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Russian forces are working to establish a buffer zone along the country's border with Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday, following his return from the Kursk region in southern Russia The decision to establish the zone had been taken, Putin said by video link during a government meeting. He did not stipulate where the buffer zone would lie or how large it would be. "Our forces are currently engaged in solving this task, hostile firing points are being actively suppressed, and the work is ongoing," he said.

A decision has been made to create a security buffer zone along the border between Russia and Ukraine, said Russian President Vladimir Putin, APA reports. "I have already said that a decision has been made to create a necessary security buffer zone along the border. Our armed forces are now solving this task," Putin said during a meeting with members of the government.

A monument to Soviet dictator Josef Stalin erected in Moscow's metro is stirring debate, with some Russians welcoming it as a historical tribute, but others saying it's a mistake to commemorate someone who presided over so much suffering. -snip- Nearly 700,000 people were executed in Stalin's 1937-38 Great Terror amid show trials and purges of his real and perceived enemies. Many other Soviet citizens were sent to the Gulag, a grim network of prison camps, spread across the world's largest country. The Moscow metro said in a statement that the new version of the monument, which was presented to the...

Former Ukrainian politician Andriy Portnov, a top adviser to ousted President Viktor Yanukovych (thanks, CIA!), was shot dead this morning outside the American School of Madrid shortly after student drop-off. Spanish media reports that 2-3 suspects are being hunted. Portnov faced treason charges in Ukraine and was accused of collaborating with Russia ... Former president Yanukovych was overthrown in 2014. According to the US Treasury Department, Portnov was "credibly accused of using his influence to buy access and decisions in Ukraine's courts and undermining reform effort." He was sanctioned by the US for corruption and bribery in 2021 under the...

The British maritime security firm warns that "should a future Russia-Ukraine peace agreement fail to address EU-UK sanctions on Russian hydrocarbon exports, Russia is likely to reallocate its security resources, previously concentrated on the Black Sea, to the Baltic region"LONDON, May 20. /TASS/. Attempts by European nations to detain allegedly Russia-linked merchant ships in the Baltic Sea are heightening the risk of "non-linear warfare" between NATO and Russia, according to a report by the British maritime security firm Ambrey. The assessment indicates that, in the near term, there will be "heightened maritime security risks, particularly around vessels transporting oil from...

Russian state TV aired a video of Vladimir Putin warning Donald Trump to stop trying to dictate the terms of a ceasefire with Ukraine. Putin stressed that he plans to finish what he started three years ago and warned that Trump should not push him into a US blueprint for stopping the war.

European leaders stepped up pressure on Russia to accept an unconditional cease-fire in Ukraine, threatening to immediately impose a new round of punishing sanctions if the Kremlin did not change its stance by the end of Monday. “The clock is ticking — we still have 12 hours until the end of this day,” the German government spokesman, Stefan Kornelius, told a news conference. On Monday, the Kremlin spokesman brushed off the threat. “The language of ultimatums is unacceptable — you cannot talk to Russia like this,” the spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, told Russian news agencies.

Russia has rejected a Ukraine war peace deal proposed by Donald Trump, the US president, because it does not grant international recognition to territory seized by Moscow’s troops.Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, also suggested the plan did not satisfy the Kremlin’s demands to oust Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, and limit the size of Kyiv’s armed forces.The rejection came as Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, offered a temporary, 72-hour truce next month to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe.

US President Donald Trump wants to see a permanent ceasefire to bring the war in Ukraine to a complete stop, the White House said Monday in response to Russia's unilateral three-day pause. "I understand Vladimir Putin this morning offered a temporary ceasefire. The (US) president has made it clear he wants to see a permanent ceasefire, first, to stop the killing, stop the bloodshed, and while he remains optimistic he can strike a deal, he's also being realistic as well," spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters. "Both leaders need to come to the table to negotiate their way out of this....

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday declared a three-day ceasefire in the war with Ukraine next month to mark the 80th anniversary of World War II Victory Day. The Kremlin said the 72-hour ceasefire would run from the beginning of May 8 and last through the end of May 10. "All military actions are suspended for this period," the Kremlin said in a statement. "Russia believes that the Ukrainian side should follow this example." "In the event of violations by the Ukrainian side, Russia's armed forces will give an adequate and effective response," the statement said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday thanked North Korea for sending troops to fight alongside Russia in Moscow's war against Ukraine and vowed not to forget their sacrifices. Putin's comments came just hours after North Korea confirmed for the first time that it had deployed troops to fight Ukrainian forces. -snip- In a statement, Putin praised North Korean troops who he said fought "shoulder to shoulder with Russian fighters, defended our Motherland as their own." "The Russian people will never forget the heroism of the DPRK special forces," Putin said. "We will always honor the heroes who gave their lives...

North Korea officially confirmed for the first time on Monday that it has deployed troops to Russia, framing it as an extension of its strategic partnership with Moscow. -snip- The commission further said that Kim Jong-un determined that the situation on the battlefield warranted the activation of Article 4 of the comprehensive strategic partnership treaty between North Korea and Russia. Based on this analysis, Kim ordered the deployment of North Korean forces and notified the Russian side accordingly, according to the statement. North Korea also noted that Kim referred to the troops dispatched to Russia as "representatives of the nation's...

As Russia continues its warfare against Ukraine, one outspoken Republican senator is encouraging President Donald Trump to put Russian President Vladimir Putin in his place. "Putin has reneged on every promise that he has made to President Trump. His latest proposal is, well, nothing. He wants to keep all the territory that he's taken," Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said on the latest installment of "Fox News Sunday." "He wants to prohibit Ukraine from joining NATO, and he wants America and Europe to stop helping Ukraine," he added. "I think that Putin thinks that America has taken the bullet train to...

A peace proposal by the Trump administration that includes recognizing Russian authority over Crimea shocked Ukrainian officials, who say they will not accept any formal surrender of the peninsula, even though they expect to concede the territory to the Kremlin, at least temporarily. Giving up the land that was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014 is also politically and legally impossible, according to experts. It would require a change to the Ukrainian constitution and a nationwide vote, and it could be considered treason. Lawmakers and the public are firmly opposed to the idea. “It doesn’t mean anything,” said Oleksandr Merezkho,...

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that the United States is working toward a "fair" and "sustainable" solution to end Russia’s three-year war on Ukraine, but that both Moscow and Kyiv would have to make concessions to achieve peace. -snip- Rubio said he was "convinced" that Moscow was willing to engage in a "serious process" to end the war, which Russia started with a full-scale invasion of its neighbor three years ago next week. Lavrov had a similar upbeat view of the talks, saying, “We weren’t just listening to each other, but we heard each other. I have...

Along Ukraine's frontline, the war rages on. But global attention spanned thousands of miles away today, as representatives from Russia and the US met in Saudi Arabia to discuss an end to the conflict. Uninvited to those talks, and in Turkey instead, was Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky. He made it known he won't accept a deal made about Ukraine without Ukraine's involvement, and that he wouldn't recognise parts of Ukraine occupied by Russia. Speaking after the meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called the talks "useful", but said any type of peacekeeping forces in Ukraine would be "completely unacceptable". Marco...

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has slammed the Paris emergency summit on the Ukraine war as a gathering of "frustrated European politicians," accusing leaders invited by French President Emmanuel Macron of looking to prolong the conflict. "So today, supporters of the war, anti-Trump and frustrated European politicians are gathering in Paris to prevent a peace agreement with Ukraine," the minister was quoted as saying by Hungarian state news agency MTI, at a press conference in the Kazakh capital Astana on Monday. Macron's guests, which include the leaders of Germany, United Kingdom, Italy and Poland, had always advocated war between Russia...

EXPLOSIVE:🚨 TRUMP AND PUTIN—THE GLOBALISTS’ WORST NIGHTMARE! 🚨 🔴 The unthinkable is happening. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to meet face-to-face in a historic summit—one that could shatter the globalist world order. 🔴 European elites sneered as Trump called them out for their censorship, their war-mongering, and their betrayal of their own people. They laughed because they thought they were untouchable. But what if Trump does the unthinkable? 🔴 What if Trump flips the script and joins forces with Russia? What if this meeting isn’t just about Ukraine—but about reordering the global power structure for...

The UK military is "so run down" it could not lead any future peacekeeping mission in Ukraine, the former head of the army has said. Lord Dannatt told the BBC that up to 40,000 UK troops would be needed for such a mission and "we just haven't got that number available". It comes after Sir Keir Starmer said the UK would "play its part" in guaranteeing Ukraine's security after the prime minister was asked this week if he was open to sending British troops as peacekeepers. A former Nato chief told the BBC that Britain and France should lead a...

BRUSSELS (AP) — Increasingly alarmed that U.S. security priorities lie elsewhere, a group of European countries has been quietly working on a plan to send troops into Ukraine to help enforce any future peace settlement with Russia. Britain and France are at the forefront of the effort, though details remain scarce. The countries involved in the discussions are reluctant to tip their hand and give Russian President Vladimir Putin an edge should he agree to negotiate an end to the war he launched three years ago. What is clear is that Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy needs a guarantee that his...