Trump floated a Putin visit to the White House in a March 20 phone call

President Donald Trump proposed meeting Vladimir Putin at the White House in a March phone call, the Kremlin said Monday, a fresh revelation about a conversation that stirred controversy over Trump's friendly tone toward the Russian leader amid mounting tensions with the West. After the March 20 phone call - in which Trump congratulated Putin for a reelection victory in a vote widely criticized as not free and fair - Trump told reporters that the two leaders had discussed a possible meeting to discuss Syria, Ukraine, North Korea and "the arms race."

Russia to expel 60 US diplomats, close American consulate in St. Petersburg

Russia has said it will expel 60 U.S. diplomats and close the American consulate in St. Petersburg as part of a tit-for-tat retaliation against the coordinated wave of expulsions of dozens of Russian diplomats ordered by the United States and other countries earlier this week over the poisoning of a former spy in Britain.

Russia Retaliates, Expels 60 American Diplomats After U.S. Action

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced Thursday that Moscow is expelling 60 U.S. diplomats. Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP hide caption Days after President Trump ordered the expulsion of 60 Russian officials from the United States and the closure of the Russian Consulate in Seattle, in response to the nerve agent attack of a Russian ex-spy and his daughter in the U.K., Russia has responded in kind.

Families of victims of Russia’s mall fire are angry. What does this mean for Putin’s power?

Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to locals and relatives of the victims of a fire in a multistory shopping center in the Siberian city of Kemerovo, Russia, on Tuesday. On March 18, Russian President Vladimir Putin won reelection with 77 percent of the vote at 67 percent turnout.

Spy expulsions a setback for Trump-Putin courtship

In this file photo taken on July 7, 2017 US President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin shake hands during a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany. AFP / SAUL LOEB Washington: Donald Trump has ordered an unprecedented expulsion of Russian officials and warned the Kremlin needs to change, a setback for his courtship of Vladimir Putin, but perhaps not its end.

Putin ‘Couldn’t Care Less’ if Russians Meddled in US Election

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting during his visit to Samara, Russia, March 7, 2018. Putin had more words of praise for U.S. President Donald Trump in a documentary released March 7 but expressed disappointment with the U.S. political sys Russian President Vladimir Putin said he "couldn't care less" if Russian citizens sought to meddle in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, insisting that the Kremlin had nothing to do with the efforts.

OPED: Five things Trump could do to stop Russia’s meddling

There's been no call to arms from President Trump, who could galvanize the federal bureaucracy and Congress to counter the threat if he chose. Instead, the president still reacts to warnings about Russian interference as if they were attacks on his legitimacy.

Putin: Russia will never extradite its citizens to US

Moscow [Russia], Mar. 05 : Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that they would not extradite their 13 nationals accused of meddling in the 2016 United States presidential elections. According to the Russian news agency TASS, which quoted Putin from an interview he had recently given to the American news channel, NBC TV, the president also said the accused indicted in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation did not act on Russian state's behalf.

McDonough stands by Obama admin response to Russia

Former White House chief of staff Denis McDonough on Sunday defended the Obama administration's response to suspected Russian interference in the 2016 election, rebuffing the continued criticism former President Barack Obama has sustained on the issue. "We took a series of painstaking steps, including the President directly confronting President Putin," McDonough said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Putin tells US to send evidence of vote meddling

Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a rally to support his bid in the upcoming presidential election at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia on March 3, 2018. Photo - Reuters Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a rally to support his bid in the upcoming presidential election at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia on March 3, 2018.

Strzok, Page and the FBI texting scandal explained

Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election has been clouded by revelations that two former members of his team sent negative text messages about President Trump. In the messages, Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, who were romantically involved, bash Trump and discuss concerns about being too tough on Hillary Clinton during an investigation into the use of her private email server.

Meet Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Russian Oligarch Indicted in U.S. Election Interference

Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, left, serving dinner to Vladimir V. Putin in Moscow in 2011, when Mr. Putin was prime minister. Mr. Prigozhin has emerged as Mr. Putin's go-to oligarch for sensitive and often-unsavory missions like the troll factory - called the Internet Research Agency - or recruiting contract soldiers to fight in Ukraine and Syria.

US intel sees signs of Russian meddling in midterms

Three of the nation's top intelligence officials confirmed Tuesday that they have seen evidence of Russian meddling in the upcoming midterm elections - part of what they say is Moscow's escalating cyber assault on American and European democracies. "We have seen Russian activity and intentions to have an impact on the next election cycle," CIA Director Mike Pompeo told the Senate intelligence committee.

A Russian Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile drives through Red Square in Moscow – AFP/FILE

The strategic arms reduction treaty was signed by Washington and Moscow in 2010, and took effect in February 2011. It calls for the gradual reduction over 10 years of the number of nuclear warheads held by both sides, limits on the number of delivery systems, a strict verification regime and data exchanges.

Habakkuk on ‘longtime’ sources:

In the light of the suggestion in the Nunes memo that Steele was 'a longtime FBI source' it seems worth sketching out some background, which may also make it easier to see some possible reasons why he 'was desperate that Donald Trump not get elected and was passionate about him not being president.' There is reason to suspect that some former and very likely current employees of the FBI have been colluding with elements in other American and British intelligence agencies, in particular the CIA and MI6, in support of an extremely ambitious foreign policy agenda for a very long time.