadcast literally the day before,» Izvestia said on its website.

Ukraine with Washington eyeing a separate Black Sea maritime ceasefire deal before securing a wider agreement. The talks, which followed U.S. negotiations with Ukraine in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, come as U.S. President Donald Trump intensifies his drive to end the three-year-old conflict after he last week spoke to both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Here are some of the issues that Russia, the U.S. and Ukraine are discussing:

Donald Trump says he is focused on stopping the «death march» in Ukraine «as soon as possible.» But for Russian President Vladimir Putin, ceasefire talks with Trump are a means to much broader ends. Russian and U.S. officials are set to meet in Saudi Arabia on Monday to deepen their negotiations about technical details of a partial ceasefire to halt attacks on energy facilities and on ships in the Black Sea. While Ukraine says it's ready for a full truce, Putin has made it clear that he will seek a wide range of concessions first. The upshot: Russia appears determined to squeeze as many benefits as possible from Trump's desire for a Ukraine peace deal, even as it slow-walks the negotiations. Viewed from Russia, better ties with the United States are an economic and geopolitical boon — one that may be achieved even as Russian missiles continue pounding Ukraine. Interviews last week with senior Russian foreign-policy figures at a security conference in New Delhi suggested that Russia saw negotiations over Ukraine and over U.S.-Russia ties as running on two separate tracks. Putin continues to seek a far-reaching victory in Ukraine but is humoring Trump's ceasefire push to seize the benefits of a thaw with the United States.

The meeting will precede talks between the U.S. and Russian delegations which are scheduled for Monday. The meetings follow a series of talks held in Saudi Arabia, first between the U.S. and Russia, and then later between the U.S. and Ukraine, when Kyiv accepted a 30-day truce proposal. The Ukrainian delegation at Sunday's meeting will be led by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy earlier said this fact would allow Kyiv to act in a «very quick and very substantive» way. However, Ukrainian officials have said they still see Sunday's meeting in Riyadh as purely technical.

Trump said on Saturday that efforts to stop further escalation of the Russia-Ukraine war are «somewhat under control.» «Rational discussions» and having good relationships with presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine are key to negotiating an end to the war, Trump told Clay Travis, the founder of sports website Outkick, during an interview on Air Force One. Trump had separate discussions with Putin and Zelenskiy last week aimed at ending the war that began when Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Russia's smaller neighbor in 2022. The talks, which fell short of Trump's aim to secure a full 30-day ceasefire, resulted in Putin agreeing to stop Russian attacks on energy infrastructure for 30 days and Zelenskiy saying he would also accept such a pause.