Vladimir Putin News

Keir Starmer has told global leaders to «keep the pressure» on Russian President Vladimir Putin to back a ceasefire in Ukraine. In his opening remarks Saturday to a virtual gathering of what he has termed the "coalition of the willing," Starmer said Putin will «sooner or later» have to «come to the table.» Unlike the first summit on March 2, the meeting of what Starmer has termed the «coalition of the willing» is being conducted virtually. The call is expected to delve into how countries can help Ukraine militarily and financially as well as gauging support for any future possible peacekeeping mission. «If Russia finally comes to the table, then we must be ready to monitor a ceasefire to ensure it is a serious, and enduring peace,» Starmer told leaders, in remarks released by his office ahead of the meeting. «If they don't, then we need to strain every sinew to ramp up economic pressure on Russia to secure an end to this war.» Like last time, there will be no representative from the United States, which has shifted its approach on the war since the return of President Donald Trump to the White House. The change of approach relative to that taken by Trump's predecessor, Joe Biden, became particularly notable after Trump clashed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Feb. 28 in the Oval Office.

Emmanuel Macron on Friday (local time) called on Russia to accept the US-brokered proposal for an interim 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, emphasizing that «atrocities must stop.» Macron criticized Russia for its «delaying statements» on the proposed deal following his discussion with Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy and UK Prime Minister Kier Starmer. «I spoke today with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and then with Prime Minister Kier Starmer following the progress made during the meeting between the United States and Ukraine in Jeddah on Tuesday. Russia must now accept the U.S.-Ukrainian proposal for a 30-day ceasefire. The Russian aggression in Ukraine must end. The atrocities must stop. So must the delaying statements,» Macron wrote in a post on X. Macron assured France's unwavering support to Ukraine to achieve peace and informed that all partners will hold a video conference today to discuss the issue.

Meeting at a rustic hotel in rural Quebec, G7 foreign ministers also backed Ukraine's fight for its «territorial integrity» and spoke of Russia's «aggression,» terminology earlier eschewed by Trump as he reached out to Moscow. The consensus on Ukraine came despite mounting tension within the G7 — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States as Trump slaps punishing tariffs on allies and questions the very sovereignty of host Canada. A G7 statement backed a US-led call for a 30-day truce embraced by Ukraine and «called for Russia to reciprocate by agreeing to a ceasefire on equal terms and implementing it fully.» «They discussed imposing further costs on Russia in case such a ceasefire is not agreed, including through further sanctions, caps on oil prices, as well as additional support for Ukraine, and other means,» such as using frozen Russian assets.

Russia said Friday it expected Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump would discuss a US-proposed ceasefire in Ukraine, but that US envoy Steve Witkoff needed to relay Putin's thoughts to the American president first. Witkoff met the Russian president late Thursday to lay out the details of the US plan, which Ukraine agreed to on Tuesday. «When Mr Witkoff brings all the information to President Trump, we will determine the timing of a conversation (between Trump and Putin),» Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. «There is an understanding on all sides that such a conversation is needed. There are reasons to be cautiously optimistic,» Peskov added. «There is still much to be done, but the president has nevertheless identified with President Trump's position.»

Russia's foreign intelligence service calling Britain «a warmonger.» And a threat from a top ally of Vladimir Putin to seize UK assets inside Russia. As the U.S. under Donald Trump seeks to reset ties with Moscow and broker peace between Russia and Ukraine, Britain has been granted the status of Russia's public enemy number one. It's a mantle it has held on and off over the past two centuries. «London today, like on the eve of both World Wars of the last century, is acting as the main global 'warmonger',» Russia's foreign intelligence service said in an unusually charged public statement on Monday. It accused London of trying to derail Trump's efforts to broker peace in Ukraine. «The time has come to expose them and send a clear message to 'perfidious Albion' and its elites: you will not succeed,» the agency, known as SVR, said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of manipulating the ceasefire proposal, stating that Moscow is crowding the idea with preconditions designed to delay or derail progress. In a post on X, Zelenskyy said, «Right now, we have all heard from Russia Putin's highly predictable and manipulative words in response to the idea of a ceasefire on the front lines--at this moment he is, in fact, preparing to reject it.» He argued that while Ukraine has accepted the US-backed proposal for an unconditional ceasefire on land, at sea, and in the air, Russia continues to create obstacles to avoid a resolution. Zelenskyy asserted that Putin is reluctant to admit his desire to continue the war and is instead using tactics to complicate negotiations. «Of course, Putin is afraid to tell President Trump directly that he wants to continue this war and keep killing Ukrainians.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has left hundreds of thousands of dead and injured, displaced millions of people, reduced towns to rubble and triggered the sharpest confrontation for decades between Moscow and the West. Putin's heavily qualified support for the U.S. ceasefire proposal looked designed to signal goodwill to Washington and open the door to further talks with U.S. President Donald Trump. But Putin said many crucial details needed to be sorted out and any agreement must address the root causes of the conflict. Russia called its 2022 invasion a «special military operation» designed to «denazify» Ukraine and halt an expansion of NATO. «We agree with the proposals to cease hostilities,» Putin told reporters at the Kremlin. «The idea itself is correct, and we certainly support it.»

G7 nations were set to negotiate late into the night over a joint statement to show a united front in Canada on Thursday after weeks of tension between U.S. allies and President Donald Trump over his upending of Western trade and security policy. The Group of Seven ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, along with the European Union, convened in the remote tourist town of La Malbaie, nestled in the Quebec hills, for meetings on Thursday and Friday that in the past have been broadly consensual. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed his colleagues on talks on Tuesday with Ukraine in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where Kyiv said it was ready to support a 30-day ceasefire deal. But officials said ambiguous comments by Russian President Vladimir Putin left delegates unclear where things stood. In the run-up to the first G7 meeting of Canada's presidency, the crafting of an agreed all-encompassing final statement had been tough, but diplomats said the atmosphere since had been positive and candid.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Russia said its forces were in the final stages of ousting Ukraine’s army from the Kursk region, where Kyiv had taken Russian territory that it had hoped to use as a bargaining chip in peace negotiations. The Russian military said Thursday it had retaken Sudzha, the biggest town held by Ukraine in the Kursk region, after recapturing a string of villages in recent days.

It is not clear what exactly Moscow included on its list or whether it is willing to engage in peace talks with Kyiv prior to their acceptance. Russian and American officials discussed the terms during in-person and virtual conversations over the last three weeks, the people said. They described the Kremlin's terms as broad and similar to demands it previously has presented to Ukraine, the U.S. and NATO. Those earlier terms included no NATO membership for Kyiv, an agreement not to deploy foreign troops in Ukraine and international recognition of President Vladimir Putin's claim that Crimea and four provinces belong to Russia. Russia, in recent years, also has demanded the U.S. and NATO address what it has called the «root causes» of the war, including NATO's eastward expansion.

US arms deliveries to Ukraine resumed Wednesday, officials said, a day after the Trump administration lifted its suspension of military aid for Kyiv in its fight against Russia's invasion, and Ukrainian officials signalled that they were open to a 30-day ceasefire backed by Washington. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that it's important not to «get ahead» of the question of responding to the ceasefire proposal. He told reporters that Moscow is awaiting «detailed information» about it from the US and suggested that Russia must get that first before it can take a position. Arms deliveries to Ukraine have already resumed through a Polish logistics centre, the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Poland announced Wednesday. The deliveries go through a NATO and US hub in the eastern Polish city of Rzeszow that's has been used to ferry Western weapons into neighboring Ukraine about 70 km away. The American military help is vital for Ukraine's shorthanded and weary army, which is having a tough time keeping Russia's bigger military force at bay. But for Moscow, more American aid spells potentially more difficulty in achieving its war aims and likely will be a tough sell in Moscow for Washington's peace efforts. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that Washington will pursue «multiple points of contacts» with Russia to see if President Vladimir Putin is ready to negotiate an end to the war. He declined to give details. «The ball is truly in their court,» Rubio said at a refueling stopover in Shannon, Ireland on his way to talks in Canada with other Group of Seven leading industrialised nations.

Trump administration is boosting a powerful force in global affairs: anti-Americanism. Canadians have taken to booing the American national anthem and Panamanians to burning US flags. The British tabloids have tarred and feathered Vice President JD Vance for insulting British troops. A carnival float in Dusseldorf, Germany, displayed giant puppets of Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, shaking hands while squeezing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy between them into a bloodied pulp. A sign on the float read “Hitler-Stalin Pact 2.0.” Back at home, the Washington Post has published a guide on how to navigate hostility abroad (“dress neutrally, not patriotically”). There has never been a better time to be anti-American. Trump embodies everything critics of the US have always warned about, multiplied several times over. Yankee arrogance? He and Vance, in the Oval Office, shamelessly bullied the leader of a nation victimized by the Russian president’s aggression. Yankee imperialism? Trump bragged to a cheering Congress that he will take over Greenland “one way or another.” Yankee incompetence? His tariffs are destabilizing global stock markets and downgrading his own economy.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. FOR TEN DAYS, since the shouting-match in the Oval Office, Ukraine has been scorched by Donald Trump’s wrath. Now comes a moment of catharsis—or another round of brutal punishment.

Tech billionaire and advisor to former US President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, has hit back at critics accusing him of siding with Russia. Musk said he has previously stood up to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Replying to a user on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday, Musk wrote, “I literally challenged Putin to one-on-one physical combat over Ukraine.” He also pointed out that his company’s Starlink satellite system is crucial for Ukraine’s military communication. “Their entire front line would collapse if I turned it off,” he said.

NATO member states’ troops being deployed and have stated that such a move will result in catastrophic losses for European forces.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Days before the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, Russia said the Syrian rebels advancing on Damascus were terrorists. Now, with those rebels in power, Moscow senses an opportunity to both expand its economic footprint in Syria and hold on to its military bases there.

With unemployment at a record low 2.3%, President Vladimir Putin has flagged labour shortages as a problem and on Friday steelmaker Severstal criticised a regional move to ban migrant workers in construction. Citizens from the former Soviet Union have traditionally dominated Russia's migrant workforce.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. US President Donald Trump and his vice-president, J.D. Vance, are spinning Friday’s Oval Office clash with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a show of American strength towards an ungrateful supplicant.

In a series of posts on Truth Social, Trump denounced criticism from Democrats and his former National Security Advisor, H.R. McMaster, asserting that he remains the only U.S. leader who has not ceded Ukrainian land to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump’s comments come in response to a growing political firestorm following his public argument with Zelenskyy on Friday.

European leaders are confronting their worst-case scenario: maybe they really are going to be dealing with a bellicose Russia alone.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Last week’s Trump-Vance-Zelensky train wreck proved that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is on increasingly shaky ground. Starting with Donald Trump’s Feb.