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United States President Donald Trump expressed on Thursday his disappointment with Russian President Vladimir Putin, regarding the lack of progress toward resolving the war in Ukraine. "With all of the heavy bombardment over the last two weeks, they have gained almost no land. I'm not going to ever call anybody a paper tiger but Russia has spent millions and millions of dollars in bombs, missiles, ammunition and lives," Trump told journalists amid a bilateral meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Oval Office.

After three and a half years, President Vladimir Putin is having to lean more and more on ordinary Russians to pay for his war in Ukraine. The Russian Finance Ministry on Wednesday said it intends to raise value added tax by two percentage points to 22 percent, part of a three-year plan that aims to plug a rapidly expanding hole in public finances. VAT accounted for more than 15 percent of total government revenue last year. After raising personal income taxes sharply at the start of the year, Putin had pledged there would be no more big changes to the...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview published on Thursday that he would be ready to step down after the war with Russia is over. “If we finish the war with the Russians, yes, I am ready not to go [for elections] because it’s not my goal, elections,” Zelensky told the Axios website in a video interview. “I wanted very much, in a very difficult period of time, to be with my country, help my country. My goal is to finish the war.” Zelensky said he would ask Ukraine’s parliament to organise elections if a ceasefire was reached. A...

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Ukraine, APA reports. The announcement was made by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on his Facebook page. During their meeting, Rubio confirmed his agreement to travel to Ukraine. It should be noted that since assuming office, Secretary Rubio has not yet visited Ukraine.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine have destroyed two Russian An-26 transport aircraft in Crimea and an SU-34 fighter jet in the Zaporizhzhia direction, APA reports, citing UNIAN. In addition, a Russian radar station and a coastal radar were also hit.

Sergei Aksyonov, the head of Russia-controlled Crimea, said on Thursday that disruptions in fuel supplies were related to the closure of some oil refineries as a gasoline crisis widened across Russia. Several Russian regions were seeing shortages of certain fuel grades as Ukrainian drone attacks have reduced refinery runs, while high borrowing costs mean private filling stations can't afford to stockpile fuel, traders and retailers said. "Due to the fact that some of the plants are physically not working, we have experienced problems and interruptions with fuel," Aksyonov said on a video posted on his Telegram channel, without saying the...