Vladimir Putin

Xi, Putin oppose US-Israel war on Iran, call it a threat to global trade

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin expressed their opposition to the US-Israeli war on Iran on Wednesday, while warning that restrictions on shipping imposed by "individual states" threatened global trade, in a veiled reference to Tehran, which has blocked shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. The US and Israeli strikes against Iran are illegal and seriously undermine stability in the Middle East, said a joint statement issued at the end of their day-long talks here. It also criticised US President Donald Trump's Golden Dome shield defence plan. The implementation of the Golden Dome project a multilayer missile defence system initiated by Trump - would have "serious negative consequences for international security", according to the joint statement released by the Kremlin. Putin's visit to Beijing followed days after Trump's tour here during which the Iran war, opening of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran dominated their talks. Both China and Russia ar

Updated On: 20 May 2026 | 10:27 PM IST

Xi Jinping, Putin praise ties but see no energy headway at Beijing talks

President Xi Jinping welcomed President Vladimir Putin with an honour guard and a gun salute at the Great Hall of the People, as children waved Chinese and Russian flags

Updated On: 20 May 2026 | 3:04 PM IST

Xi calls for immediate end to West Asia hostilities during talks with Putin

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday called for an immediate end to hostilities in West Asia, saying the situation had reached a "critical juncture", as he held talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin here amid escalating regional tensions. Welcoming Putin at the Great Hall of the People, Xi said renewed fighting in the Gulf and the wider West Asia must be avoided and stressed that negotiations should continue. An early end to the conflict will help ease disruptions to energy supplies, industrial and supply chains, and the international trade order, the Chinese president said. The talks between Xi and Putin came days after US President Donald Trump visited China from May 14-15 and held extensive discussions with the Chinese leader on the Iran-Israel conflict, the Strait of Hormuz and bilateral trade frictions. The meeting is being closely watched as both China and Russia are key strategic partners of Iran with close economic and military ties to Tehran and could ...

Updated On: 20 May 2026 | 12:34 PM IST

Xi Jinping, Putin hold bilateral talks in Beijing days after Trump's visit

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin held wide-ranging talks here on Wednesday on bilateral ties and key global issues, including Iran, the Ukraine war, and trade. Their talks assumed significance as the two leaders met days after US President Donald Trump visited Beijing from May 14-15 and held extensive discussions with Xi on issues ranging from Iran and the Ukraine war to bilateral trade frictions and regional developments. Ahead of the talks at the Great Hall of the People, Putin was accorded a ceremonial welcome by Xi. The ceremonial welcome was followed by bilateral talks. Putin, who arrived here on Tuesday night, was received by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. In a video address on Tuesday delivered before his visit, Putin said Russia-China relations had reached "a truly unprecedented level". He said regular top-level exchanges between the two countries formed an integral part of efforts to deepen bilateral ties and unlock their "limitl

Updated On: 20 May 2026 | 10:15 AM IST

Putin heads to China days after Trump's visit as Beijing balances ties

Russian President Vladimir Putin is travelling to China to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping less than a week after US President Donald Trump wrapped up his own trip to Beijing. Putin is scheduled to be in China on Tuesday and Wednesday in a visit likely to be closely watched as Beijing seeks to maintain stable relations with the United States while also preserving strong ties with Russia. The Kremlin has said Putin and Xi plan to discuss economic cooperation between the two countries, but also "key international and regional issues". The visit coincides with the 25th anniversary of the Sino-Russian Treaty of Friendship signed in 2001. "The Trump visit was about stabilising the world's most important bilateral relationship; the Putin visit is about reassuring a long-standing strategic partner," said Wang Zichen, deputy secretary-general for the Beijing-based think tank Centre for China & Globalisation. "For China, these two tracks are not mutually exclusive." Putin last visited .

Updated On: 19 May 2026 | 9:21 PM IST

Putin to visit China next week for talks with Xi days after Trump's trip

Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on a two-day trip to Beijing next week, the Kremlin said Saturday. The announcement comes less than 24 hours after US President Donald Trump finished his own state visit to China, where he also met Xi to discuss trade and the US-Israel war in Iran. In a statement, the Kremlin said that Putin's trip, planned for May 19-20, had been scheduled to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the 2001 Sino-Russian Treaty of Friendship. It said that the two leaders would discuss bilateral relations as well as "key international and regional issues" and economic cooperation. Relations between China and Russia have deepened in recent years, particularly since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, which left Moscow shunned on the global stage and heavily reliant on Beijing for trade due to Western sanctions. When Putin visited China in September 2025, Xi welcomed his counterpart as an "old frie

Updated On: 16 May 2026 | 2:59 PM IST

Putin says Ukraine war nearing end, cites Nato expansion as root cause

He blamed "globalist" Western leaders, saying they promised Nato would not expand eastward after the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall, but then tried to draw Ukraine into the European Union's orbit

Updated On: 10 May 2026 | 11:54 PM IST

Putin marks Victory Day with scaled-down parade after Ukraine ceasefire

The parade passed off without incident after days of spiraling tensions between Russia and Ukraine until Trump unexpectedly announced the ceasefire late Friday

Updated On: 09 May 2026 | 3:00 PM IST

What Russia's Victory Day celebrations reveal about Putin, war in Ukraine

Tensions are high as Russia prepares to celebrate its most important secular holiday Saturday. Fears in Moscow about security during the war with Ukraine have forced officials to scale back the annual celebrations, and signs of domestic discontent are casting a shadow over President Vladimir Putin's Red Square events. A unilateral ceasefire in Ukraine that Russia announced for Friday and Saturday quickly unravelled. Moscow and Kyiv blamed each other for the continued fighting, just as they did when Ukraine's own unilateral ceasefire swiftly collapsed earlier in the week. The accusations reflect the deep-seated lack of trust between the two sides more than four years after Russia's full-scale invasion of its neighbour. That has thwarted US-led diplomatic efforts to find a peace settlement. Ukraine's new drone and missile technology has helped it hit deep inside Russia frequently and accurately in recent months, especially major oil facilities. Meanwhile, rumblings of unhappiness w

Updated On: 09 May 2026 | 7:16 AM IST

Russia declares Victory Day truce; Ukraine to cease fire two days earlier

Russia's Defence Ministry declared a unilateral ceasefire in Ukraine for Friday and Saturday to mark the 81st anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, but it threatened to strike back at Kyiv if it tries to disrupt the Victory Day festivities. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in response said his country would observe a truce beginning at 12 am on Wednesday and respond in kind to Russia's actions from that moment on. He did not put an end date on the truce. The announcements on Monday come as Russia prepares to celebrate its most important secular holiday with a traditional military parade on Moscow's Red Square pared down due to what officials say are concerns over possible Ukrainian attacks. Ukraine has been launching drone attacks deep inside Russia to counter its more than 4-year-old invasion. They also follow a familiar pattern of previous attempts to secure ceasefires - most recently around Orthodox Easter - that had little to no impact. The Defence .

Updated On: 05 May 2026 | 7:30 AM IST

Putin offered to help US on Iran's uranium in potential nuclear deal: Trump

President Donald Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a phone call Wednesday, renewed his offer for Russia to serve as a third country that could deal with Iran's 970 pounds of enriched uranium that the US leader is demanding Tehran must surrender. "He told me he'd like to be involved with the enrichment - if he can help us get it," Trump said Putin told him. "I said, I'd much rather have you be involved with ending the war with Ukraine.' To me, that would be more important." Meanwhile, the Kremlin warned of dire consequences' if hostilities against Iran resume. Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the Iran war in a phone call with Trump on Wednesday, with the Kremlin stressing the "dire consequences" if hostilities resumed. Speaking to journalists, presidential adviser Yuri Ushakov said that Putin had told the US president that a ground operation on Iranian territory would be completely "unacceptable and dangerous.

Updated On: 30 Apr 2026 | 9:49 AM IST

Russia trip opportunity to coordinate after war: Iranian foreign minister

Prior to his arrival in Russia, the top Iranian diplomat held pivotal meetings in Islamabad to further this regional agenda

Updated On: 27 Apr 2026 | 10:04 AM IST

Zelenskyy aide sees Ukraine nearing deal; Kremlin plays down US talks

Kremlin says Putin envoy's US visit does not mean Ukraine talks have resumed

Updated On: 10 Apr 2026 | 10:56 PM IST

Putin announces 32-hour ceasefire in Ukraine for Orthodox Easter weekend

Russia's President Vladimir Putin on Thursday declared a 32-hour ceasefire in Ukraine over the Orthodox Easter weekend. Putin's decree, released by the Kremlin, orders Russian forces to observe a ceasefire starting on 4 pm Saturday and lasting until the end of Sunday. Putin's move follows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's proposal earlier this week to observe a pause in attacks on each other's energy infrastructure over the Orthodox Easter. He said he made the offer through the United States, which has been mediating talks between delegations from Moscow and Kyiv as the conflict stretches into a fifth year.

Updated On: 10 Apr 2026 | 6:46 AM IST

Gulf conflict may have global consequences like Covid, says Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said no one, including the perpetrators of the Gulf conflict, can foresee its grave consequences for the world, comparable only to the Covid pandemic. Addressing the delegates of the congress of the powerful Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), the Russian leader said the escalation of the conflict incited by the joint US-Israeli attack on Iran has jeopardised a wide range of industries, and there's no telling what further consequences may follow. "The armed conflict in the Middle East is increasingly impacting the current situation and causing significant disruption to international logistics, manufacturing, and supply chains," he said. Starting February 28, the US and Israel launched joint strikes against Iran, which in turn retaliated, spreading the war to the entire Gulf region. The Strait of Hormuz is a strategically important choke point for the world's energy supplies. The strait, a narrow shipping lane that connects

Updated On: 26 Mar 2026 | 11:33 PM IST

Putin's mediation proposals on Iran conflict still stand, says Kremlin

Peskov was speaking a day after Putin spoke by phone to US President Donald Trump and, according to the Kremlin, shared proposals aimed at ending the war in Iran quickly

Updated On: 10 Mar 2026 | 7:24 PM IST

Trump and Putin discuss Iran, Ukraine conflicts during telephone call

The conversation between the two focused on the Iran conflict and trilateral talks between Washington, Moscow and Kyiv aimed at settling the Ukraine conflict

Updated On: 10 Mar 2026 | 6:43 AM IST

Putin in contact with Gulf leaders to facilitate de-escalation: Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin is making all possible efforts to de-escalate the crisis in the Gulf and is in close contact with the regional leaders as Iran is retaliating with massive strikes on the US facilities and infrastructure on their territories, the Kremlin said on Tuesday. The US and Israel launched joint strikes against Iran on Saturday, assassinating 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, alongside family members, including his daughter and grandchildren. Since then, Iran has targeted multiple US bases in the surrounding Gulf States. "Putin will certainly make every effort to facilitate at least a minor easing of tensions. In this regard, we discussed with virtually all of our interlocutors yesterday," the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "Taking advantage of the dialogue we maintain with the Iranian leadership, (President) Putin will convey his deep concern regarding the strikes on their infrastructure to our colleagues in Iran," he added. According

Updated On: 03 Mar 2026 | 8:01 PM IST

'Ready to do all we can': Putin offers to use Iran links to ease conflict

In a series of calls with the leaders of the UAE, Bahrain and Qatar, Putin criticised the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, which the Kremlin described as "unprovoked aggression"

Updated On: 02 Mar 2026 | 9:58 PM IST

Killing of Khamenei cynical violation of human morality, int'l law: Putin

The killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was a cynical violation of all norms of human morality and international law, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared in his message to his Tehranian counterpart, the Kremlin said Sunday. Khamenei was killed in an airstrike in Tehran on Saturday during a joint Israel-US attack on Iran. "Please accept my deepest condolences in connection with the assassination of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Seyyed Ali Khamenei, and members of his family, committed in a cynical violation of all norms of human morality and international law," Putin said in his condolence message. Putin's condolence message to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was published on the Kremlin portal. Earlier on Saturday, Russia condemned the US-Israeli joint strikes on Iran qualifying it as an "unprovoked" aggression against a sovereign state in violation of international law and called for immediate return to diplomacy. The Russian ..

Updated On: 01 Mar 2026 | 5:09 PM IST