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President Trump said Friday he plans to make a “major statement” on Russia early next week — as the Senate considers legislation to force his hand on sanctions after months of threats from the commander-in-chief. “I think I’ll have a major statement to make on Russia on Monday,” Trump told NBC News in a phone interview Thursday. “You’ll be seeing things happen,” Trump told a reporter Friday morning on the White House lawn when asked about an overnight Russian drone attack that damaged a maternity hospital in Ukraine’s second city of Kharkiv.

Vladimir Solovyov threatens America

Everyone agrees: it's getting worse. The people of Kyiv have, like the citizens of other Ukrainian cities, been through a lot. After three and a half years of fluctuating fortunes, they are tough and extremely resilient. But in recent months, they have been experiencing something new: vast, coordinated waves of attacks from the air, involving hundreds of drones and missiles, often concentrated on a single city. Last night, it was Kyiv. And the week before too. In between, it was Lutsk in the far west. Three years ago, Iranian-supplied Shahed drones were a relative novelty. I remember hearing my first,...

Russian state media has launched a barrage of criticism against U.S. President Donald Trump after he accused Russia's Vladimir Putin of saying "a lot of bulls***" about the war in Ukraine, the exiled news outlet Agentstvo reported Wednesday. -snip- Prominent pro-Kremlin television host Vladimir Solovyov on Tuesday chastised Trump on his flagship talk show for addressing Putin in what he described as a disrespectful tone. “Trump has started to speak rudely,” Solovyov said. “It seems to us that he’s undergoing a ‘Bidenization.’ His belief that he’s the only person able to speak with Putin has made him transform into another...

The secretary of state added that the US president was also disappointed by the lack of progress in the Russia-Ukraine peace processKUALA LUMPUR, July 10. /TASS/. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said President Donald Trump has been frustrated by the rigidity on the Russian side over the conflict in Ukraine. Nevertheless, the United States is prepared to continue dialogue for reconciliation. "The president has been pretty clear: he is disappointed and frustrated that there’s not been more flexibility on the Russian side to bring about an end to this conflict. We hope that can change. We are going to...

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he expressed the United States' frustration that more progress has not been made on ending the war in Ukraine in a meeting on Thursday with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. "It was a frank conversation. It was an important one," Rubio said his 50-minute talks with the Russian foreign minister on the sidelines of the ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting in Malaysia. He said he expressed to Lavrov what U.S. President Donald Trump has said publicly, "that there's not been more flexibility on the Russian side to bring about an end to this conflict." The envoys'...

The dominant Western narrative that Europe can arm Ukraine to victory against Russia is a “dangerous fantasy.” Europe’s defense industrial base is too hollowed out, its weapons production timelines too long, and its political will too fragile to offset Russia’s formidable military and industrial might.

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Dutch and German intelligence agencies have gathered evidence of widespread Russian use of banned chemical weapons in Ukraine, including dropping a choking agent from drones to drive soldiers out of trenches so they can be shot, they said on Friday. Dutch Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans called for tougher sanctions against Moscow. "The main conclusion is that we can confirm Russia is intensifying its use of chemical weapons," he told Reuters. "This intensification is concerning because it is part of a trend we have been observing for several years now, where Russia's use of chemical weapons in...

Mr. President, we know you understand that the primary obstacle to peace in Ukraine is Russia’s aggression. You said you were “disappointed” in the conversation with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, and that you “don’t think he’s looking to stop.” Putin again insisted he was unwilling to commit to a ceasefire until the “root causes” of the conflict were addressed. For Vlad, the “root cause” is the existence of Ukraine. He followed your call with the largest drone and missile strike of the war, killing at least one. So why, Mr. President, is your administration punishing Ukraine? The Pentagon has halted...

US President Donald Trump said Ukraine would need Patriot missiles for its defence, after speaking to President Volodymyr Zelensky on July 4, and voiced frustration over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s failure to end the fighting. Mr Trump told reporters on board Air Force One that he had a good call with Mr Zelensky, repeating that he was “very unhappy” about his call with Mr Putin a day earlier, given what he called the Russian leader’s refusal to work on a ceasefire. When asked whether the US would agree to supply more Patriot missiles to Ukraine, as requested by Mr Zelensky,...

Russia and Ukraine continue to coordinate dates for a new round of negotiations in Istanbul and are awaiting proposals on timelines from each other, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday. There are no difficulties in the process, he asserted during a press briefing in Moscow. "There are no 'blockages'; we just need to complete all procedures for coordination. Each side is waiting for timeline proposals," explained the official. As for the memorandum in which both parties outlined their visions for a peace treaty, Moscow does not publicly talk about its contents because it has yet to be discussed with...

North Korea is tripling the number of troops fighting for Russia in Ukraine, sending 25,000 to 30,000 more soldiers, CNN reported, citing an intelligence assessment from Ukrainian officials. The country sent 11,000 troops to help repel Ukraine from the Kursk region of Russia last November. About 4,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed, CNN reported. Russian President Vladmir Putin did not confirm North Korea's involvement until late April.

Vladimir Putin has been dealt a massive setback after more than 20,000 soldiers deserted the front line in the war against Ukraine – leaving Kremlin forces even more depleted. Courts have received 20,538 cases of service personnel absent without leave, desertion or refusing orders since the illegal invasion began in February 2022, according to Russian independent news service Mediazone. The majority – 18,159 – were for soldiers going awol, with 17,721 being prosecuted under Russia’s Criminal Code. The maximum punishment is a 10-year jail term. However, those found guilty could commute their sentences by serving in the Storm-Z convict assault...

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a press briefing today (27) in Moscow, following his visit to Belarus for the Eurasian Economic Union summit in Minsk. There was plenty of recrimination for the collective West, but respect and even a certain amount of praise for US President Donald J. Trump’s courage and efforts for peace. Here’s a summary of what Putin said, according to a report by Sputnik: “Russia is ready for the third round of negotiations with Ukraine. The date is being discussed by the heads of the delegations. The proposals from Ukraine and Russia for ending the conflict are...

"The memorandums of the Russian Federation and Ukraine contradict each other, but this is not surprising," said Russian President Vladimir Putin, APA’s Moscow correspondent reports. Putin emphasized the importance of a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine, stating that it creates conditions for a substantive discussion of the core issues between Moscow and Kyiv. -snip- Putin stated that the draft memorandum on a settlement between Russia and Ukraine should be a subject of discussion during the third round of talks. He also emphasized that representatives from Russia and Ukraine remain in direct contact.

Russian President Vladimir Putin shared on Friday that Moscow is ready to start a new round of talks with Ukraine. More to come...

Russian troops have captured the small settlement of Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, Russian state news agency TASS reported on Saturday, citing Russia's Defense Ministry. Reuters could not independently confirm the battlefield report. The small village of Zaporizhzhia, which had a prewar population of about 200 people, is located near the strategic city of Pokrovsk, where some of the fiercest battles of the war have been fought over the past several months. Pokrovsk is a crucial transport hub in the east of Ukraine. The village is distinct from the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, the regional center and large industrial...

- Russian President Vladimir Putin quipped on Friday (June 20) that in his view the whole of Ukraine was "ours" and cautioned that advancing Russian forces could take the Ukrainian city of Sumy as part of a bid to carve out a buffer zone along the border. Putin, who ordered troops into Ukraine in 2022 after eight years of fighting in eastern Ukraine, also said he was not seeking the capitulation of Ukraine or denying Ukraine's sovereignty, but that Ukraine had to be neutral. Russia currently controls about a fifth of Ukraine, including Crimea, more than 99 per cent of...

Russian leader Vladimir Putin should first end the war that Russia started in Ukraine before talking about mediating in the Middle East, stated US President Donald Trump during a conversation with journalists, APA reports citing RBC Ukraine. "I spoke to Putin yesterday, he offered to help mediate. I said, do me a favor — mediate your own. Let's mediate Russia first, OK? I said, 'Vladimir, let's mediate Russia first, you can worry about this later," Trump said. According to the US President, he told Putin that he should deal with Russia first before involving himself elsewhere. "So many people have...

As Russia was unleashing its deadliest attack on Ukraine’s capital in nearly a year, President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in the Canadian Rocky Mountains early Tuesday hoping to meet with President Trump and secure more support for Ukraine from the Group of 7 industrialized nations. Instead, Mr. Trump left the global powers’ summit early, canceled his meeting with Mr. Zelensky, lamented Russia’s absence from the leaders’ get-together and rejected the idea of issuing a joint statement in support of Ukraine. A single, brief reference to Ukraine in a summary of the talks’ conclusions, released by the host, Prime Minister Mark Carney...