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The Senate will likely start moving next week on a bill to place strong sanctions on Russia because it is not moving forward toward agreeing to a ceasefire in Ukraine, Sen. Lindsey Graham, the legislation's sponsor, said Friday. "Enough of talking," the South Carolina Republican told reporters while visiting Ukraine's capital city of Kyiv, reports Bloomberg News. "I would expect next week that the Senate will start moving the sanctions bill ... there are House members that are ready to move and you will see congressional action." The sanctions bill, according to a draft seen by Bloomberg, includes a 500%...

President Donald Trump has had a simple and bold plan to win the peace in the brutal war between Russia and Ukraine. In my opinion, Trump knew getting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Ukrainians to negotiate was never going to be the problem. But Russian President Vladimir Putin would be. So Trump seemingly castigated the Ukrainians at the very same time he extended a very welcoming hand to Putin, a nonthreatening and nonjudgmental one at that. Trump's maneuver was a brilliant one, including a peace deal that would start with both sides agreeing to an immediate ceasefire. As expected, Zelenskyy...

The Kremlin expects Russia and Ukraine to discuss the list of conditions for a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine next week in Istanbul, its spokesman said on Friday, praising the U.S. role in mediating the talks. Russia has proposed holding the second round of talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on June 2. However, Ukraine wants to see Russia's proposals for a peace deal before it sends a delegation to Turkey, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Friday. -snip- "At the moment, everyone is focused on the direct Russia-Ukraine negotiations. A list of conditions for a temporary truce is being...

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Friday dismissed the idea of Turkey or any other country acting as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine during the proposed negotiations in Istanbul on June 2. Zakharova thanked Turkey for its hospitality and for creating a negotiating platform, noting that the first round of discussions was held in "comfortable conditions." Kiev has not yet confirmed its participation in the new round of talks, although Ukraine's Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said the negotiations must "yield results." Additionally, the country's President Vladimir Zelensky said Moscow had not sent a peace memorandum to Kiev, despite...

U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, said Russia's concern over the eastward enlargement of NATO was fair and the United States did not want to see Ukraine in the U.S.-led military alliance. Asked by U.S. network ABC News about a Reuters report that Russia wanted a written pledge over NATO not enlarging eastwards to include Ukraine and other former Soviet republics, Kellogg said: "It's a fair concern." -snip- Kellogg said the sequencing of the peace talks would include an attempt to merge the two memorandums drafted by Ukraine and Russia into one single document with talks in...

Russia pushes second meeting in Istanbul, Ukraine tells Moscow to pony up ceasefire terms first. Russian President Vladimir Putin has amassed some 50,000 troops on Ukraine’s northern border despite a united push by the U.S. and Ukraine to get Moscow to enter into "meaningful" ceasefire negotiations. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday warned that Putin is preparing a massive summer offensive in a move to push Ukraine’s troops out of Russia’s Kursk region, and to launch a new invasion into Ukraine’s Sumy region – a mere 200 miles from the capital city of Kyiv. Zelenskyy reiterated this week that he...

Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko called on Wednesday for the country to produce more potatoes in the face of a large shortage of the key crop and rising demand from neighbouring Russia. "We have to grow enough so that it suffices for us and for Russia," Lukashenko said during a meeting with regional officials in Minsk, state news agency BelTA reported. The potato has in the past been seen as a symbol of Lukashenko's rule of the country, which is heavily dependant on agriculture. He was once head of a state-run collective farm, or sovkhoz. Food shortages have arisen recently in...

Donald Trump issued an ominous warning to Vladimir Putin after accusing him of deliberately drawing out the fragile peace process in Ukraine. The US president was asked whether he thought it was "disrespectful" of his Russian counterpart to accuse him of being overly emotional. A reporter questioned: "Do you believe the Russians are being disrespectful when they say that your criticisms of Putin are simply an emotional response? And do you still believe that Putin actually wants to end the war? Mr Trump responded: "I can't tell you that, but I'll let you know in about two weeks. Within two...

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that United States President Donald Trump wants a "speedy" settlement to the conflict in Ukraine after being asked about Trump's comments that Russian President Vladimir Putin is "playing with fire." "It is clear that the American side, which is making considerable efforts for peaceful regulation, and President Trump personally, want a speedy settlement. And we repeat once again and are grateful for the mediation efforts of President Trump personally," Peskov said. "There is definitely a huge number of nuances in the context of what is to be discussed, which cannot be sacrificed. And...

Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov claimed on Wednesday that United States President Donald Trump is "not being informed enough" about the war in Ukraine. He said Trump is unaware of Ukraine's "massive terrorist attacks against peaceful cities" in Russia and that he "does not fully understand that the Russian Federation is striking exclusively at military infrastructure facilities or the military-industrial complex" in Ukraine. Trump has been critical of Russia's strikes on Ukraine, stating that Russian President Vladimir Putin is "needlessly killing a lot of people" and attacking Ukrainian cities "for no reason whatsoever." Ushakov added that the Kremlin monitors all...

Russian president Vladimir Putin has acknowledged crop shortages as pressure on the country’s economy continues to mount. Pressure is mounting on Russia amid labour shortages, international sanctions, record interest rates, and inflation, but Putin’s admission of shortages of key crops marks a milestone in the nation’s woes. Speaking yesterday in a televised meeting, he said: “Yesterday, I met with representatives from various business sectors, including agriculture. It turns out that we don’t have enough potatoes. “I spoke with Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko. He said, ‘We’ve already sold everything to Russia’.” Potato shortages have become a serious problem in neighbouring Belarus, with...