Vladimir Putin News

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. KYIV, Ukraine—It was a scorching summer day in 2014 when Artem Kravchenko and hundreds of other Ukrainian soldiers put their trust in a Russian promise not to open fire and retreated in a column from the surrounded city of Ilovaisk. By the end of the day, Kravchenko found himself lying in a ditch surrounded by dead comrades after Russian forces shot up the column.

political thriller than real life, Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly took an extraordinary step following the near-fatal assassination attempt on Donald Trump in 2024. According to Trump’s chief negotiator, Steve Witkoff, Putin didn’t just express concern—he went to church to pray for Trump and even commissioned a special portrait of him from one of Russia’s leading artists. But was this a simple gesture of goodwill, or does it hint at something deeper in their relationship?

There will be winners and losers as United States President Donald Trump shakes up the world order through tariffs and shifting military strategies, but one area poised to prosper is defence, says Jo Taylor, chief executive of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board.

Kim Jong Un. Traditional allies Russia and North Korea have drawn closer since Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with Seoul accusing Kim of sending thousands of troops and container loads of weapons to help Moscow fight Kyiv. Neither Moscow nor Pyongyang has officially confirmed the troop deployment, but the two countries signed a sweeping military deal last year, including a mutual defence clause, when Russian President Vladimir Putin made a rare visit to the nuclear-armed North. Moscow's top security official Sergei Shoigu was visiting North Korea on Friday, Russian news agency TASS reported, the latest in a recent series of high-level exchanges between North Korea and Russia. Shoigu passed on «greetings and best wishes» from Putin to Kim in a meeting with the North Korean leader.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. BERLIN—Germany’s mammoth spending package cleared its last parliamentary hurdle, paving the way for as much as €1 trillion in civilian and defense investments to jolt the region’s economy and reduce its military reliance on the U.S.

Trump made the comments at a White House event after signing an order to increase U.S. production of critical minerals. «We're doing very well with regard to Ukraine and Russia. And one of the things we are doing is signing a deal very shortly with respect to rare earths with Ukraine.» Trump referred to his separate discussions this week with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy aimed at ending Russia's war in Ukraine. Those 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 Zelenskyy saying he would also accept such a pause.

Boris Johnson, a longtime Donald Trump supporter in Britain, has abruptly reversed course, criticizing the US president's handling of negotiations with Vladimir Putin. Boris Johnson has expressed his rage following the breakdown of the US President's negotiations with Vladimir Putin.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The much-anticipated telephone call between US President Donald Trump and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to discuss a ceasefire in Ukraine, as well as chart out a path for a lasting peace formula, turned out to be sub-optimal and weighed down by variables antagonistic to a meaningful deal. The tentative deal reached after a marathon 150-minute call has placed energy infrastructure out of bounds, but allowed broader hostilities to continue.

Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday that they had a constructive call about moving toward a ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow, with the White House suggesting the U.S. could take control of Ukrainian power plants to ensure their security. Trump told Zelenskyy that the U.S could be «very helpful in running those plants with its electricity and utility expertise,» according to a White House statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security adviser Mike Waltz that described the call as «fantastic.» Trump added that «American ownership of those plants could be the best protection for that infrastructure.» Zelenskyy and Trump discussed in general terms the possibility of a ceasefire, according to a senior Ukrainian official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to comment publicly. During the call, there was an emphasis how any ceasefire process would need to be monitored and that the teams still needed to resolve technical issues, said the official, who characterized the call as «a very good conversation, positive, with the jokes.» During the call, Zelenskyy requested additional Patriot defense missile systems. Rubio and Waltz said Trump «agreed to work with him to find what was available, particularly in Europe.»

Vladimir Putin scored a coup by discussing with Donald Trump in highly anticipated phone talks everything from improving bilateral ties to Iran and even hockey matches, but stopping well short of agreeing any peace path to end the war in Ukraine, analysts say. During the call on Tuesday, Putin refused a full ceasefire agreement proposed by Washington but focused instead on reviving Russian-American cooperation that has been frozen since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The very fact such talks took place was an achievement for the Kremlin, said Ekaterina Schulmann, a Russian political scientist based in Berlin. «The two superpowers are discussing the fate of the world and the future of humanity,» she told AFP, summing up Moscow's thinking. «It is a great achievement for Russia which reproduces a Soviet-era narrative without being the Soviet Union.»

Washington has been pushing for a full, 30-day ceasefire as a first step towards a wider settlement of the grinding three-year-old war. But in a 90-minute call with Donald Trump on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin refused, insisting that any such deal would be contingent on the West halting all military aid for Ukraine. According to the Kremlin, Putin has already ordered his military to pause strikes against Ukrainian energy targets for 30 days. The highly anticipated Putin-Trump call also resulted in the announcement that Russia and Ukraine will exchange 175 prisoners each on Wednesday.

Oil prices slid on Wednesday after Russia agreed to U.S. President Donald Trump's proposal that Moscow and Kyiv stop attacking each other's energy infrastructure temporarily, which could lead to more Russian oil entering global markets. Brent crude futures were down 12 cents, or 0.2%, at $70.44 a barrel by 0106 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) lost 15 cents, or 0.2%, to $66.75.

Bank of Japan (BOJ) and the Federal Reserve later in the day. Overnight, Israeli airstrikes pounded Gaza and killed more than 400 people, U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to reach an agreement on a Ukraine ceasefire and Germany's outgoing parliament approved plans for a massive spending surge.

Ukraine has signalled support for a U.S.-proposed pause in attacks on Russian energy infrastructure. The agreement, backed by Washington and Moscow, follows a call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, however, made it clear that Kyiv needed more details before making a final decision. «After we get the details from the U.S. president, from the U.S. side, we will give our answer,» Zelensky said in an online briefing. He added that Ukraine would honour the agreement as long as Moscow also adhered to it. «Our side will maintain it,» he stated, but stressed that the U.S. should act as «guarantors of control over the implementation.»

Dropkick Murphys found themselves locked out of their X (formerly Twitter) account this week following a string of sharp critiques aimed at Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and their supporters—a move critics likened to censorship tactics seen in authoritarian regimes. The suspension, which occurred late Monday, came after frontman Ken Casey doubled down on his years-long disdain for Trump during interviews and explosive concert moments, culminating in what fans call a “political silencing” under Musk’s ownership.

Oil prices were little changed in early trading on Tuesday as global growth concerns, U.S. tariffs and Russia-Ukraine ceasefire talks offset increased instability in the Middle East that could impact supply. Brent futures ticked up 10 cents, or 0.14%, to $71.17 a barrel by 0135 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 7 cents, or 0.1%, to $67.65 a barrel.

economic outlook amid tariffs and trade woes.

During junta chief Min Aung Hlaing’s recent visit to Moscow, it was announced that Russia had established a joint satellite imagery analysis centre in Myanmar. It was also revealed that Russia had offered to “share information captured by its reconnaissance satellites with the regime for military purposes”. This would boost the junta’s ability to plan military operations against rebel groups, said experts on Myanmar affairs. After the meeting between Min Aung Hlaing and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow—the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Tuesday for construction of a small nuclear power plant in Myanmar with Russian support. Rosatom, Russia's state-run nuclear power corporation, said the plant would have a capacity of 100 megawatts with the possibility of trebling it. Russia, which supplied 90% of Myanmar’s energy needs last year, has agreed to step up energy supplies to the Southeast Asian country. The junta chief during the visit also sought Moscow’s support for other projects in Myanmar besides hailing Buddhism links between the two countries, said people familiar with the visit.

Donald Trump said he would speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday as he pushes to end the war in Ukraine. The U.S. leader disclosed the upcoming conversation to reporters while flying from Florida to Washington on Air Force One on Sunday evening. «We will see if we have something to announce maybe by Tuesday. I will be speaking to President Putin on Tuesday,» Trump said. «A lot of work's been done over the weekend. We want to see if we can bring that war to an end.» Although Russia failed in its initial goal to topple Ukraine with its invasion three years ago, it still controls large swaths of the country. Trump said land and power plants are part of the conversation around bringing the war to a close.

The attacks comes less than 24 hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin met with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff to discuss details of the American proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in the war with Ukraine. Putin told a press conference on Thursday that he supported a truce in principle but set out a host of details that need to be clarified before it is agreed. Kyiv has already endorsed the truce proposal, although Ukrainian officials have publicly raised doubts as to whether Moscow will commit to such a deal. Speaking to reporters in Kyiv on Saturday, after virtual talks between Western allies hosted by U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Zelenskyy voiced Ukraine's support for the 30-day full ceasefire proposal to discuss a longer-term peace plan, but said Russia would attempt to derail talks with conditions and «buts». Starmer has told allies to «keep the pressure» on Putin to back a ceasefire in Ukraine, hailing Ukraine as the «party of peace.» Starmer said Putin will «sooner or later» have to «come to the table.

According to State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce, the top diplomats «agreed to continue working towards restoring communication between the United States and Russia.» The statement gave no details on when the next round of US-Russia talks, which are being hosted by Saudi Arabia, would begin. Rubio also updated Lavrov on military activity in the Middle East, where US forces carried out deadly strikes Saturday against Huthi rebel targets in Yemen, the statement said. Despite recent tensions between President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, Kyiv has agreed in principle to a US-brokered 30-day unconditional ceasefire if Moscow halts its attacks in eastern Ukraine.