Category Archives: Vladimir Putin

Putin dismisses fears that Moscow plans to attack Nato as ‘nonsense’

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During speech in Sochi, Russian president also strikes conciliatory note towards Donald Trump

Vladimir Putin has vowed to quickly retaliate against Europe’s “escalating militarisation”, while dismissing as “nonsense” western fears that Moscow plans to attack Nato.

During a wide-ranging speech in Sochi on Thursday, the Russian president said: “We are closely monitoring the escalating militarisation of Europe … We simply cannot ignore what is happening. We have no right to do so for reasons of our own security.”

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Zelenskyy says Russia launched 500 drones and 40 missiles in ‘vile attack’ on Ukraine – Ukraine war live

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Twelve-year-old girl among those killed in Kyiv as Ukraine president condemns ‘brutal’ Russian strikes

In an address at the UN general assembly in New York on Saturday, Moscow’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov warned that “any aggression against my country will be met with a decisive response” but insisted Russia has no intention of attacking EU or Nato member states.

In a wide-ranging speech, Lavrov said threats against Russia by western countries were becoming “increasingly common”.

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Putin preparing to attack another European country, Zelenskyy says

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Ukraine’s president says Kremlin checking Europe’s capacity to protect its skies following new drone sightings

Vladimir Putin will expand his war in Ukraine by attacking another European country, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has predicted, and accused Russia of recent drone incursions that he said were an attempt to test Nato’s defences.

Speaking in Kyiv after his meeting with Donald Trump at the UN in New York, the Ukrainian president said Russia was preparing for a bigger conflict. “Putin will not wait to finish his war in Ukraine. He will open up some other direction. Nobody knows where. He wants that,” he said.

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Starmer has avoided state-visit bear traps but has he changed any of Trump’s thinking?

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PM cannot afford for US president to walk away from Ukraine crisis and must persuade him to publicly support specific Gaza plans

With bear traps avoided and fireworks unlit, Keir Starmer will be delighted that his press conference with Donald Trump lent credence to his claim to be America’s first partner in defence, trade and now technology.

Trump, for his part, got the “great pictures” he wanted and was on his best low-wattage behaviour. He said he did not disagree with his host about much, save Starmer’s plan to recognise a Palestinian state. And he teetered on the edge of being diplomatic, at least until he advised Starmer to use the military to stop small boats crossing the Channel.

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Western troops in Ukraine would be ‘legitimate targets’, Putin says

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Russian president’s threat follows French proposal for postwar support for Kyiv that would include presence of Nato countries’ forces

Vladimir Putin has said any western troops placed in Ukraine would be “legitimate targets” for Russian strikes, upping the stakes as Kyiv’s allies scramble to come up with a convincing offer of postwar support to Ukraine.

Speaking a day after the French president, Emmanuel Macron, announced still-vague plans for a package of support for Ukraine backed by 26 nations, Putin on Friday said any guarantees that involved boots on the ground would violate Moscow’s longstanding objections to Nato troops in Ukraine.

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Macron says 26 nations ready to provide postwar military backing to Ukraine

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French president says allies would either deploy ‘reassurance force’ troops to Ukraine, or be present in the area on land, sea or in the air

Twenty-six nations have pledged to provide postwar security guarantees to Ukraine, including an international force on land and sea and in the air, Emmanuel Macron said after a summit at which European leaders sought to pin down Donald Trump on the level of support he is willing to give Kyiv.

“The day the conflict stops, the security guarantees will be deployed,” the French president told a press conference at the Élysée Palace in Paris, standing alongside Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

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Thursday briefing: China flexes its muscle in the tussle for global dominance

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In today’s newsletter: In hosting anti-western leaders at its largest ever military parade, Beijing sent a defiant message that will be heard loud and clear across the world

Good morning. All eyes have been on China this week as the second biggest global economy flexed its muscles.

Dozens of world leaders, including from the global south, authoritarian pariah states and the EU, attended China’s largest ever military parade on Wednesday to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the second world war, which China calls the war of resistance against Japanese aggression.

UK news | Deputy PM Angela Rayner has admitted she underpaid stamp duty on her £800,000 seaside flat, after coming under intense pressure to be more transparent about her property arrangements.

Russia | Vladimir Putin has invited Kim Jong-un to visit Russia during a lengthy meeting in Beijing on the sidelines of China’s biggest military parade, as Kim promised to do “everything I can to assist” Moscow.

Police | The Metropolitan police have declined to drop their investigation into the comedy writer Graham Linehan for tweets about trans issues, and said that the law used by officers to detain him needs reviewing.

Israel | Israeli drones dropped four grenades near UN peacekeepers in south Lebanon, the agency’s force said on Wednesday, in what it described as “one of the most serious attacks” on its personnel since a November ceasefire.

Portugal | A day of national mourning has been declared in Portugal after at least 15 people were killed when Lisbon’s well-known Gloria funicular railway car derailed and crashed on Wednesday.

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Kim Jong-un promises to do ‘everything to assist’ Moscow after Putin meeting

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North Korean leader invited to visit Russia as Zelenskyy says Putin is displaying ‘impunity’ with new Ukraine strikes

Vladimir Putin has invited Kim Jong-un to visit Russia during a lengthy meeting in Beijing on the sidelines of China’s biggest military parade, as Kim promised to do “everything I can to assist” Moscow.

North Korea has supported Russia in its war against Ukraine with weapons and troops, and the Russian president praised North Korean fighters for acting “courageously and heroically”.

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Xi, Putin and Kim: behind the choreographed image that could symbolise a shift in the global balance of power

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In an unprecedented spectacle the leaders of Russia, China and North Korea led a group of more than 20 world leaders at a victory day parade in Beijing

It is an image that, had it been published just a few years ago, would have been dismissed as a piece of mischievous photo-shopping: the leaders of Russia and China, accompanied by the head of a pariah regime whose mission to arm his country with nuclear weapons had been opposed at the United Nations by his two companions.

But dramatic shifts in the geopolitical landscape – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and, crucially, the re-election of Donald Trump – have combined to bring Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un together in what many observers are calling a dramatic redrawing of the global balance of power.

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Xi Jinping says world faces ‘peace or war’, as Putin and Kim join him for military parade

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Trump criticises victory day event as China caps off week of diplomatic grandstanding seen as rebuke to the west

Xi Jinping said the world was facing a choice between peace or war as he held China’s largest-ever military parade, joined by Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un in a show of defiance to the west.

Putin and Kim, the authoritarian leaders of Russia and North Korea, were among dozens of world leaders who attended the parade, a massive display of military hardware and personnel, orchestrated to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the second world war, which China calls the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.

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Putin hails ties with China as Kim Jong-un arrives in Beijing on eve of parade

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Russian president says relations at ‘unprecedentedly high level’ as dozens of leaders gather for Victory Day events

Vladimir Putin has hailed Russia’s “unprecedentedly” high level of ties with China, as dozens of leaders including the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-un, arrived in Beijing on the eve of a massive military parade intended to showcase a Chinese-led global order.

Putin called China’s leader, Xi Jinping, a “dear friend” after the two held talks at the Great Hall of the People and then at Xi’s personal residence. “Our close communication reflects the strategic nature of Russia-China relations, which are at an unprecedentedly high level,” Putin told Xi, according to a video on the Kremlin’s Telegram channel. “We were always together then, and we remain together now.”

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Modi’s warm meeting with Xi shows impact of Trump’s ‘tariff tantrum’

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China seizes on opportunity for geopolitical realignment after India was hit with one of US’s harshest trade penalties

They stood together like old friends, heads thrown back in jovial laughter, clutching one another’s hands affectionately. Except this was no ordinary gathering of three men, but a meeting of three of the most powerful non-western leaders: Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi.

The overt displays of intimacy were widely regarded by observers as a telling message of defiance aimed at their western counterparts, in particular Donald Trump, who just a few days earlier had slapped India with 50% import tariffs, among the harshest of the US president’s trade penalties.

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Xi Jinping criticises ‘bullying behaviour’ and Putin blames west for Ukraine war at Shanghai summit

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China’s leader urges attendees to oppose ‘cold war mentality’ while Russian president claims Ukraine war was ‘provoked by the west’

Xi Jinping has criticised the “bullying behaviour” of other countries while Vladimir Putin has blamed the west for his war on Ukraine, on the second day of a major summit in China which seeks to challenge western-led multilateral blocs.

The Shanghai Cooperation Summit (SCO) began in the city of Tianjin on Sunday, with Xi welcoming dozens of leaders from Eurasian member states and other partner and observer countries, including Putin, and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi.

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Putin, Modi and Erdoğan among leaders in China for talks with Xi

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Chinese president hosts bilateral meetings on sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin

Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin have met on the sidelines of a showpiece summit in China that seeks to challenge US-led, western-dominated blocs and is being attended by the leaders of more than two dozen nations.

The Chinese and Russian leaders, who are closely allied under what they have termed a “limitless” partnership, discussed Putin’s recent meeting with Donald Trump, according to a Kremlin official, who gave no further details.

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Ukrainian lawmaker shot dead in Lviv as Zelenskyy says hunt for killer is under way – as it happened

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This live blog is now closed

Andriy Parubiy, a Ukrainian politician who previously served as the parliament speaker, has been shot dead in western city of Lviv, say officials.

Confirming the news, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X:

Ukraine’s minister of internal affairs Ihor Klymenko and prosecutor general Ruslan Kravchenko have just reported the first known circumstances of the horrendous murder in Lviv. Andriy Parubiy was killed.

My condolences to his family and loved ones. All necessary forces and means are engaged in the investigation and search for the killer.

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Putin embarks on China visit with Ukraine war top of agenda

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Analysts say Putin and Xi will aim to align positions during Russian leader’s unusually long stay

Vladimir Putin will travel to China this weekend for what the Kremlin has called a “truly unprecedented” visit to his most important ally, which comes at a crunch moment in talks over Ukraine.

During the trip, which is expected to stretch to close to a week – unusually long for the Russian leader – he will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, hold talks with Xi Jinping, and take in Beijing’s Victory Day military parade marking 80 years since Japan’s defeat in the second world war, where Putin is due to be the star guest alongside North Korea’s Kim Jong-un and leaders of Iran and Cuba.

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Putin and Kim to join Xi at Chinese military parade in show of defiance to the west

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The Victory Day parade in Beijing on 3 September will mark the formal surrender of Japan during the second world war. No western leaders will attend

Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un are among the world leaders who will attend a military parade with President Xi Jinping in Beijing next week, in a show of collective defiance amid western pressure.

No western leaders will be among the 26 foreign heads of state and government attending the parade next week – with the exception of Robert Fico, prime minister of Slovakia, a member of the European Union – according to the Chinese foreign ministry.

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Russia says Europe’s leaders don’t want peace in Ukraine as Vance says US will keep trying

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Russian foreign minister praises Trump’s effort and got defensive when asked if Putin was ‘stringing along’ Trump

Russia accused western European leaders on Sunday of not wanting peace in Ukraine, as Moscow’s most senior diplomat praised efforts by Donald Trump to end the war, while Vice-President JD Vance said the US would “keep on trying” to broker talks in the absence of a deal.

Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, made the comments during a sometimes contentious interview on NBC on Sunday morning, during which he denied his country had bombed civilian targets in Ukraine.

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Prigozhin knew he was ‘doomed’ after failed rebellion, says mother

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Violetta Prigozhina, 85, says she warned her son not to defy Putin’s authority before he was killed in a plane crash

The Russian warlord and businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin looked “doomed” after his failed mutiny and told his mother he expected to die in the days before his private plane crash.

Prigozhin, the founder of the notorious Wagner mercenary group, died when his business jet went down in the summer of 2023, two months after his fighters briefly seized control of the southern city of Rostov-on-Don and advanced towards Moscow in a short-lived rebellion against Russia’s military leadership.

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Ukraine attacks pipeline that sends Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia

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Hungary’s foreign minister claims missile strike on energy infrastructure is ‘another attempt to drag us into war’

Ukraine has hit a key pumping station on the Druzhba oil pipeline bringing fuel to Europe from Russia, knocking out supplies to Hungary and Slovakia, the only remaining EU member states still receiving Russian oil.

As Ukraine targets infrastructure crucial to Moscow’s war effort in response to the Russian onslaught, the commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, Robert Brovdi, announced the attack on the Unecha pumping station in the Bryansk region.

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