Page 2 - Russia

Russia strikes Kyiv with massive missile and drone attack, killing one

Explosions reverberated through the city shortly after 1 a.m. (2200 GMT Saturday), shortly after Ukraine's air force had warned on its Telegram channel that Russia might launch an intermediate missile

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

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

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 ...

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

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 .

India buying Russian oil regardless of US sanctions waivers: Govt official

Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary in the Petroleum Ministry, said India has been buying Russian oil irrespective of US sanctions waivers

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

India's Russian oil supply likely to be hit if US waiver not extended

Under the latest US waiver, countries have been allowed to purchase Russian crude oil and petroleum products until May 16 that were loaded onto vessels on or before April 17

Ukraine links Kyiv attack to Xi-Trump summit, seeks pressure on Russia

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha tied an overnight attack on Kyiv to the Xi-Trump summit, saying the assault proved Russia was a threat to international security. "At the very time when leaders of the most powerful countries are meeting in Beijing, and the world hopes for peace, predictability and cooperation, Putin launched hundreds of drones, ballistic and cruise missiles at the capital of Ukraine," Sybiha said on Telegram. He said there should be "no illusions" about ending the Russian war on Ukraine. "Only pressure on Moscow can make him stop," Sybiha said of Putin, adding that US and Chinese leaders had sufficient leverage to compel Russia to end the conflict.

Russia fires 800 drones at Ukraine despite recent talk of possible peace

Russia fired at least 800 drones in a massive daytime barrage on about 20 regions of Ukraine on Wednesday, killing at least six people and wounding dozens, including children, in one of the longest attacks by Moscow in the 4-year-old war, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. The attack began in midmorning and lasted for hours in the capital of Kyiv, the western city of Lviv near Poland, and the port of Odesa on the Black Sea, among other population centers, Zelanskyy said on the Telegram messaging app. "Our soldiers are defending Ukraine, but Russia's obvious goal is to overload air defences," Zelenskyy said, as the bombardment stretched into the late afternoon. He cautioned that a cruise and ballistic missile attack could follow the drone barrage. It was "one of the longest, massive Russian attacks against Ukraine," he said on social media. It also rattled neighbours. Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said his new government has summoned the Russian ambassador over a drone atta

Jaishankar holds talks with Russia's Lavrov; trade, geopolitics top agenda

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held "productive" talks on Wednesday to advance bilateral cooperation in energy and trade amid shifting geopolitical tensions. Jaishankar met Lavrov, shortly after the Russian foreign minister landed in New Delhi to attend a two-day conclave of the BRICS member states beginning Thursday. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Brazil's Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira and South Africa's Minister for International Relations Ozzy Lamola are among those who already arrived in the national capital for the BRICS foreign ministerial meeting. Jaishankar and Lavrov are learnt to have deliberated on the West Asia crisis as well as the Ukraine conflict. In a social media post, the external affairs minister described his talks with his Russian counterpart as "productive exchange of views". "Our conversation touched upon several aspects of the India-Russia Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership, including tr

'Going to do whatever is necessary': Trump on Russian oil waiver amid war

The United States had eased sanctions on Russian oil in mid-March to counteract global oil shortages resulting from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz

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

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

Russia, Ukraine agree to 3-day ceasefire and prisoner swap, says Trump

President Donald Trump has said that the leaders of Russia and Ukraine have agreed to his request for a three-day ceasefire and an exchange of prisoners, adding that such a halt to hostilities could be the "beginning of the end" of the long war between them. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Yuri Ushakov, Russian President Vladimir Putin's foreign affairs adviser, both confirmed the agreement. "I asked and, President Putin agreed. President Zelenskyy agreed -- both readily," Trump said on Friday as he departed the White House to attend a dinner at his Virginia golf club. " And we have a little period of time where they're not going to be killing people. That's very good " Trump earlier Friday had announced on social media that the ceasefire would run Saturday through Monday. Saturday is Victory Day in Russia, a holiday that commemorates the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. "I am pleased to announce that there will be a THREE DAY CEASEFIRE (May 9th, 10th, and 11t

Russia snubs Ukraine's unilateral ceasefire, fires dozens of drones

Russia fired dozens of drones at Ukraine in nighttime attacks, Ukrainian officials said Wednesday, disregarding a unilateral ceasefire announced by Kyiv that began at midnight. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that Ukraine hadn't abided by its own ceasefire, saying that air defenses shot down 53 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions, the illegally annexed Crimean peninsula and the Black Sea between Tuesday evening and dawn Wednesday. There had been no official sign from Moscow that it would heed Kyiv's ceasefire, and there was little hope for a pause in hostilities as the war stretches into its fifth year following Russia's all-out invasion of its neighbor. US-led diplomatic efforts to stop the war over the past year have come to nothing. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had announced the move after Russia said it would hold its own unilateral ceasefire over two days later this week while it marks the 81st anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. The ...

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 .