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- 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...

A claim by the Russian Defence Ministry that Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin was "in the epicentre of a drone attack" has turned out to be a staged performance by the Kremlin. Russian state media claimed earlier this week that when Putin visited Kursk Oblast for the first time since the hostilities began in the area, his helicopter came "under fire from Ukrainian drones". In reality, this was not a combat incident but a meticulously staged event. Four sources within the government and the Kremlin told The Moscow Times that security officials promoted this shocking and "risky" episode in the media...

United States President Donald Trump admitted on Wednesday that he "can't tell" if his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin truly wants to end his country's ongoing military campaign in Ukraine. Speaking at the White House amid the Swearing-In for the US Attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Ferris Pirro, Trump said that "I'll let you know in two weeks" after more negotiations have taken place. He also complimented US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff for "doing a phenomenal job" mediating the talks between Russia and Ukraine and for "dealing with him [Putin] very strongly." Asked about his...

You don’t get to pick a fight and then blame the person trying to peacefully resolve it. The American foreign policy establishment that brought us the war in Ukraine now claims that it is Donald Trump’s war. We’ve seen this movie before. When the war in Vietnam became unpopular and seemingly unwinnable, the “best and the brightest” of the Kennedy–Johnson administration that escalated America’s involvement in the war, and their supporters among the foreign policy establishment, called it “Nixon’s war” when the new president took office in 1969. Now, neoconservative writer Hal Brands, a member in good standing with the...

U.S. President Donald Trump's senior envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg will travel to Istanbul for potential talks on Thursday on how to end Russia's war in Ukraine, three sources familiar with the plans said on Tuesday. However, a senior U.S. official said it was unclear whether anyone from the Russian government would show up. The White House, State Department, National Security Council and a spokesperson for Witkoff did not immediately respond to a request for comment. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will only attend the talks this week if Russia's Vladimir Putin is also there, an aide to the Ukrainian leader...

Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed he will personally attend landmark peace talks on Thursday with Russia in a direct ultimatum to Vladimir Putin. Writing on social media on Sunday afternoon, Ukraine's President said he "will be waiting" in Istanbul for his Russian counterpart to sit down and negotiate.

Vladimir Putin’s top security official has vanished during efforts to end the war in Ukraine, amid swirling health rumours and claims he could be caught up in a corruption probe. Sergei Shoigu, 69, is a Russian army general and currently the secretary of the powerful Russian Security Council. He served as defence minister for most of the war in Ukraine before being replaced one year ago, and is a very well-known member of Putin's entourage. Speculation is swirling in Moscow after he missed the Red Square parade on Friday amid claims his absence was health-related. But an explanation that he...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call, according to Türkiye’s Presidential Communications Directorate, News.Az reports. It was noted that the parties discussed Turkiye-Russia relations, regional and global issues. Erdogan expressed his satisfaction with Putin's statement on the resumption of Russia-Ukraine peace talks in Istanbul, and stressed that Turkiye is ready to host the discussions. The Turkish President also noted that a window of opportunity for peace has opened, and that ensuring a ceasefire will create the necessary environment for peace talks.

President Donald Trump suggested imminent progress in peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in a post to Truth Social early on Sunday, saying he would "continue to work with both sides" to end Moscow's 3-year-old invasion of its neighbor. "A potentially great day for Russia and Ukraine!," Trump wrote. "Think of the hundreds of thousands of lives that will be saved as this never ending 'bloodbath' hopefully comes to an end. It will be a whole new, and much better, WORLD." "I will continue to work with both sides to make sure that it happens." Trump continued. "The USA wants...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday welcomed Russia’s offer for direct peace talks, but insisted there must be a full, temporary ceasefire in place before negotiations can start. Zelenskyy, writing on X, called Russian President Vladimir Putin’s counter-offer to start talks without a ceasefire a “positive sign,” and said that “the entire world has been waiting for this for a very long time.”

Ukrainian President Zelensky and the leaders of several NATO countries spoke on Saturday with President Trump and stressed they are ready for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire starting Monday, Ukraine's foreign minister said. -snip- Trump called for a 30-day ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war earlier this week. While Ukraine agreed, the Kremlin hasn't given a clear answer so far. -snip- The leaders of France, U.K., Germany and Poland visited Kyiv on Saturday and met with Zelensky to discuss the ceasefire plan. At the end of the meeting Zelensky and the European leaders called Trump and briefed him on their position. "Ukraine...

Türkiye is ready to host negotiations for a cease-fire and permanent peace between Russia and Ukraine, President Tayyip Erdoğan said Sunday. Erdoğan held a key phone call wıth Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin amid Moscow's overtures for cease-fire negotiations with Ukraine. His comments came during a phone call with French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, the presidential office confirmed. Erdoğan told Macron that a "historic turning point" has been reached in efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war. "A historic turning point has been reached in efforts to end the war between Ukraine and Russia, that this opportunity must be seized, and that Türkiye...

A fire erupted at one of Russia's largest oil refineries in the city of Ufa in Bashkortostan, approximately 900 miles from the Ukrainian border, following a reported drone attack. -snip- Videos circulating on social media showed a huge fire engulf the Bashneft-owned refinery, which is situated about 932 miles east of the Ukrainian border, and processes up to 168,000 barrels per day, according to Reuters. The Bashkortostan Ministry of Emergency Situations said the fire erupted "in the area of the incinerator." "There is no threat to residents of nearby areas. A laboratory is operating on site to monitor the air...

Russia is demanding control of cities in Ukraine that its forces don't currently occupy as part of a deal with President Donald Trump to potentially bring an end to the war, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has said. -snip- Trump has suggested that both Russia and Ukraine must make concessions in the war. Kyiv has rejected any idea of ceding territory to Moscow, while Putin has demanded that Ukraine give up its aspirations of joining the NATO military alliance, and cede its Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. The ISW think tank, based in Washington D.C., noted...

In Moscow, it was like Christmas, Easter, and New Year’s all rolled into one. In a gushing readout of his call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the immediate start of negotiations about the future of Ukraine—without preconditions or other countries at the table. Earlier, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ruled out NATO membership for Ukraine and any chance of a return to the country’s internationally recognized borders, fulfilling two key Russian conditions. On the same day, the U.S. Senate confirmed Tulsi Gabbard, whose talking points often align with Kremlin propaganda, as the next director of...

Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that the U.S. would hit Moscow with sanctions and potentially military action if Russian President Vladimir Putin won’t agree to a peace deal with Ukraine that guarantees Kyiv’s long-term independence. Vance said the option of sending U.S. troops to Ukraine if Moscow failed to negotiate in good faith remained “on the table,” striking a far tougher tone than did Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who on Wednesday suggested the U.S. wouldn’t commit forces. “There are economic tools of leverage, there are of course military tools of leverage” the U.S. could use against Putin, Vance said....

U.S. President Donald Trump is proving to be somewhat popular within Russia, leaving the Kremlin to grapple with how to counter Russians' love of a leader who isn't President Vladimir Putin, recent media reports suggest. -snip- Alexander Baunov, the editor-in-chief of Carnegie Politika and a senior fellow at Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, said in an analysis published on January 31 that in Russia, Trump is a new "anti-elitist president" who, "like a beloved Hollywood lone hero, is closer and more understandable to the generation of the Russian elite that lived through the 1990s or grew up watching American movies than...

Two Russian colonels are reported to have fallen out of windows in the space of two days, adding to a growing list of high-ranking officials who have died in mysterious circumstances since Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine began. Artur Pryakhin, 56, the head of a regional branch of Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) in the Republic of Karelia, died after falling from a fifth floor window of an office building at around noon on February 4. Local authorities said he left a suicide note in his office in which he apologized to his wife, asked his loved ones for forgiveness,...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has already begun initial preparations for his annual Victory Day military parade in May, and he is expecting a special guest from the U.S. for the big day, a Kremlin insider has said. -snip- Putin held a meeting on Wednesday to kickstart preparations for Victory Day, asking the heads of Russian regions and public organizations to "approach the upcoming events with conscience." One Kremlin source said it's clear that Russia must trumpet victory of some sort regarding the ongoing war in Ukraine, but officials are uncertain of the details.

Ukraine targeted five of Russia's air defense systems worth an estimated $350 million in a single day, serving a blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin's exhausted military in the nearly three-year-old war. Russia lost two Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft missile and gun systems and one OSA air defense system, as well as two S-300 air defense systems, according to Ukraine's military and a war reporter. Newsweek has reached out to the Russian government for comment via email. Ukraine has frequently zeroed-in on Russia's advanced air-defense systems, and Monday's reported loss marks a success for Kyiv's military as both sides continue to sustain...