Page 64 - Vladimir Putin

Russian Prez Putin set to host Syrian leader Assad at the Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to host Syrian leader Bashar Assad for talks in the Kremlin on Wednesday that are expected to focus on rebuilding Syria after a devastating civil war. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the two leaders would talk about postwar reconstruction and the continuation of the peace process in all of its aspects with an emphasis on the absolute priority of Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Wednesday's meeting comes on the anniversary of Syria's 12-year uprising-turned-civil war that has killed nearly 500,000 people and displaced half of the country's prewar population. Russia has waged a military campaign in Syria since September 2015, teaming up with Iran to allow Assad's government to fight back armed opposition groups and to reclaim control over most of the country. While Russia has concentrated its military resources in Ukraine, Moscow has maintained its military foothold in Syria and kept its warplanes and troops there. Moscow ha

Will Vladimir Putin attend India G20 summit? Russia clears diary

Kremlin defiance is growing as efforts by the US and its allies to isolate Russia over its invasion of Ukraine are stalling in the face of reluctance among other countries to join

Putin may visit India for G20 summit, though no decision made yet: Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin may attend the G-20 summit in India in September, but no decision has yet been made, his spokesperson said on Monday. "It cannot be ruled out," Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said when asked if Putin's participation in the summit in India in September was being considered. "But no decision has been made yet," Peskov was quoted as saying by the state-run Tass news agency. "Russia continues its full participation in the G20 format, we intend to continue it," Peskov added. The Russian delegation at the G20 leaders' forum in Bali, Indonesia last year was headed by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. In 2020 and 2021 Putin attended the G20 summits via video link. The G20 Leaders' Summit is scheduled to be held on September 9 and 10 in New Delhi. G20 or the Group of 20 is an intergovernmental forum of the world's major developed and developing economies. The members represent around 85 per cent of the global GDP, over 75 per cent of the global trade, and

Russia's economy holds up amid sanctions, but growing challenges test Putin

Western sanctions have hit Russian banks, wealthy individuals and technology imports. But after a year of far-reaching restrictions aimed at degrading Moscow's war chest, economic life for ordinary Russians doesn't look all that different than it did before the invasion of Ukraine. There's no mass unemployment, no plunging currency, no lines in front of failing banks. The assortment at the supermarket is little changed, with international brands still available or local substitutes taking their place. Crowds might have thinned at some Moscow malls, but not drastically. Some foreign companies like McDonald's and Starbucks have been taken over by local owners who slapped different names on essentially the same menu. Economically, nothing has changed, said Vladimir Zharov, 53, who works in television. "I work as I used to work, I go shopping as I used to. Well, maybe the prices have risen a little bit, but not in such a way that it is very noticeable. Russia's economy has weathered th

Putin bans use of foreign language words: History of loanwords in Russian

Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, Putin has said that he wants to "protect" the country from a "degenerate" West

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Will 'take into account' nuclear capability of US, NATO countries: Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that after Russia suspended its participation in the last arms control agreement with Washington, it would take into account the nuclear weapons capabilities not only of the United States but of other NATO countries such as France and Britain. Putin had said in a speech suspending Russia's role in the 2010 New START treaty earlier this week that France and Britain, not parties to the agreement, had joined the United States in targeting Russia with nuclear weapons. In an interview with Russian TV that was recorded on Wednesday and broadcast on Sunday, he said he took the action to "preserve our country, ensure security and strategic stability" and added: In today's conditions, when all the leading NATO countries have declared their main goal to inflict a strategic defeat on us, to make our people suffer ... how can we not take into account their nuclear capabilities? Moreover, they supply weapons to Ukraine wor

Russia cannot ignore NATO's nuclear capability: Putin on exiting New START

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview broadcast Sunday that Russia has no choice but to take into account NATO's nuclear capabilities, in remarks justifying Russia's recent suspension of its participation in the New START treaty. As he has done repeatedly during the Ukraine war, Putin claimed that Russia faces an existential threat because, in his view, NATO members are seeking the country's strategic defeat. He said on Russian state TV that the suspension of New START stemmed from the need to ensure security, strategic stability for Russia. When all the leading NATO countries have declared their main goal as inflicting a strategic defeat on us (...) how can we ignore their nuclear capabilities in these conditions? Putin said. Putin's overarching goal in invading Ukraine a year ago was to reduce what he perceived as threats to Russia's security, and at times he has used that as justification for threats to use nuclear weapons in the conflict. Putin declared Tuesday

We Oppose creation of a unipolar world for US interests, agenda: Putin

Russia's President Vladimir Putin on Sunday said that the main cause of his country's difference with the US and its allies was its strong opposition to creation of a unipolar world

Ukraine Prez Zelenskyy seeks more sanctions on Russia, fighting grinds on

Fighting is grinding on in Ukraine after the country marked the anniversary of Russia's invasion, with Ukrainian authorities on Saturday reporting dozens of new Russian strikes and attacks on cities in the east and south. After a somber and defiant day of commemorations on Friday and a marathon news conference, Ukraine's seemingly indefatigable president followed up with new video posts a day later in which he declared that Russia must lose in Ukraine" and argued that its forces can be defeated this year. In a separate tweet, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also pushed for more sanctions pressure on Russia after the UK, US and the European Union all announced new measures aimed at further choking off funding and support for Moscow. The pressure on Russian aggressor must increase, Zelenskyy tweeted in English. He said that Ukraine wants to see decisive steps against Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, and the Russian nuclear industry as well as more pressure on military and ...

Olaf Scholz heads to India to deepen ties on green energy, defence

Scholz also plans to discuss Russia's war on Ukraine with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a time when Europe and its allies are struggling to maintain economic pressure on the Kremlin

War in Ukraine: How one year of conflict changed geopolitics and economics

Friday marks the one-year anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine war, have a look at how the conflict that nobody believed would last this long changed the world

Putin, Afghans among top gift givers to Biden, family in 2021: Documents

Russia's president and the deposed leader of Afghanistan were among the top gift givers to President Joe Biden and his family in 2021, according to federal documents published on Thursday. In happier times between all three countries, Vladimir Putin gave Biden a $12,000 lacquer writing box and pen when they met at a highly anticipated summit in Geneva, Switzerland in June 2021. And, then-Afghan President Mohammed Ashraf Ghani and his wife gave the U.S. president and first lady Jill Biden silk rugs worth an estimated $28,800 later that month. Relations between the U.S. and Russia turned sour shortly after the Geneva meeting and have plummeted since Russia's invasion of Ukraine last February. Ghani, meanwhile, fled Afghanistan shortly after the U.S. withdrew from the country on Biden's orders in August, 2021. The details were contained in the State Department's annual accounting of gifts to U.S. officials from world leaders posted on the website of the Federal Register on Thursday. T

Will deploy Sarmat N-missiles: Putin; G7 raise Ukraine support to $39 bn

Ukraine's parliament imposed sweeping 50-year sanctions on Thursday on Russian financial institutions including the central bank, all commercial banks, investment funds, insurers and other enterprises

Putin's craven lust for land & power will fail: Biden on Russia Ukraine war

US President Joe Biden assured to continue supporting Ukraine as it enters a second year of the ongoing war and said Russian President Vladimir Putin's "craven lust for land and power will fail"

Russia wants to solve conflict with Ukraine peacefully: Vladimir Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin, said that Moscow wanted to solve the conflict in Ukraine peacefully but the Western countries had prepared a "different scenario" behind its back, Reuters reported.

Last US-Russia arms control treaty in jeopardy after Putin's announcement

Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement Tuesday that Moscow is suspending its participation in the last remaining U.S.-Russia arms control treaty will have an immediate impact on U.S. visibility into Russian nuclear activities, but the pact was already on life support. Putin's decision to suspend Russian cooperation with the treaty's nuclear warhead and missile inspections follows Moscow's cancellation late last year of talks that had been intended to salvage an agreement that both sides have accused the other of violating. In his state-of-the-nation address to the Russian people, Putin said Russia was withdrawing from the treaty because of U.S. support to Ukraine, and he accused the U.S. and its NATO allies of openly working for Russia's destruction. The U.S. had previously walked away from the treaty. During the Trump administration, the U.S. declined to engage in negotiations to extend it, accusing Moscow of flagrant violations. But when President Joe Biden took office in

Putin vs Biden: What is New START treaty? Here's all you need to know

Vladimir Putin suspended Russia's participation in the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty with the United States, here's all you need to know

Putin walks out of nuclear pact, says US and Ukraine were ready to attack

'West intends to transform a local conflict into a phase of global confrontation

Russian Prez Putin chides West, defends Ukraine invasion in major speech

Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Western countries Tuesday of igniting and sustaining the war in Ukraine, dismissing any blame for Moscow almost a year after the Kremlin's unprovoked invasion of its neighbour that has killed tens of thousands of people. In his long-delayed state-of-the-nation address, Putin cast Russia and Ukraine as victims of Western double-dealing and said Russia, not Ukraine, was the one fighting for its very existence. We aren't fighting the Ukrainian people, Putin said in a speech days before the war's first anniversary on Friday. Ukraine has become hostage of the Kyiv regime and its Western masters, which have effectively occupied the country. The speech reiterated a litany of grievances that the Russian leader has frequently offered as justification for the widely condemned war and ignored international demands to pull back from occupied areas in Ukraine. Observers are expected to scour it for signs of how Putin sees the conflict, which has become