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Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva spoke with Russia's President Vladimir Putin on Saturday for about 40 minutes, the Brazilian presidential palace said, adding that Putin shared information about his discussions with the United States and "recent peace efforts between Russia and Ukraine." -snip- Lula has been in a public spat with Trump since the U.S. imposed a 50% tariff on the imports of Brazilian goods, which Trump linked to an alleged "witch hunt" against his ally and Brazil's former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro. U.S. imports of some Brazilian products, such as orange juice and aircraft, received a lower...

The US has a better understanding of the conditions under which Russia would be prepared to end its war in Ukraine after President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday. "For the first time perhaps since this administration began, we have some concrete examples of the kinds of things that Russia would ask for in order to end the war," Rubio said in an interview with Fox Business Network's Kudlow, adding that the key elements of any agreement would involve territory. He added that he doesn't know if...

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said his special envoy Steve Witkoff had made "great progress" in his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as Washington continued its preparations to impose secondary sanctions on Friday. Trump, in a post on Truth Social, said he had briefed some European allies about Witkoff's meeting with Putin, which was focused on ending the 3-1/2-year war that began with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. "Everyone agrees this War must come to a close, and we will work towards that in the days and weeks to come," Trump added, without providing further...

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff will be in Moscow on Wednesday to meet with Russian leadership, a source familiar with the plan said on Tuesday. Officials in Washington provided few details of Witkoff's schedule. "The president has noted, of course, that Special Envoy Witkoff will be traveling to Russia this week, so we can confirm that from this podium," State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told reporters. "What that will entail, I have no details for you." Russia's state-run TASS news agency, quoting aviation sources, said an aircraft believed to have Witkoff on board, had already left the United States.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that he had had a "productive" conversation with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump on ending the war, sanctions on Russia and the finalisation of a U.S.-Ukraine drone deal. Trump, who has signalled frustration with Vladimir Putin in recent weeks, has given the Russian president until August 8 to make peace in Ukraine or face tougher sanctions. "President Trump is fully informed about Russian strikes on Kyiv and other cities and communities," Zelenskiy wrote on X, referring to intensifying drone and missile attacks. Trump has threatened to hit Russia with new sanctions and impose...

The Kremlin said on Monday that everyone should be careful about nuclear rhetoric, in its first response to a statement by U.S. President Donald Trump that he had ordered a repositioning of U.S. nuclear submarines. -snip- Peskov declined to answer directly when asked whether the Kremlin had tried to warn Medvedev to tone down his online altercation with Trump. "Listen, in every country, members of the leadership... have different points of view on events that are taking place, different attitudes. There are people who are very, very tough-minded in the United States of America and in European countries, so this...

Summary Trump administration seeks to deport more migrants to third countries Critics ask why migrants can't be deported home instead Trump tactic stokes fear amid push for mass deportations WASHINGTON, Aug 2 (Reuters) - The Trump administration says that some serious criminals need to be deported to third countries because even their home countries won't accept them. But a review of recent cases shows that at least five men threatened with such a fate were sent to their native countries within weeks.President Donald Trump aims to deport millions of immigrants in the U.S. illegally and his administration has sought to...

The U.S. and NATO are working on a novel approach to supply Ukraine with weapons using funds from NATO countries to pay for the purchase or transfer of U.S. arms, according to three sources familiar with the matter. The renewed transatlantic cooperation on Ukraine comes as U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed frustration with Moscow's ongoing attacks on its neighbor. Trump, who initially took a more conciliatory tone toward Russia as he tried to end the more than three-year war in Ukraine, has threatened to start imposing tariffs and other measures if Moscow shows no progress toward ending the conflict...

US President Donald Trump said on July 31 that Russia’s actions in Ukraine were “disgusting” and indicated that new sanctions against Moscow were coming over its invasion of its neighbour. “Russia – I think it’s disgusting what they’re doing. I think it’s disgusting,” Mr Trump told journalists. He also said he would send his special envoy Steve Witkoff, currently in Israel, to visit Russia next. Russian President Vladimir Putin has already met Mr Witkoff multiple times in Moscow, before Mr Trump’s efforts to mend ties with the Kremlin came to a grinding halt. Washington has given Moscow until the end...

Ukrainian drones targeted St. Petersburg on Sunday, Russian authorities said, forcing the airport to close for five hours as Vladimir Putin marked Russia's Navy Day in the city, despite the earlier cancellation of its naval parade due to security concerns. St. Petersburg usually holds a large-scale, televised navy parade on Navy Day, which features a flotilla of warships and military vessels sailing down the Neva River and is attended by Putin. Last year, Russia suspected a Ukrainian plan to attack the city's parade, according to state television. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Sunday that this year's parade had been...

SummaryFederal Programs Branch loses nearly two-thirds of staff since Trump's election Exodus strains unit defending Trump's policies amid legal challenges Political appointees fill vacancies WASHINGTON, July 14 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department unit charged with defending against legal challenges to signature Trump administration policies - such as restricting birthright citizenship and slashing funding to Harvard University - has lost nearly two-thirds of its staff, according to a list seen by Reuters. Sixty-nine of the roughly 110 lawyers in the Federal Programs Branch have voluntarily left the unit since President Donald Trump's election in November or have announced plans to...

Russia and China's foreign ministers on Sunday discussed their relations with the United States and the prospects for ending the war in Ukraine, Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement. President Vladimir Putin's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in Beijing on Sunday. Lavrov is due to attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's (SCO) foreign ministers in China. "The parties also discussed relations with the United States and prospects for resolving the Ukrainian crisis," the foreign ministry said. "The importance of strengthening close coordination between the two countries in the international arena, including in...

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Russia is stepping up production of its Oreshnik intermediate-range hypersonic missile, which it launched for the first time against Ukraine last November. "Serial production of the latest Oreshnik medium-range missile system is under way," Putin told a graduating class of military cadets in televised comments. The system has "proven itself very well in combat conditions," he added. -snip- Putin has boasted that the Oreshnik is impossible to intercept and has destructive power comparable to a nuclear weapon, although some Western experts have cast doubt on those claims. In December, a U.S. official...

A “number of countries” are ready to supply Iran with nuclear warheads following American strikes on nuclear facilities early on Sunday, Russian ex-president Dmitriy Medvedev claimed on social media. In a post on X/Twitter, Medvedev suggested that the United States’ attacks on three sites in Isfahan, Natanz, and Fordow backfired, and led to the opposite result from what US President Donald Trump had set out to achieve. According to Medvedev, “enrichment of nuclear material — and, now we can say it outright, the future production of nuclear weapons — will continue.” -snip- In addition, he said, “A number of countries...

Russian President Vladimir Putin, in separate telephone conversations on Friday, told Iran's president that Moscow condemned Israel's actions against Tehran and told Israel's prime minister that questions around Iran's nuclear programme could only be solved through diplomacy. A Kremlin statement said Putin told Iran's Masoud Pezeshkian that Russia "condemns the actions of Israel taken in violation of the U.N. Charter" and expressed condolences for those killed.

At a farm near Moscow, newly arrived guest workers from India are planting potatoes and cabbages - work closely monitored by central bank analysts as they prepare for board meetings to set interest rates. While in developed economies such as the United States food accounts for about 14% of the basket used to calculate inflation, in Russia it makes up a hefty 40% or so, and surging prices for potatoes and other staples have been a major reason for its tight monetary policy. The central bank trimmed its benchmark rate to 20% on June 6 but even that is around...

Ukraine's air forces shot down a Russian Su-35 fighter jet on Saturday morning, the Ukrainian military said. "This morning, on June 7, 2025, as a result of a successful Air Force operation in the Kursk direction, a Russian Su-35 fighter jet was shot down," the military said on the Telegram messenger. It gave no more details. Russian forces have not yet commented on the matter while Reuters could not independently verify the report.

SummaryTrump administration has said it will appeal court ruling Second federal court blocks some levies Markets see modest gains in response Analysts say even a pause provides valuable time May 29 (Reuters) - Senior Trump administration officials on Thursday downplayed the impact of a U.S. trade court ruling that blocked the most sweeping of President Donald Trump's tariffs, expressing confidence it would be overturned on appeal and insisting there are other legal avenues to employ in the interim. Financial markets, which have whipsawed wildly in response to every twist and turn in Trump's chaotic trade war, reacted with cautious optimism...

Russia does not see the Vatican as a serious venue for peace talks with Ukraine because the Holy See is the seat of Catholicism and is surrounded by Italy, a NATO and EU member, three senior Russian sources told Reuters. They also point out that many Russian officials cannot even fly there due to Western restrictions. The Vatican has so far been silent in public on the idea raised by U.S. President Donald Trump after a call with President Vladimir Putin that Pope Leo XIV could host talks aimed at ending Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two. Italian Prime...

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...