President Vladimir Putin has signed legislation to pull Russia out of the Open Skies arms control treaty following the US exit from the pact. The United States initially left the Open Skies Treaty, which allows unarmed surveillance flights over member countries, in November in one of Donald Trump’s final acts …
Read More »Putin says US threats smack of Soviet Union’s fatal mistakes
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the United States was wrong to think that it is “powerful enough” to get away with threatening other countries, a mistake, he said, that led to the downfall of the former Soviet Union. Putin made the comments during a press briefing late on Friday as …
Read More »Putin says US wants to ‘hold back’ Russia as Biden meeting looms
Russian president says he wants to improve strained ties with the US but sets a tough tone ahead of the Geneva summit. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he wants to improve Moscow’s ties with Washington when he holds his first summit with US counterpart Joe Biden later this month, …
Read More »Biden, Putin to meet in Geneva on June 16 amid disputes
US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in Geneva on June 16, the White House and the Kremlin said on Tuesday amid sharp disputes over election interference, cyberattacks, human rights, and Ukraine. Earlier this month, Reuters reported that both countries were lowering expectations for big breakthroughs …
Read More »Biden and Putin to have summit in Geneva soon, Swiss daily says
US President Joe Biden and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will meet in Switzerland for their first summit, newspaper Tages-Anzeiger reported on Monday, citing “reliable sources”. An advanced U.S. mission has already arrived in Geneva for that purpose, the newspaper added. Plane spotters reported on Twitter seeing an unusual U.S. cargo …
Read More »President Putin to Russia’s foreign foes: ‘Will knock teeth out’
Russian President Vladimir Putin alleged on Thursday that some of the country’s foreign foes dream about biting off pieces of the country’s vast territory, warning that Moscow would “knock their teeth out” if they ever try. In strong remarks during a conference call with officials, the Russian president noted that …
Read More »Russia moves to bar Navalny allies from parliamentary race
Russia’s parliament approved a bill on Tuesday that would bar members of “extremist” organizations from serving as lawmakers, a move that allies of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny say aims to stop them running in September’s parliamentary election. The bill, which the lower house of parliament approved in a first …
Read More »Putin says Russia will respond to Ukraine’s ‘cleansing’ of political space
President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia would respond to what he called Ukraine’s ‘cleansing’ of the political space, a day after a Ukrainian court placed a prominent pro-Russian politician under house arrest. The Ukrainian court put Viktor Medvedchuk, who promotes closer ties with Moscow, and says Putin is …
Read More »Amnesty apologises to Alexei Navalny over ‘prisoner of conscience’ status
Amnesty International has apologised to Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny and reversed a decision to stop calling him a “prisoner of conscience”. The human rights organisation took the decision earlier this year after concerns were raised about past comments he made. In a statement, Amnesty called for Navalny’s “immediate and …
Read More »Putin, Erdogan discuss conflicts in Libya, Syria in phone call – Kremlin
Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the conflicts in Libya and Syria with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan in a telephone call on Monday, the Kremlin said in a statement. The Kremlin said the call’s main focus was on the crisis in Libya, highlighting the need to make real steps towards …
Read More »China welcomes Putin’s proposed summit on Iran
China welcomed on Monday to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposed summit of world leaders to avoid “confrontation” over a U.S. threat to trigger a return of all U.N. sanctions on Iran. The United States lost a bid on Friday to extend a U.N. arms embargo on Iran. Russia and China …
Read More »Trump eyes Putin meeting before November election – Report
U.S. officials have explored potential times and places for a Trump-Putin summit, including next month in New York, said people familiar with discussions. US President Donald Trump has told aides he’d like to hold an in-person meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin before the November election, according to four people …
Read More »Protests swell in Belarus, Lukashenko blames foreigners
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Saturday he wanted to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin, warning street protests were not just a threat to Belarus. Mass unrest followed Lukashenko’s re-election victory last week, as tens of thousands of people took to the streets accusing him of rigging the vote. …
Read More »Russia becomes first country to approve COVID-19 vaccine: Putin
President Vladimir Putin says Russia has become the first country in the world to grant regulatory approval to a COVID-19 vaccine after less than two months of human testing, a move hailed by Moscow as evidence of its scientific prowess. The development paves the way for the mass inoculation of …
Read More »Belarus says it’s arrested Russian mercenaries, as rift grows between strongmen Putin and Lukashenko
Authorities in Belarus have announced the arrest of more than 30 Russian mercenaries accused of trying “to destabilize” the country ahead of August’s presidential election, the state-run news agency Belta reported. The detentions come as tensions grow between the neighboring countries and as a rift emerges between their two strongmen …
Read More »Report on Russian meddling in UK politics to be published
A report on Russian interference in British politics will finally be published Tuesday amid criticism the government delayed its release for more than six months to shield Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Conservative Party from embarrassment. An influential committee of lawmakers plans to deliver its findings to Parliament after …
Read More »Thousands march in Russian city after governor arrested for allegedly ordering murders
Tens of thousands of protesters marched through the eastern Russian city of Khabarovsk on Saturday in support of a popular local governor arrested this week for allegedly ordering several murders. A court in Moscow on Friday ruled to hold 50-year-old Sergei Furgal for two months pending trial for the murders …
Read More »Lincoln Project skewers ‘Comrade Trump’ in brutal new Russian-language attack ad (Video)
A new anti-Donald Trump ad by a Republican super PAC has hit out against the president over reports he was briefed about Russia putting bounties on US troops in Afghanistan. The Lincoln Project’s latest ad, entitled “Fellow Traveller”, is filmed with a Russian voiceover and English subtitles. “The most important …
Read More »Russians voters agree on Putin’s constitutional changes
A majority of Russians approved amendments to Russia’s constitution in a weeklong vote ending Wednesday, allowing president Vladimir Putin to hold power until 2036. With most of the nation’s polls closed and 15% of precincts counted, 71% voted for the changes, according to election officials. For the first time in …
Read More »White House aware of Russian bounties in 2019 – Sources
Top officials in the White House were aware in early 2019 of classified intelligence indicating Russia was secretly offering bounties to the Taliban for the deaths of Americans, a full year earlier than has been previously reported, according to U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the intelligence. The assessment was …
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