Page 3 - Kremlin

Biden administration created atmosphere that provoked attack, claims Russia

We do not believe that the attempt to eliminate and assassinate Trump was organised by the current authorities, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters

PM Modi's Moscow visit draws 'jealous' eyes from the West, says Kremlin

'They are jealous - that means they are closely monitoring it,' said Peskov, addressing Western attitudes towards PM Modi's upcoming visit to Moscow

No topic off-limits for PM Modi's upcoming talks with Putin: Kremlin

Given the "very trusting nature" of the relationship between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, no topic was off-limits for the two leaders when they meet here soon, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday. The dates of Prime Minister Modi's visit to Moscow will be announced a bit later but preparations for it are already at their final stages, Peskov said. Putin and Modi will discuss regional and global security, trade and all other topics on the agenda during their meeting, Peskov was quoted as saying by Russia's state-owned TASS news agency. "We (Russia and India) jointly take part in integration processes, so regional affairs, regional security and global security are always at the top of the agenda. In addition, of course, our bilateral trade and economic interaction is always a focal point, the Kremlin official said, answering a question about what topics will be discussed at the negotiations between Putin and Modi. Describing Prime ...

Russia considering to downgrade relations with West, says Kremlin

Peskov said that no decision had yet been made on the matter and that Russia was considering different ways to respond to the West

Prez Putin makes ex-bodyguard Alexei Dyumin secretary of State Council

After being re-elected for another six-year term earlier this year, Putin made Dyumin an aide specialising in the defence industry

Ukraine risks dragging West into major war with Russia, says Putin ally

President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine has touched off the worst breakdown in relations between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis

Switzerland conference on Ukraine futile without Russia, says Kremlin

Russia has previously said it saw no point in a conference being planned by Switzerland to discuss how to end the Ukraine conflict

Russian air destroys 10 Ukraine-launched ATACMS missiles over Crimea

The war has killed thousands, displaced millions and turned Ukrainian cities into rubble

Putin shuffles security team, replaces defence minister Sergei Shoigu

Russia's President Vladimir Putin on Sunday proposed replacing Sergei Shoigu as defence minister on Sunday and appointed him as secretary of Russia's national security council. The appointment comes after Putin proposed appointing Andrei Belousov as the country's defence minister in place of Shoigu, who has served in the post for years. The reshuffle comes as Putin starts his fifth presidential term and as the war in Ukraine drags on for the third year In line with Russian law, the entire Russian Cabinet resigned on Tuesday following Putin's glittering inauguration in the Kremlin. The announcement came as thousands more civilians have fled Russia's renewed ground offensive in Ukraine's northeast that has targeted towns and villages with a barrage of artillery and mortar shelling, officials said Sunday. The intense battles have forced at least one Ukrainian unit to withdraw in the Kharkiv region, capitulating more land to Russian forces across less defended settlements in the so-cal

As cases of asset seizures rise, Vladimir Putin's tycoons seek safeguards

With most Russian billionaires having been sanctioned over the past two years, the next concern is which decades-old privatisation decisions might be reversed

Opposition leader Alexei Navalny died of natural causes: Russian spymaster

Russia's spymaster said on Tuesday that opposition leader Alexei Navalny died of natural causes, a statement that appeared to reflect the Kremlin's efforts to assuage international outrage over the death of President Vladimir Putin's fiercest foe. Sergei Naryshkin, the director of the Foreign Intelligence Service, the top spy agency known under its Russian acronym SVR, made the statement in an interview broadcast by Russian state television. He didn't name the cause of Navalny's death in a remote Arctic penal colony or give any other details. Sooner or later life ends and people die, he said. Navalny has died of natural causes. Navalny died on February 16 at Penal Colony No. 3 in the town of Kharp, in the Yamalo-Nenets region about 1,900 kilometres northeast of Moscow where he was serving a 19-year sentence on charges of extremism. Russian authorities still haven't announced the cause of his death at age 47 and many Western leaders blamed it on Putin, an accusation the Kremlin ang

Putin's 24-years rule: Crackdown on dissent solidifies his leadership

When charismatic opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was gunned down on a bridge near the Kremlin in February 2015, more than 50,000 Muscovites expressed their shock and outrage the next day at the brazen assassination. Police stood aside as they rallied and chanted anti-government slogans. Nine years later, stunned and angry Russians streamed into the streets on the night of Feb 16, when they heard that popular opposition politician Alexei Navalny had died in prison. But this time, those laying flowers at impromptu memorials in major cities were met by riot police, who arrested and dragged hundreds of them away. In those intervening years, Vladimir Putin's Russia evolved from a country that tolerated some dissent to one that ruthlessly suppresses it. Arrests, trials and long prison terms once rare are commonplace, especially after Moscow invaded Ukraine. Alongside its political opponents, the Kremlin now also targets rights groups, independent media and other members of civil-society

How Kremlin weaponised Russian history and used it to justify Ukraine war

Earlier this month, when Tucker Carlson asked Vladimir Putin about his reasons for invading Ukraine two years ago, Putin gave him a lecture on Russian history. The 71-year-old Russian leader spent more than 20 minutes showering a baffled Carlson with dates and names going back to the ninth century. Putin even gave him a folder containing what he said were copies of historical documents proving his points: that Ukrainians and Russians historically have always been one people, and that Ukraine's sovereignty is merely an illegitimate holdover from the Soviet era. Carlson said he was shocked at being on the receiving end of the history lesson. But for those familiar with Putin's government, it was not surprising in the least. In Russia, history has long been a propaganda tool used to advance the Kremlin's political goals. In an effort to rally people around their world view, Russian authorities have tried to magnify the country's past victories while glossing over the more sordid chapte

Over 400 detained in Russia as country mourns death of Alexei Navalny

Over 400 people were detained in Russia while paying tribute to opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died at a remote Arctic penal colony, a prominent rights group reported. The sudden death of Navalny, 47, was a crushing blow to many Russians, who had pinned their hopes for the future on President Vladimir Putin's fiercest foe. Navalny remained vocal in his unrelenting criticism of the Kremlin even after surviving a nerve agent poisoning and receiving multiple prison terms. The news reverberated across the globe, and hundreds of people in dozens of Russian cities streamed to ad-hoc memorials and monuments to victims of political repressions with flowers and candles on Friday and Saturday to pay a tribute to the politician. In over a dozen cities, police detained 401 people by Saturday night, according to the OVD-Info rights group that tracks political arrests and provides legal aid. More than 200 arrests were made in St Petersburg, Russia's second largest city, the group said. Amo

Navalny's team confirms his death, says his mother searching for body

Alexei Navalny's spokesperson confirmed Saturday that the Russian opposition leader had died at a remote Arctic penal colony and said he was murdered," but it is unclear where his body is. An official note handed to Navalny's mother stated that he died at 2:17 pm local time Friday, Kira Yarmysh said. She added that an employee of the prison colony said that Navalny's body was taken to the nearby city of Salekhard as part of a probe into his death. She demanded that his body be handed over to his family. When a lawyer and Navalny's mother visited the morgue in Salekhard, it was closed, Navalny's team said, writing on their Telegram channel. The lawyer called the morgue and was told that Navalny's body is not there, his team said. We demand that Alexey Navalny's body be handed over to his family immediately, Yarmysh wrote on X, previously Twitter. The cause and the circumstances of Navalny's death Friday remain largely unclear. Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service reported that Nava

Regret Argentina's move not to join Brics, hope it reconsiders: Kremlin

Argentina's incoming Foreign Minister Diana Mondino said in November that his country would not join the Brics grouping of developing nations despite being invited to do so

21 killed in Russia's Belgorod following aerial attacks across Ukraine

Shelling in the centre of the Russian border city of Belgorod Saturday killed 21 people, including three children, local officials reported. A further 110 people were wounded in the strike, said regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, making it one of the deadliest attacks on Russian soil since the start of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine 22 months ago. Russian authorities accused Kyiv of carrying out the attack, which took place the day after an 18-hour aerial bombardment across Ukraine killed at least 41 civilians. Images of Belgorod on social media showed burning cars and plumes of black smoke rising among damaged buildings as air raid sirens sounded. One strike hit close to a public ice rink in the very heart of the city, which lies 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of the Ukrainian border and 415 miles (670 kilometers) south of Moscow. While previous attacks have hit the city, they have rarely taken place in daylight and have claimed fewer lives. Russia's Defence Ministry said it ...

Western assets will meet same fate if Russian assets are seized: Kremlin

Leaders of the Group of Seven major industralised nations will discuss a new legal theory that would enable the seizure of frozen Russian assets when they meet in February

Russia-India ties going strong despite turbulences: Putin to Jaishankar

Russia's relations with India and its people are making "steady headway" despite the "current turbulences" in the world, President Vladimir Putin has said and expressed confidence that the two countries will maintain their traditionally friendly ties in "any alignment of political forces" after elections in India. Putin's remarks came on Wednesday when visiting External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar called on him at the Kremlin. "We are very pleased to note that despite the current turbulences in the world, relations with our traditional friends in Asia, with India and the Indian people are making steady headway," Putin said. The ties between India and Russia remained strong notwithstanding Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. India has not yet condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and it has been maintaining that the crisis must be resolved through diplomacy and dialogue. "We know Prime Minister Modi's position and we have repeatedly spoken about this the position concerning his ...

Kremlin has 'no information' about missing Putin critic Alexei Navalny

The prison authorities moved him from the penal colony, where he was serving his sentence for multiple charges, including extremism, but have not said where he was transferred to