Page 69 - Vladimir Putin

Putin expresses condolences to families of Morbi bridge collapse victims

Russian President Vladimir Putin has extended his condolences to the families of the people who lost their lives in a bridge collapse in Gujarat's Morbi city. The more than a century-old bridge, which had reopened five days back after extensive repairs and renovation, was crammed with people when it collapsed on Sunday evening. Over 130 people have died so far in the accident. In a message to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi which was published on the Kremlin website on Monday, Putin said, Dear Ms President, dear Mr Prime Minister, please accept my heartfelt condolences over the tragic bridge collapse in the state of Gujarat. Putin also conveyed his words of sympathy and support to the families and friends of the victims, and wished all those injured a speedy recovery, state-owned TASS news agency reported. Modi has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF) for the next of kin of each of the deceased and Rs .

'Terrifying' Putin driven by 'evil forces,' says ECB's Christine Lagarde

Putin's attack on Ukraine is his attempt to "cause chaos and to destroy as much of Europe as he can," she said

China reaffirms support for Putin after Xi's 3rd term victory at Congress

China has reaffirmed its firm support to Russian President Vladimir Putin, playing down reports that it may recalibrate its strategy towards Moscow after the key Communist Party Congress which endorsed President Xi Jinping for a record third five-year term. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a telephonic conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Thursday. Wang, who was elected to the 24-member Politburo, a high-power body of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), is emerging as Xi's top official on foreign policy issues. He will take over his new position in March next year. Wang chose to make his first phone call to Lavrov after the party congress to highlight the continued importance Beijing attached to Moscow. China is willing to deepen exchanges with Russia at all levels and promote bilateral relations and cooperation in various fields to a higher level, he was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency. In his interaction with Lavrov, Wang sa

Russian President Putin praises PM Modi for 'independent foreign policy'

Russia has special ties with India and they have always supported each other and will remain so in the future, President Vladimir Putin has said, as he praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for pursuing an "independent foreign policy" in the interest of his country. Putin's remarks came at a plenary session of the Valdai International Discussion Club, a Moscow-based think-tank on Thursday. He said Russia and India continue to cooperate in the military and technical areas. We have special ties with India that are built on the foundation of really close allied relations for decades. We never had any outstanding issues with India, we have always supported each other and I'm positive that's how it will remain in the future as well, Russian state media RT quoted Putin as saying. Putin's comments came more than a month after Prime Minister Modi told him that today's era is not of war as they met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan in

LIVE: Pact to set up Tata-Airbus proj in Guj inked under MVA rule, says min

From national and international political developments to rising air pollution and farm fires, catch all the latest news from across the globe here

World faces most dangerous decade since World War II: Vladimir Putin

The world faces "probably the most dangerous" decade since the end of World War Two, Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned

US, allies say no biological weapons in Ukraine; Russia disagrees

The US and its Western allies on Thursday dismissed Russia's claims that banned biological weapons activities are taking place in Ukraine with American support, calling the allegation disinformation and fabrications. Russia's UN ambassador said Moscow will pursue a UN investigation of its allegations that both countries are violating the convention prohibiting the use of biological weapons. The dispute came in the third UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine-related issues that Russia has called since Tuesday. This one focused on a 310-page document that Russia circulated to council members this week alleging there is military biological activity in Ukraine with support of the US Defence Department. The document includes an official complaint to the council, allowed under Article VI of the 1972 biological weapons convention, and a draft resolution that would authorize the Security Council to set up a commission to address Russia's claims. Russia's allegation of secret American ...

Putin lauds PM Narendra Modi's leadership and independent foreign policy

Russian President, in his annual address to the Valdai Discussion Club, lauded PM Narendra Modi's independent foreign policy, saying that a lot has been done under his leadership in India

Russian President Putin rules out using nuclear weapons in Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday denied having any intentions of using nuclear weapons in Ukraine but described the conflict there as part of alleged efforts by the West to secure its global domination, which he insisted are doomed to fail. Speaking at a conference of international foreign policy experts, Putin said it's pointless for Russia to strike Ukraine with nuclear weapons. We see no need for that, Putin said. There is no point in that, neither political, nor military. Putin said an earlier warning of his readiness to use all means available to protect Russia didn't amount to nuclear saber-rattling but was merely a response to Western statements about their possible use of nuclear weapons. He particularly mentioned Liz Truss saying in August that she would be ready to use nuclear weapons if she became Britain's prime minister, a remark which he said worried the Kremlin. What were we supposed to think? Putin said. We saw that as a coordinated position, an attempt

World faces most dangerous decade since WWII: Russian President Putin

Ultimately, Putin said, the West would have to talk to Russia and other major powers about the future of the world.

Russian Prez Putin claims West seeks global domination by using Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday sought to cast the conflict in Ukraine as part of efforts by the West to secure its global domination. Speaking at a conference of international policy experts, Putin accused the US and its allies of trying to dictate their terms to other nations in a dangerous and bloody domination game. Putin, who sent his troops into Ukraine on February 24, has cast Western support for Ukraine as part of broad efforts by Washington and its allies to enforce what they call a rules-based world order that only foments chaos. The Russian leader warned that he who will sow the wind will reap the whirlwind. Putin claimed that humankind now faces a choice: accumulate a load of problems that will inevitably crush us all or try to find solutions that may not be ideal but working and could make the world more stable and secure. Putin said Russia isn't the enemy of the West but will continue to oppose the diktat of Western neo-liberal elites.

Russia's chaotic draft leaves some reservists out in cold, without gear

The mobilised reservists that Russian President Vladimir Putin visited last week at a firing range southeast of Moscow looked picture-perfect. Kremlin video of the young men headed for the war in Ukraine showed them in mint-condition uniforms, equipped with all the gear needed for combat: helmets, bulletproof vests and sleeping bags. When Putin asked if they had any problems, they shook their heads. That stands in stark contrast with the complaints circulating widely on Russian news outlets and social media of equipment shortages, poor living conditions and scant training for the new recruits. Since Putin announced the mobilisation on September 21, independent media, human rights activists and those called up have painted a bleak picture of a haphazard, chaotic and ethnically biased effort to round up as many men as possible and push them quickly to the front lines, regardless of skill, training and equipment. Videos on Russian social networks showed conscripted men complaining of

Vladimir Putin scrambles to boost weapons production for Ukraine war

Russian President Vladimir Putin, facing bureaucratic delays and mounting losses, urged his government Tuesday to cut through bureaucracy to crank out enough weapons and supplies to feed the war in Ukraine, where a Western-armed Ukrainian counteroffensive has set back Russia's forces. In other developments, Ukrainian authorities asked citizens not to return home and further tax the country's battered energy infrastructure, and Western countries mulled how to rebuild Ukraine when the war ends. The Russian military's shortfalls in the eight-month war have been so pronounced that Putin had to create a structure to try to address them. On Tuesday, he chaired a new committee designed to accelerate the production and delivery of weapons and supplies for Russian troops, stressing the need to gain higher tempo in all areas. Russian news reports have acknowledged that many of those called up under a mobilisation of 300,000 reservists Putin ordered haven't been provided with basic equipment .

US rejects Russia's 'dirtybomb' claim, calls it a plot to escalate war

Russia has alleged that it suspects Kyiv of planning to use 'dirty bomb'

Wars aren't won with peacetime economies

Wars inevitably cause shortages and generate windfall gains for some at the expense of others

Russian, Ukrainian troops gird for major battle over strategic city Kherson

Russian and Ukrainian troops appeared Thursday to be girding for a major battle over the strategic southern industrial port city of Kherson, in a region which Russian President Vladimir Putin has illegally annexed and subjected to martial law. Fighting and evacuations were reported in the Kherson region as Moscow tried to pound the invaded country into submission with more missile and drone attacks on critical infrastructure. Putin declared martial law in the Kherson, Luhansk, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions on Wednesday in an attempt to assert Russian authority in the annexed areas as he faced battlefield setbacks, a troubled troop mobilisation, increasing criticism at home and abroad, and international sanctions. The unsettled status of the illegally absorbed territory was especially visible in the Kherson region's capital, where Russian military officials have replaced Kremlin-installed civilian leaders as part of martial law that took effect Thursday to defend against a Ukraini

Russia-Ukraine war: Putin finds himself tested even by most reliable allies

Central Asia remains tethered to Russia through basics like trade and pipelines, and that won't change overnight

Former US VP Pence warns of 'unprincipled populists', 'Putin apologists'

Former Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday warned against the growing populist tide in the Republican Party as he admonished Putin apologists unwilling to stand up to the Russian leader over his assault on Ukraine. Speaking at the conservative Heritage Foundation in Washington less than a month before November's midterm elections, Pence addressed the growing gulf between traditional conservatives and a new generation of populist candidates inspired, in part, by former President Donald Trump, who has transformed a large swath of the party. Today, on the cusp of a new era of Republican leadership ... I think we need to chart a course that doesn't veer off too far in either direction," Pence told the think tank audience. Our movement cannot forsake the foundational commitment that we have to security, to limited government, to liberty and to life. But nor can we allow our movement to be led astray by the siren song of unprincipled populism that's unmoored from our oldest traditions

Putin declares martial law in four unilaterally annexed regions of Ukraine

Putin also instructed the government to set up a special coordinating council under Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin to work with Russia's regions to boost Moscow's war effort in Ukraine

Russia says seized Ukrainian lands are under its nuclear protection

Nearly eight months into his invasion of Ukraine, some analysts believe the likelihood of Putin resorting to nuclear weapons has increased since his army suffered a series of major defeats