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Russian crypto expert Alexander Vinnik returns to Moscow in prisoner swap

Alexander Vinnik, a Russian cryptocurrency expert who faced Bitcoin fraud charges in the United States, returned to Russia on Thursday after being freed in a swap that saw Moscow release American Marc Fogel, Russian news agencies reported. Alexander Vinnik arrived in Moscow on a flight from Turkey, where he was flown after being released from custody in California, Russia's state Tass and RIA-Novosti news agencies reported, citing Russian aviation officials and his lawyer. Vinnik, who operated cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e, was arrested in 2017 in Greece at the request of the US on cryptocurrency fraud charges and was later extradited to the United States where he pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to commit money laundering. Steve Witkoff, a special envoy for US President Donald Trump, left Russia with Fogel earlier in the week and brought him to the White House, where Trump greeted him on Tuesday. Fogel, an American history teacher who was deemed wrongfully detained by Russia

Trump wants denuclearisation talks with Russia, China to cut defence budget

President Donald Trump said Thursday that he wants to restart nuclear arms control talks with Russia and China and that eventually he hopes all three countries could agree to cut their massive defense budgets in half. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump lamented the hundreds of billions of dollars being invested in rebuilding the nation's nuclear deterrent and said he hopes to gain commitments from the US adversaries to cut their own spending. There's no reason for us to be building brand new nuclear weapons, we already have so many, Trump said. You could destroy the world 50 times over, 100 times over. And here we are building new nuclear weapons, and they're building nuclear weapons. We're all spending a lot of money that we could be spending on other things that are actually, hopefully much more productive," Trump said. While the US and Russia hold massive stockpiles of weapons since the Cold War, Trump predicted that China would catch up in their capability to exact

Kremlin confirms Ukraine's role in peace talks, separates US-Russia strand

The two leaders spoke on Wednesday and announced their intention to meet face-to-face, shortly after Trump's defense secretary bluntly told allies that Washington did not support NATO

Kyiv, EU alarmed by prospect of 'dirty deal' after Trump-Putin call

The Kremlin said plans were under way for Putin and Trump to meet, possibly in Saudi Arabia. Ukraine would "of course" participate in peace talks in some way

Russia frees American Fogel in what US calls step toward end of Ukraine war

Marc Fogel, an American teacher who was deemed wrongfully detained by Russia, has been released in what the White House described as a diplomatic thaw that could advance negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. Steve Witkoff, a special envoy for President Donald Trump, left Russia with Fogel, a history teacher from Pennsylvania, and they landed back in the US at Joint Base Andrews on Tuesday night, according to the White House. They were expected to head to the White House, with Fogel to be reunited with his family by the end of the day. Fogel was arrested in August 2021 and was serving a 14-year prison sentence. His family and supporters said he had been travelling with medically prescribed marijuana, and he was designated by President Joe Biden's administration as wrongfully detained in December. Michael Waltz, Trump's national security adviser, said the U.S. and Russia negotiated an exchange to ensure Fogel's release. He did not say what the U.S. side of the bargain entailed. ...

Ukraine 'may be Russian someday': Trump ahead of Vance-Zelenskyy meet

According to CNN's report, Trump, who has repeatedly questioned the US's role in supporting Ukraine, discussed his administration's efforts to end the war with Russia

US funding freeze hampers investigations into Russian war crimes in Ukraine

Two of the listed projects were funded by USAID, three by the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement and one directly by the Department of State, the document showed

Oil prices rise despite concerns over US tariffs, trade war risks

Trump said on Sunday that the US is making progress with Russia to end the Ukraine war, but he declined to provide details about any communications with Russian President Vladimir Putin

Kremlin says contacts with Trump's team intensified over Ukraine, Nato

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov welcomed what he described as an acknowledgment from Trump that drawing Ukraine towards NATO was a mistake

Saudi Arabia, UAE expected venues for Trump-Putin meet: Russian sources

However, senior Russian officials have visited both Saudi Arabia and the UAE in recent weeks, according to the Russian sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of situation

Excluding Ukraine from US-Russia talks on war 'very dangerous': Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday that excluding his country from talks between the US and Russia about the war in Ukraine would be very dangerous" and asked for more discussions between Kyiv and Washington to develop a plan for a ceasefire. Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, Zelenskyy said Russia does not want to engage in ceasefire talks or to discuss any kind of concessions, which the Kremlin interprets as losing at a time when its troops have the upper hand on the battlefield. He said US President Donald Trump could bring Russian President Vladimir Putin to the table with the threat of sanctions targeting Russia's energy and banking system, as well as continued support of the Ukrainian military. I think these are the closest and most important steps, he said in the interview in the Ukrainian capital that lasted for more than an hour. Zelenskyy's remarks followed comments Friday by Trump, who said American and Russian officials were

Crashed US plane had 3 Russians, State Dept confirms to Russian Embassy

Shishkova and Naumov, who were married to each other, won the world championships in pairs figure skating in 1994 and they also competed at two Winter Olympics

Russian oil refining increases as US sanctions disrupt crude exports

Russian refining runs rose by 2 per cent, or by 108,000 barrels, to 754,800 metric tons a day on Jan 15-19 from the first week of the year, according to the sources

Putin suggests a meeting with Trump to discuss Ukraine war, energy issues

It was the strongest indication yet from the Kremlin that it is keen for an early summit with Trump after three years of virtually no high-level contact with Western leaders because of the war

US will let sanctioned Russian oil tankers offload by Feb 27: Oil Secy

India became the top buyer of Russian sea-borne oil sold at a discount after Western nations imposed sanctions on Moscow

Putin ready to speak to Trump, wants to start nuclear cuts talks: Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin has also made clear he wants to restart nuclear arms cuts talks as soon as possible

Trump threatens Russia with sanctions if 'ridiculous' war does not end

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to impose stiff taxes, tariffs and sanctions on Russia if an agreement isn't reached to end the war in Ukraine, a warning that is likely to fall on deaf ears in the Kremlin. The United States already prohibits the import of virtually all Russian products, and Russia has faced a multitude of US and European sanctions since the invasion began almost three years ago. In a post on his Truth Social site on Wednesday, Trump urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to "settle now and stop this ridiculous war". Trump said he had no desire to hurt Russia -- which he noted had played a major role in securing victory for the Allies against Nazi Germany in World War II -- and has a good relationship with Putin, but warned of the penalties if the war isn't stopped soon. "If we don't make a deal, and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and variou

Govt widens approvals for Russian insurers after US oil sanctions

As Soglasie isn't blacklisted by any western nation, the new permit provides a safe option for tanker operators that haul Russian barrels to India

Donald Trump's return adds to Western firms' dilemma to exit from Russia

Russia tightened its exit terms in October to encourage businesses to stay, demanding discounts of at least 60 per cent on exit transactions and a 35 per cent 'voluntary contribution'

Russia, Iran sign comprehensive strategic pact amid Western sanctions

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, signed a broad cooperation pact Friday as their countries deepened their partnership in the face of stinging Western sanctions. Russian and Iranian officials say the comprehensive strategic partnership treaty covers all areas - from trade and military cooperation to science, education and culture. Putin praised the deal as a real breakthrough, creating conditions for the stable and sustainable development of Russia, Iran and the entire region. He said the amount of trade and economic cooperation was still insufficient, voicing hope the new treaty will help clear bureaucratic hurdles and expand ties. The Russian leader added that the countries are trying to resolve technical obstacles to advance planned projects to ship Russian natural gas to Iran and build transport corridors to Iranian ports in the Gulf. Pezeshkian said the projects are feasible, adding that experts were working to resolve the remain