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The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has recommended that its citizens immediately leave Belarus and refrain from traveling to the country, the Polish embassy in Minsk reported. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommends refraining from any travel to the Republic of Belarus and calls on Polish citizens currently in the Republic of Belarus to immediately leave its territory, using available commercial and private means“, the embassy's press service said.

US President Donald Trump voiced his displeasure with Putin’s actions and pointed out the decline of Russia’s economy, according to his remarks to journalists at the White House, APA reports quoting RBC Ukraine. Trump criticized what Russia is doing and the actions of its president, Vladimir Putin. "They have put it all out on the line. Their economy is going to hell. They're bombing the hell out of everything," he said. The US president also noted that Russian forces are capturing very little territory, if they are capturing any at all. "In fact, they're losing some territory. So, I think...

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...

Russia plans to raise value-added tax (VAT) to help finance its war on Ukraine, the Finance Ministry said on Wednesday. Under the draft 2026 budget proposal, the VAT rate would increase to 22% from the current 20%. The government said it would continue to meet all social policy commitments, but listed defence, security and support for soldiers and their families as "strategic priorities." Military and security spending already accounts for about 40% of total government expenditure in the 2025 budget, according to government estimates. Large state orders for the defence industry and hefty payments to soldiers and their families have...

Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev responded on Wednesday to United States President Donald Trump's comments about the Ukraine conflict by stating that he "has once again fallen into an alternate reality." The US president "issued a series of political incantations on the theme of 'How weak Russia is'" Medvedev wrote on Telegram. "After meeting with the clowns in Kiev and Paris, he published a colorful post. It mentions Kiev's final victory, a return to the former borders, Russia's failed military economy, queues for gasoline, and a 'paper tiger.'" Moreover, Medvedev went on to suggest that Trump "will return....

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim that Russia is a “paper tiger,” APA’s Moscow bureau reports. Peskov stated that Russia is not a tiger, but a bear. “Russia is a bear, there is no such thing as a ‘paper bear,’” he said while commenting on Trump’s remarks.

US President Donald Trump admitted Tuesday that his past relationship with Russia President Vladimir Putin failed to influence Russia's war in Ukraine. Speaking at a bilateral meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron during the 80th UN General Assembly, Trump said he once believed his personal connection with the Russian leader could ease tensions but "unfortunately, that relationship didn't mean anything." He criticized Moscow for prolonging the conflict, noting that after more than three years of fighting, "thousands are being killed weekly with no progress." Trump also praised France's role in helping address other regional disputes, saying Macron’s support had been...

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the prolonged Ukraine war is damaging Russia's image and accused China and India of funding the conflict by buying Russian oil. "Everyone thought Russia would win this war in three days, but it didn't work out that way. It's not making Russia look good. It's making them look bad," Trump said in his address to the annual UN General Assembly. The US leader said the war was "supposed to be just a quick little skirmish" but has continued for 3 1/2 years, asking: "How many more lives will be needlessly lost on both...

Right-wing pundit Tucker Carlson referred to a murderous plot of people eating hummus in Jerusalem in a speech comparing the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk to that of Jesus at the activist's memorial service on Sunday, which led many commentators to accuse Carlson of engaging in antisemitic dog whistles and flirting with conspiracies about an Israeli hand behind the September 10 murder. -snip- Anti-Israel activist Jackson Hinkle clipped the segment of the speech and posted it to his X account, remarking, "mic drop." Quds News Network also captioned the speech as Carlson suggesting "Israeli involvement in Charlie...

The Kremlin said on Saturday it wanted a definitive response from Ukraine to Russian President Vladimir Putin's offer of a three-day ceasefire next week, criticising the reaction so far as ambiguous and historically wrong. Putin on Monday declared a three-day ceasefire to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union and its allies over Nazi Germany in World War Two. The Kremlin said the 72-hour ceasefire would run on May 8, May 9 - when Putin will host international leaders on Moscow's Red Square, including Chinese President Xi Jinping - and May 10. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy...

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, said on Saturday that nobody could guarantee that the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv would survive to see May 10 if Ukraine attacked Moscow during World War Two victory celebrations on May 9.

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, said on Saturday that President Donald Trump's assertion that the U.S. had done more than any other country to win World War Two was "pretentious nonsense". Trump posted on social network Truth Social late on Thursday that "nobody was close to us in terms of strength, bravery, or military brilliance" in both world wars, and that "we did more than any other country, by far, in producing a victorious result in World War II." -snip- "Trump recently announced that the U.S. made the biggest contribution to victory in World War Two and...