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“I think he should make a deal,” U.S. president says about the Kremlin chief. The war “is not making him look good.” Russia's war on Ukraine has landed Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin in "big trouble," U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday. "[Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy told me he wants to make a deal, I don’t know if Putin does ... He might not. I think he should make a deal. I think he’s destroying Russia by not making a deal," Trump said in the Oval Office on the first day of his second presidency. "I think, Russia is...

United States President Donald Trump stated that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin would be "well-off" to end the war in Ukraine, adding that "he is not doing too well" and that Russia lost one million troops. "I have to speak to President Putin, we're gonna have to find out," Trump told reporters at the Oval Office after signing executive orders. "Russia's bigger they have more soldiers to lose but that's no way to run a country," said Trump of Putin. "Zelensky wants to make a deal. I don't know if Putin does. He should make a deal. I think he's...

Hostages expected to be released in the first phase are those who fall under the humanitarian category, such as women, children, elderly or wounded. Hamas confirmed on Sunday that 28-year-old Emily Damari, 23-year-old Romi Gonen, and 31-year-old Doron Steinbrecher would be released on the first day of phase one of the hostage-ceasefire deal. The deal will see 33 hostages released in the first phase in exchange for the release of security prisoners, humanitarian aid, and an IDF withdrawal from some areas in Gaza. Israel will release 30 Palestinian detainees for every civilian hostage and 50 Palestinian detainees for every Israeli...

Russia and Iran have signed a partnership treaty involving closer military cooperation, three days before the return of US President-elect Donald Trump to the White House. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian met in Moscow on Friday to sign the deal, which covers everything from trade to science. The two countries, both of which are targeted by ongoing Western sanctions, have grown closer in recent years. Russia is accused by Kyiv and the West of using Iranian-made drones in its war with Ukraine, which Moscow and Tehran have denied. Putin hailed the “comprehensive strategic partnership treaty”...

MAD Vladimir Putin has been forced to pad out his pathetic parades with North Korean cannon fodder while Russian troops are being massacred on the frontline. Amongst the pomp, propaganda and weaponry, North Korean troops are to march through Moscow's Victory Day parade for the first time, according to insiders. -snip- Dozens of Putin's North Korean cannon fodder are to join the parade in May as the mad dictator desperately attempts to show a substantial military - despite the total casualties of Russian troops standing at over 771,000. Russian sources revealed news of North Korea's participation in the parade to...

VLADIMIR Putin is all set to sign a defence alliance deal with Iran against the West - just two days before Donald Trump takes over the White House. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrived in Moscow today to hold chilling "Axis of Evil" talks with the Russian tyrant. Both autocratic regimes will then sign a comprehensive 20-year Russia-Iran agreement, including provisions for closer defence cooperation and a deepening of their military ties.

Incoming Trump administration officials reportedly are developing a sanctions strategy that they hope will expedite a peace deal in the Russia-Ukraine war. -snip- Bloomberg reported that incoming Trump administration officials are considering two main options in regard to sanctions. If they believe a resolution to the Ukraine war is relatively close, good-faith measures to benefit sanctioned Russian oil producers could help bring about a peace deal, sources told the outlet. Another option would build on the current sanctions in an attempt to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to end the conflict.

Scott Bessent said the US should increase sanctions on Russian oil producers to force Moscow to negotiate with Ukraine as he criticised the Biden administration for not being tougher on Vladimir Putin’s regime. The comments on Thursday by Donald Trump’s nominee to be Treasury secretary pushed up oil prices, as traders considered the prospect of tighter global crude supply. The new administration is also expected to target Iranian and Venezuelan oil with tougher sanctions as Trump seeks to increase economic pressure on the US’s adversaries.

Treasury Secretary-nominee Scott Bessent told senators Thursday that he would be “100 percent on board” with increasing sanctions on Russia’s major oil companies if President-elect Trump supports that strategy as a way to end the war in Ukraine. “If any officials in the Russian Federation are watching this confirmation hearing, they should know that if I’m confirmed and if President Trump requests as part of his strategy to end the Ukraine war, that I will be 100 percent on board for taking sanctions up, especially on the Russian oil majors, to levels that would bring the Russia Federation to the...

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday declined to comment on a report by Bloomberg about limited talks between Russia and Ukraine in Qatar on protecting nuclear facilities from attacks.

U.S. Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio on Wednesday accused “rough states” and “dictators” in North Korea, Russia and Iran of sowing “chaos” and “instability,” and China of having “lied, cheated and stolen” its way into a global superpower status at the expense of the United States. -snip- “In Moscow, in Tehran, in Pyongyang, dictators and rogue states now sow chaos and instability, and align with and they fund radical terror groups, and they hide behind their veto power at the U.N. Security Council or the threats of nuclear war,” he said in his opening statement. -snip- “We welcomed the...

The nominee argued that if Ukraine is not in a strong position to negotiate it will be imposed "neutrality" only for Russia to rearm and attack the country again. Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio highlighted the need to support Ukraine in its war with Russia in order for Kyiv to be in the best position possible to negotiate a ceasefire. Otherwise, he said, Russian President Vladimir Putin will seek to impose "neutrality" on the country to buy time and attempt another large-scale invasion. Rubio made the assessment while claiming the war needs to end and criticizing the Biden administration...

Marco Rubio said that both Russia and Ukraine will have to make “concessions” in order to reach the peace deal promised by Donald Trump as he offered a full-throated defense of the president-elect’s vision for America’s role around the world – and his own hawkish record on foreign policy. Rubio, Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, told the Senate foreign relations committee that the war in Ukraine had become a “stalemate” and “has to end”; that the US should show China that it would pay “too high” a price for invading Taiwan; and that European countries have to stop treating...

Iran “never” plotted to assassinate Donald Trump during last year’s U.S. election campaign and never will in the future, President Masoud Pezeshkian told NBC News’ Lester Holt in an exclusive interview in Tehran. Asked about the reported plot against Trump outlined by U.S. authorities, Pezeshkian said: “This is another one of those schemes that Israel and other countries are designing to promote Iranophobia. ... Iran has never attempted to nor does it plan to assassinate anyone. At least as far as I know.”

A strategic partnership treaty that Russia and Iran are poised to sign will govern the two countries' relations for the next two decades, the TASS state news agency reported on Tuesday, citing Iran's ambassador to Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian are due to hold talks in Russia on Jan. 17 after which the Kremlin has said they will sign a long-awaited comprehensive strategic partnership pact.

Russian elites are increasingly frustrated over Putin's handling of the Ukraine war, as the conflict drags on into its third year. -snip- Putin's army has leveraged its superiority in manpower and weapons to regain the battlefield initiative over the course of the last twelve months. Last year, the Kremlin's forces seized around 1,609 square miles of territory, primarily in the Donbas region. However, this represents just 0.69 percent of the country, and the gains have come at a horrific cost in human lives.

Ukraine launched a wave of devastating drone and missile attacks overnight targeting industrial facilities and oil depots in several Russian cities. The brutal aerial onslaught caused a series of major fires to break out, as emergency services struggled to contain the damage. Ukrainian UAVs targeted the industrial Orgsintez plant in Kazan, a city located 526 miles to the east of Moscow. The facility is one of Russia's largest manufacturers of high-strength plastics and is situated in the northern outskirts of the city. A gas tank close to the industrial site was struck in the attack, causing it to burst into...

On Monday’s broadcast of Newsmax TV’s “Rob Schmitt Tonight,” President-Elect Donald Trump responded to a question on his strategy to end the Russia-Ukraine war by stating that “there’s only one strategy, and it’s up to Putin. And I can’t imagine he’s too thrilled with the way it’s gone, because it hasn’t gone exactly well for him either.” Host Rob Schmitt asked, “You’ve said you want this war ended in six months. What is the strategy to do that? Can you give us any insight?” Trump answered, “Well, there’s only one strategy, and it’s up to Putin. And I can’t imagine...

Poland will not recognize Belarus’ upcoming presidential election, scheduled for January 26, upper-house Speaker Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska said on Thursday. She made the statement after meeting in Warsaw with Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who is visiting Poland. Kidawa-Błońska called the planned election a "sham," and added that elections cannot be considered free when political opponents are jailed for seeking democracy. She said she hopes parliaments in other European countries will also refuse to recognize the vote. She emphasized the need to hold Belarusian strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko accountable for human rights abuses, insisting he must face consequences for his actions....

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will hold talks in Russia on Jan. 17 after which they will sign a long-awaited comprehensive strategic partnership pact, the Kremlin said on Monday. -snip- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in October that Moscow and Tehran intended to sign the strategic partnership pact which would include closer defense cooperation.