Page 32 - Vladimir Putin

Assad left Syria after giving orders for peaceful power handover: Russia

Russia's Foreign Ministry claimed Sunday that Bashar Assad had left Syria after negotiations with rebel groups, and gave instructions to transfer power peacefully. In a post on the Telegram messaging app on Sunday, the ministry said Moscow had not directly participated in these talks. It also said it has been following the dramatic events in Syria with extreme concern". It also said Russian troops stationed in Syria have been put on high alert and that as of early afternoon Sunday, there was no serious threat to the security of Russia's military bases there. Russia has waged a military campaign in Syria since September 2015, teaming up with Iran to allow Assad's government to fight armed opposition groups and reclaim control over most of the country. While Russia now concentrates the bulk of its military resources in Ukraine, it has maintained a military foothold in Syria and keeps troops at its bases there.

Russia's FM Lavrov signals readiness to use any means in Ukraine conflict

Lavrov said Ukraine had lost the opportunity to maintain its territorial integrity by twice rejecting proposals for a deal, once before full-scale war began and then in talks in April 2022 in Turkey

Putin lauds Modi's 'India First' policy, says Russia will 'Make in India'

Russian President Vladimir Putin expresses Russia's readiness to establish manufacturing operations in India, describing investments in the country as profitable

US continues to exploit other economies for their benefit: Vladimir Putin

Addressing the VTB Investment Forum in Moscow on Wednesday, Putin said that the opponents of the US did a lot to undermine the fundamental basis of dollar as their international reserve currency

Putin praises India's support for SMEs through 'Make In India' initiative

Addressing the VTB Investment Forum in Moscow on Wednesday, Putin drew similarities between Russia's import substitution program to India's "Make in India" initiative

Putin urges govt, central bank to coordinate action to curb high inflation

"It is also necessary to curb inflation, which is currently at a fairly high level," Putin told an international investment conference organised by Russia's second-largest lender VTB in Moscow

Russia sees no grounds for Ukraine talks but mentions peace more frequently

Kyiv, which on Tuesday declared that it would not settle for anything less than NATO membership to guarantee its future security, has also said it will not compromise its territory

Vladimir Putin to visit India in 2025 following PM Modi's formal invitation

Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to visit India in early 2025, following an official invitation from Prime Minister Modi

Putin bets big on war: Russia approves $126 billion defence budget for 2025

Russian President Vladimir Putin has approved a record $126 billion defence budget for 2025, as the ongoing war in Ukraine continues to strain Russia's economy

President Putin signs off record Russian defence spending Budget for 2025

Russian President Vladimir Putin approved budget plans, raising 2025 military spending to record levels as Moscow seeks to prevail in the war in Ukraine. Around 32.5% of the budget posted on a government website Sunday has been allocated for national defense, amounting to 13.5 trillion rubles (over $145 billion), up from a reported 28.3% this year. Lawmakers in both houses of the Russian parliament, the State Duma and Federation Council had already approved the plans in the past 10 days. Russia's war on Ukraine, which started in Feb. 2022, is Europe's biggest conflict since World War II and has drained the resources of both sides. Kyiv has been getting billions of dollars in help from its Western allies, but Russia's forces are bigger and better equipped, and in recent months the Russian army has gradually been pushing Ukrainian troops backward in eastern areas. On the ground in Ukraine, three people died in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson when a Russian drone struck a mini

Russian defence minister visits North Korea for talks to boost ties

Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov arrived in North Korea on Friday for talks with North Korean military and political leaders as the countries deepen their cooperation over Russia's war in Ukraine. In announcing the visit, Russia's Defence Ministry didn't say whom Belousov would meet or the purpose of the talks. North Korean state media didn't immediately confirm the visit. Belousov, a former economist, replaced Sergei Shoigu as defence minister in May after Russian President Vladimir Putin started a fifth term in power. Photos released by the Defense Ministry showed Belousov walking alongside North Korean Defense Minister No Kwang Chol on a red carpet at a Pyongyang airport. North Korean military officials were seen clapping under a banner that read, Complete support and solidarity with the fighting Russian army and people. Belousov noted after his arrival that military cooperation between the countries is expanding. He applauded a strategic partnership agreement signed by

Desertion a major issue with Ukraine's forces in its war with Russia

Desertion is starving the Ukrainian army of desperately needed manpower and crippling its battle plans at a crucial time in its war with Russia, which could put Kyiv at a clear disadvantage in future ceasefire talks. Facing every imaginable shortage, tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops, tired and bereft, have walked away from combat and front-line positions to slide into anonymity, according to soldiers, lawyers and Ukrainian officials. Entire units have abandoned their posts, leaving defensive lines vulnerable and accelerating territorial losses, according to military commanders and soldiers. Some take medical leave and never return, haunted by the traumas of war and demoralized by bleak prospects for victory. Others clash with commanders and refuse to carry out orders, sometimes in the middle of firefights. This problem is critical, said Oleksandr Kovalenko, a Kyiv-based military analyst. This is the third year of war, and this problem will only grow. Although Moscow has also b

Putin says Trump can stop the Ukraine war, raises concerns about his safety

The Russian President also criticised the Biden administration's recent support for Ukraine, suggesting it could be part of a strategy to strain relations between the US and Russia

Russia could strike 'decision-making centres' in Kyiv, says Putin

Russian attacks have not so far struck government buildings in the Ukrainian capital. Kyiv is heavily protected by air defences, but Putin says Russia's Oreshnik hypersonic missile

Russia's labour shortage spreads as defence sector cuts down staff

Heavy recruitment by the armed forces and defence industries has drawn workers away from civilian enterprises, as has emigration, pushing unemployment to a record low of 2.3 per cent

News highlights: Priyanka Gandhi wins in debut poll contest in Wayanad by a margin of over 410,000

News highlights: Read the news developments from across the world here

Hypersonic missile strike on Ukraine was a warning to reckless West: Russia

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was speaking a day after President Vladimir Putin said Moscow had fired the new missile

World War-3 officially begins: claims Ukraine's former commander-in-chief

Participation of North Korean soldiers, use of Iranian drones and weapons from China are 'unmistakable signs' of the conflict's broader international dimensions, said Valery Zaluzhny

Putin, ascendant in Ukraine, eyes contours of a Donald Trump peace deal

US President-elect Trump, who has vowed to swiftly end the conflict, is returning to the White House at a time of Russian ascendancy

Russia revises nuclear policy, is it likely to use its atomic weapons now?

The 4-year-old document has a bland, bureaucratic title Basic Principles of State Policy on Nuclear Deterrence but its contents are chilling, especially with its newest revisions. Better known as Russia's nuclear doctrine, the revamped version that was signed Tuesday by President Vladimir Putin spells out the circumstances that allow him to use Moscow's atomic arsenal, the world's largest. This new version lowers the bar, giving him that option in response to even a conventional attack backed by a nuclear power. That possibly could include the use of U.S.-supplied ATACMS missiles by Ukraine to hit Russian territory which Moscow says happened Tuesday when six missiles hit the Bryansk region. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized that such strikes could potentially be a trigger for a nuclear response under the revised document. What is Russia's nuclear doctrine? Its first iteration was signed by Putin in 2020, and he approved latest version Tuesday, according to the Kremlin.