A high-profile general in Russia’s military has been shot several times and wounded in Moscow.
Lt Gen Vladimir Alexeyev was immediately taken to hospital after the attack in a residential building on the north-western outskirts of the city and his condition is unknown.
Alexeyev is a senior figure in the main directorate of Russia’s military general staff (GRU) and is the latest high-ranking military figure to have been targeted in the capital since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began almost four years ago.
He was placed under European Union sanctions after the GRU was accused of being behind a 2018 nerve agent attack in Salisbury in the UK.
“The victim has been hospitalised at one of the city’s hospitals,” said Svetlana Petrenko of Russia’s Investigations Committee, which said it opened a criminal case for attempted murder.
Alexeyev has played a significant role during the war in Ukraine, taking part in talks with Ukraine during the Russian siege of Mariupol in 2022.
He was also sent to negotiate with the head of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who led a short and bloody mutiny in June 2023.
It is not yet known who was behind the shooting on Friday morning in a residential block on Volokolamskoye Highway in Moscow.
Ukraine has claimed some attacks on Russia military figures in the past. Russian intelligence officials claimed they had thwarted an attempted attack on a Russian soldier in St Petersburg at the end of last month.
An Uzbek man was jailed in January for the 2024 killing of another general, Igor Kirillov, in an explosion outside a block of flats in Moscow. Ukraine’s SBU intelligence had said it was behind the attack.
Lt Gen Kirillov had been in charge of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection troops.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that he will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida over the weekend.Related video above: Ukraine and U.S. discuss peace proposals on Christmas Day amid Russian attacksZelenskyy told journalists that the two leaders will discuss security guarantees for Ukraine during Sunday’s talks and that the 20-point plan under discussion “is about 90% ready.”The meeting will take place at Mar-a-Lago.An “economic agreement” also will be discussed, Zelenskyy said, but added that he was unable to confirm “whether anything will be finalized by the end.”The Ukrainian side will also raise “territorial issues,” he said. Moscow has insisted that Ukraine relinquish the remaining territory it still holds in the Donbas — an ultimatum that Ukraine has rejected. Russia has captured most of Luhansk and about 70% of Donetsk — the two areas that make up the Donbas.Zelenskyy said that Ukraine “would like the Europeans to be involved,” but doubted whether it would be possible at short notice.“We must, without doubt, find some format in the near future in which not only Ukraine and the U.S. are present, but Europe is represented as well,” he said.The announced meeting is the latest development in an extensive U.S.-led diplomatic push to end the nearly four-year Russia-Ukraine war, but efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.Zelenskyy’s comments came after he said Thursday that he had a “good conversation” with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Friday that the Kremlin had already been in contact with U.S. representatives since Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev recently met with U.S. envoys in Florida.“It was agreed upon to continue the dialogue,” he said.Trump is engaged in a diplomatic push to end Russia’s all-out war, which began on Feb. 24, 2022, but his efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv. Zelenskyy said Tuesday that he would be willing to withdraw troops from Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland as part of a plan to end the war if Russia also pulls back and the area becomes a demilitarized zone monitored by international forces.Though Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday that there had been “slow but steady progress” in the peace talks, Russia has given no indication that it will agree to any kind of withdrawal from land it has seized.On the ground, two people were killed and six more wounded Friday when a guided aerial bomb hit a busy road and set cars aflame in Ukraine’s second biggest city, Kharkiv, mayor Ihor Terekhov wrote on Telegram.One person was killed and three others were wounded when a guided aerial bomb hit a house in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, while six people were wounded in a missile strike on the city of Uman, local officials said Friday.Russian drone attacks on the city of Mykolaiv and its suburbs overnight into Friday left part of the city without power. Energy and port infrastructure were damaged by drones in the city of Odesa on the Black Sea.Meanwhile, Ukraine said that it struck a major Russian oil refinery on Thursday using U.K.-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.Ukraine’s General Staff said that its forces hit the Novoshakhtinsk refinery in Russia’s Rostov region.“Multiple explosions were recorded. The target was hit,” it wrote on Telegram.Rostov regional Gov. Yuri Slyusar said that a firefighter was wounded when extinguishing the fire.Ukraine’s long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries aim to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue it needs to pursue its full-scale invasion. Russia wants to cripple Ukraine’s power grid, seeking to deny civilians access to heat, light and running water in what Ukrainian officials say is an attempt to “weaponize winter.”
KYIV, Ukraine —
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that he will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida over the weekend.
Related video above: Ukraine and U.S. discuss peace proposals on Christmas Day amid Russian attacks
Zelenskyy told journalists that the two leaders will discuss security guarantees for Ukraine during Sunday’s talks and that the 20-point plan under discussion “is about 90% ready.”
The meeting will take place at Mar-a-Lago.
An “economic agreement” also will be discussed, Zelenskyy said, but added that he was unable to confirm “whether anything will be finalized by the end.”
The Ukrainian side will also raise “territorial issues,” he said. Moscow has insisted that Ukraine relinquish the remaining territory it still holds in the Donbas — an ultimatum that Ukraine has rejected. Russia has captured most of Luhansk and about 70% of Donetsk — the two areas that make up the Donbas.
Zelenskyy said that Ukraine “would like the Europeans to be involved,” but doubted whether it would be possible at short notice.
“We must, without doubt, find some format in the near future in which not only Ukraine and the U.S. are present, but Europe is represented as well,” he said.
The announced meeting is the latest development in an extensive U.S.-led diplomatic push to end the nearly four-year Russia-Ukraine war, but efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.
Zelenskyy’s comments came after he said Thursday that he had a “good conversation” with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Friday that the Kremlin had already been in contact with U.S. representatives since Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev recently met with U.S. envoys in Florida.
“It was agreed upon to continue the dialogue,” he said.
Trump is engaged in a diplomatic push to end Russia’s all-out war, which began on Feb. 24, 2022, but his efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.
Zelenskyy said Tuesday that he would be willing to withdraw troops from Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland as part of a plan to end the war if Russia also pulls back and the area becomes a demilitarized zone monitored by international forces.
Though Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday that there had been “slow but steady progress” in the peace talks, Russia has given no indication that it will agree to any kind of withdrawal from land it has seized.
On the ground, two people were killed and six more wounded Friday when a guided aerial bomb hit a busy road and set cars aflame in Ukraine’s second biggest city, Kharkiv, mayor Ihor Terekhov wrote on Telegram.
One person was killed and three others were wounded when a guided aerial bomb hit a house in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, while six people were wounded in a missile strike on the city of Uman, local officials said Friday.
Russian drone attacks on the city of Mykolaiv and its suburbs overnight into Friday left part of the city without power. Energy and port infrastructure were damaged by drones in the city of Odesa on the Black Sea.
Meanwhile, Ukraine said that it struck a major Russian oil refinery on Thursday using U.K.-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.
Ukraine’s General Staff said that its forces hit the Novoshakhtinsk refinery in Russia’s Rostov region.
“Multiple explosions were recorded. The target was hit,” it wrote on Telegram.
Rostov regional Gov. Yuri Slyusar said that a firefighter was wounded when extinguishing the fire.
Ukraine’s long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries aim to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue it needs to pursue its full-scale invasion. Russia wants to cripple Ukraine’s power grid, seeking to deny civilians access to heat, light and running water in what Ukrainian officials say is an attempt to “weaponize winter.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that he will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida over the weekend.Related video above: Ukraine and U.S. discuss peace proposals on Christmas Day amid Russian attacksZelenskyy told journalists that the two leaders will discuss security guarantees for Ukraine during Sunday’s talks and that the 20-point plan under discussion “is about 90% ready.”An “economic agreement” also will be discussed, Zelenskyy said, but added that he was unable to confirm “whether anything will be finalized by the end.”The Ukrainian side will also raise “territorial issues,” he said. Moscow has insisted that Ukraine relinquish the remaining territory it still holds in the Donbas — an ultimatum that Ukraine has rejected. Russia has captured most of Luhansk and about 70% of Donetsk — the two areas that make up the Donbas.Zelenskyy said that Ukraine “would like the Europeans to be involved,” but doubted whether it would be possible at short notice.“We must, without doubt, find some format in the near future in which not only Ukraine and the U.S. are present, but Europe is represented as well,” he said.The announced meeting is the latest development in an extensive U.S.-led diplomatic push to end the nearly four-year Russia-Ukraine war, but efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.Zelenskyy’s comments came after he said Thursday that he had a “good conversation” with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Friday that the Kremlin had already been in contact with U.S. representatives since Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev recently met with U.S. envoys in Florida.“It was agreed upon to continue the dialogue,” he said.Trump is engaged in a diplomatic push to end Russia’s all-out war, which began on Feb. 24, 2022, but his efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv. Zelenskyy said Tuesday that he would be willing to withdraw troops from Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland as part of a plan to end the war if Russia also pulls back and the area becomes a demilitarized zone monitored by international forces.Though Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday that there had been “slow but steady progress” in the peace talks, Russia has given no indication that it will agree to any kind of withdrawal from land it has seized.On the ground, two people were killed and six more wounded Friday when a guided aerial bomb hit a busy road and set cars aflame in Ukraine’s second biggest city, Kharkiv, mayor Ihor Terekhov wrote on Telegram.One person was killed and three others were wounded when a guided aerial bomb hit a house in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, while six people were wounded in a missile strike on the city of Uman, local officials said Friday.Russian drone attacks on the city of Mykolaiv and its suburbs overnight into Friday left part of the city without power. Energy and port infrastructure were damaged by drones in the city of Odesa on the Black Sea.Meanwhile, Ukraine said that it struck a major Russian oil refinery on Thursday using U.K.-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.Ukraine’s General Staff said that its forces hit the Novoshakhtinsk refinery in Russia’s Rostov region.“Multiple explosions were recorded. The target was hit,” it wrote on Telegram.Rostov regional Gov. Yuri Slyusar said that a firefighter was wounded when extinguishing the fire.Ukraine’s long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries aim to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue it needs to pursue its full-scale invasion. Russia wants to cripple Ukraine’s power grid, seeking to deny civilians access to heat, light and running water in what Ukrainian officials say is an attempt to “weaponize winter.”
KYIV, Ukraine —
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that he will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida over the weekend.
Related video above: Ukraine and U.S. discuss peace proposals on Christmas Day amid Russian attacks
Zelenskyy told journalists that the two leaders will discuss security guarantees for Ukraine during Sunday’s talks and that the 20-point plan under discussion “is about 90% ready.”
An “economic agreement” also will be discussed, Zelenskyy said, but added that he was unable to confirm “whether anything will be finalized by the end.”
The Ukrainian side will also raise “territorial issues,” he said. Moscow has insisted that Ukraine relinquish the remaining territory it still holds in the Donbas — an ultimatum that Ukraine has rejected. Russia has captured most of Luhansk and about 70% of Donetsk — the two areas that make up the Donbas.
Zelenskyy said that Ukraine “would like the Europeans to be involved,” but doubted whether it would be possible at short notice.
“We must, without doubt, find some format in the near future in which not only Ukraine and the U.S. are present, but Europe is represented as well,” he said.
The announced meeting is the latest development in an extensive U.S.-led diplomatic push to end the nearly four-year Russia-Ukraine war, but efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.
Zelenskyy’s comments came after he said Thursday that he had a “good conversation” with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Friday that the Kremlin had already been in contact with U.S. representatives since Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev recently met with U.S. envoys in Florida.
“It was agreed upon to continue the dialogue,” he said.
Trump is engaged in a diplomatic push to end Russia’s all-out war, which began on Feb. 24, 2022, but his efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.
Zelenskyy said Tuesday that he would be willing to withdraw troops from Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland as part of a plan to end the war if Russia also pulls back and the area becomes a demilitarized zone monitored by international forces.
Though Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday that there had been “slow but steady progress” in the peace talks, Russia has given no indication that it will agree to any kind of withdrawal from land it has seized.
On the ground, two people were killed and six more wounded Friday when a guided aerial bomb hit a busy road and set cars aflame in Ukraine’s second biggest city, Kharkiv, mayor Ihor Terekhov wrote on Telegram.
One person was killed and three others were wounded when a guided aerial bomb hit a house in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, while six people were wounded in a missile strike on the city of Uman, local officials said Friday.
Russian drone attacks on the city of Mykolaiv and its suburbs overnight into Friday left part of the city without power. Energy and port infrastructure were damaged by drones in the city of Odesa on the Black Sea.
Meanwhile, Ukraine said that it struck a major Russian oil refinery on Thursday using U.K.-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.
Ukraine’s General Staff said that its forces hit the Novoshakhtinsk refinery in Russia’s Rostov region.
“Multiple explosions were recorded. The target was hit,” it wrote on Telegram.
Rostov regional Gov. Yuri Slyusar said that a firefighter was wounded when extinguishing the fire.
Ukraine’s long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries aim to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue it needs to pursue its full-scale invasion. Russia wants to cripple Ukraine’s power grid, seeking to deny civilians access to heat, light and running water in what Ukrainian officials say is an attempt to “weaponize winter.”
Russia fired more than 600 drones and three dozen missiles at Ukraine in a large-scale attack that began during the night and stretched into daylight hours Tuesday, officials said. At least three people were killed, including a 4-year-old child, two days before Christmas.The barrage struck homes and the power grid in 13 regions of Ukraine, causing widespread outages in bitter temperatures, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, a day after he described recent progress on finding a peace deal as “quite solid.”The bombardment demonstrated Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intention of pursuing the invasion of Ukraine, Zelenskyy said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. Ukrainian and European officials have complained that Putin is not sincerely engaging with U.S.-led peace efforts.The attack “is an extremely clear signal of Russian priorities,” Zelenskyy said. “A strike before Christmas, when people want to be with their families, at home, in safety. A strike, in fact, in the midst of negotiations that are being conducted to end this war. Putin cannot accept the fact that we must stop killing.”For months, U.S. President Donald Trump has been pressing for a peace agreement, but the negotiations have become entangled in the very different demands from Moscow and Kyiv.U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said Sunday he held “productive and constructive” talks in Florida with Ukrainian and European representatives. Trump was less effusive Monday, saying, “The talks are going along.”Initial reports from Ukrainian emergency services said the child died in Ukraine’s northwestern Zhytomyr region, while a drone killed a woman in the Kyiv region, and another civilian death was recorded in the western Khmelnytskyi region, according to Zelenskyy.Russia launched 635 drones of various types and 38 missiles, Ukraine’s air force said. Air defenses stopped 587 drones and 34 missiles, it said.It was the ninth large-scale Russian attack on Ukraine’s energy system this year and left multiple regions in the west without power, while emergency power outages were in place across the country, acting Energy Minister Artem Nekraso said. Work to restore power would begin as soon as the security situation permitted, he said.Ukraine’s largest private energy supplier, DTEK, said the attack targeted thermal power stations in what it said was the seventh major strike on the company’s facilities since October.DTEK’s thermal power plants have been hit more than 220 times since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Those attacks have killed four workers and wounded 59.Authorities in the western regions of Rivne, Ternopil and Lviv, as well as the northern Sumy region, reported damage to energy infrastructure or power outages after the attack.In the southern Odesa region, Russia struck energy, port, transport, industrial and residential infrastructure, according to regional head Oleh Kiper.A merchant ship and over 120 homes were damaged, he said.
KYIV, Ukraine —
Russia fired more than 600 drones and three dozen missiles at Ukraine in a large-scale attack that began during the night and stretched into daylight hours Tuesday, officials said. At least three people were killed, including a 4-year-old child, two days before Christmas.
The barrage struck homes and the power grid in 13 regions of Ukraine, causing widespread outages in bitter temperatures, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, a day after he described recent progress on finding a peace deal as “quite solid.”
The bombardment demonstrated Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intention of pursuing the invasion of Ukraine, Zelenskyy said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. Ukrainian and European officials have complained that Putin is not sincerely engaging with U.S.-led peace efforts.
The attack “is an extremely clear signal of Russian priorities,” Zelenskyy said. “A strike before Christmas, when people want to be with their families, at home, in safety. A strike, in fact, in the midst of negotiations that are being conducted to end this war. Putin cannot accept the fact that we must stop killing.”
For months, U.S. President Donald Trump has been pressing for a peace agreement, but the negotiations have become entangled in the very different demands from Moscow and Kyiv.
U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said Sunday he held “productive and constructive” talks in Florida with Ukrainian and European representatives. Trump was less effusive Monday, saying, “The talks are going along.”
Initial reports from Ukrainian emergency services said the child died in Ukraine’s northwestern Zhytomyr region, while a drone killed a woman in the Kyiv region, and another civilian death was recorded in the western Khmelnytskyi region, according to Zelenskyy.
Russia launched 635 drones of various types and 38 missiles, Ukraine’s air force said. Air defenses stopped 587 drones and 34 missiles, it said.
It was the ninth large-scale Russian attack on Ukraine’s energy system this year and left multiple regions in the west without power, while emergency power outages were in place across the country, acting Energy Minister Artem Nekraso said. Work to restore power would begin as soon as the security situation permitted, he said.
Ukraine’s largest private energy supplier, DTEK, said the attack targeted thermal power stations in what it said was the seventh major strike on the company’s facilities since October.
DTEK’s thermal power plants have been hit more than 220 times since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Those attacks have killed four workers and wounded 59.
Authorities in the western regions of Rivne, Ternopil and Lviv, as well as the northern Sumy region, reported damage to energy infrastructure or power outages after the attack.
In the southern Odesa region, Russia struck energy, port, transport, industrial and residential infrastructure, according to regional head Oleh Kiper.
A merchant ship and over 120 homes were damaged, he said.
BERLIN (AP) — Germany summoned Russia’s ambassador Friday following accusations of sabotage, cyberattacks and election interference, an official said.
The German government has also accused Moscow of perpetrating disinformation campaigns.
“The goal of these Russian cyber and disinformation attacks is clear: It is to divide society, stir up mistrust, provoke rejection, and weaken confidence in democratic institutions,” German foreign ministry spokesperson Martin Giese said.
“This targeted manipulation of information is one of a wide range of activities by Russia aimed at undermining confidence in democratic institutions and processes in Germany,” he said during a government news conference.
German officials have previously accused Russia of hybrid warfare attacks to destabilize Europe. Moscow didn’t immediately return a request for comment Friday.
Giese said that the shadowy Russian military intelligence agency known as GRU was behind a 2024 cyberattack against German air traffic control. The foreign ministry says GRU, which has been sanctioned in other countries, was responsible for the attack that was allegedly perpetrated by hacker collective APT28, also known as Fancy Bear.
APT28 and GRU have also been linked to global cyber intrusions, including in the 2016 U.S. election, where they were accused of aiding U.S. President Donald Trump by leaking Democratic Party emails.
Giese also said investigators believe GRU also attempted to destabilize and influence Germany’s last federal election, held in February, through a campaign called “Storm 1516.”
“Our services’ analysis shows that the campaign spreads artificially generated, pseudo-investigative research, deepfake image sequences, pseudo-journalistic websites, and fabricated witness statements on various platforms,” he said.
Russia will face a series of countermeasures for its hybrid warfare, Giese said.
“The German government condemns the repeated and unacceptable attacks by state-controlled Russian actors in the strongest possible terms,” he said. “We will continue to strengthen our support for Ukraine and our deterrence and defense.”
The summons occurred Friday as the European Union indefinitely froze Russia’s assets in Europe to ensure that Hungary and Slovakia, both with Moscow-friendly governments, can’t prevent the billions of euros from being used to support Ukraine.
Using a special procedure meant for economic emergencies, the EU blocked the assets until Russia gives up its war on Ukraine and compensates its neighbor for the heavy damage that it has inflicted for almost four years.
It’s a key step that will allow EU leaders to work out at a summit next week how to use the tens of billions of euros in Russian Central Bank assets to underwrite a huge loan to help Ukraine meet its financial and military needs over the next two years.
Has the West absorbed the right lessons from Ukraine’s war with Russia? For the unsettling answer, look at what’s buzzing mysteriously in the skies above Europe’s cities. Drones were spotted this month in France, loitering around a gunpowder plant and a train station where tanks are located. Others were seen recently near a Belgian military base, a port, and a nuclear power plant.
Belgium’s defense minister told the press the drones near military bases were “definitely for spying.” The provenance of other suspicious drones is less clear. Yet whatever their source, they’re a security threat. The Netherlands suspended flights in Eindhoven Saturday after a drone sighting, and similar episodes have unfolded this month at airports in Sweden, Germany, Belgium and Denmark.
President Donald Trump said Sunday that the Donbas region of Ukraine should be “cut up,” leaving most of it in Russian hands, to end a war that has dragged on for nearly four years.“Let it be cut the way it is,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One. “It’s cut up right now,” adding that you can “leave it the way it is right now.”Video above: Trump and Zelenskyy to discuss U.S. sending missiles to support Ukraine“They can negotiate something later on down the line,” he said. But for now, both sides of the conflict should “stop at the battle line — go home, stop fighting, stop killing people.”Trump’s latest comments came after Ukrainian drones struck a major gas processing plant in southern Russia, sparking a fire and forcing it to suspend its intake of gas from Kazakhstan, Russian and Kazakh authorities said Sunday.The Orenburg plant, run by state-owned gas giant Gazprom and located in a region of the same name near the Kazakh border, is part of a production and processing complex that is one of the world’s largest facilities of its kind, with an annual capacity of 45 billion cubic meters. It handles gas condensate from Kazakhstan’s Karachaganak field, alongside Orenburg’s own oil and gas fields.Video below: Labor unions challenge Trump administration for visa-holder social media surveillanceAccording to regional Gov. Yevgeny Solntsev, the drone strikes set fire to a workshop at the plant and damaged part of it. The Kazakh Energy Ministry on Sunday said, citing a notification from Gazprom, that the plant was temporarily unable to process gas originating in Kazakhstan, “due to an emergency situation following a drone attack.”Ukraine’s General Staff said in a statement Sunday that a “large-scale fire” erupted at the Orenburg plant, and that one of its gas processing and purification units was damaged.Kyiv has ramped up attacks in recent months on Russian energy facilities it says both fund and directly fuel Moscow’s war effort.Trump says Ukraine may have to give up land for peaceTrump has edged back in the direction of pressing Ukraine to give up on retaking land it has lost to Russia, in exchange for an end to Moscow’s aggression.Asked in a Fox News interview conducted Thursday whether Russian President Vladimir Putin would be open to ending the war “without taking significant property from Ukraine,” Trump responded: “Well, he’s going to take something.”“They fought and he has a lot of property. He’s won certain property,” Trump said. “We’re the only nation that goes in, wins a war and then leaves.”The interview was aired Sunday on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” but was conducted before Trump spoke to Putin on Thursday and met with Zelenskyy on Friday.Then on Sunday evening, while flying from Florida to Washington, Trump — who plans to meet Putin in Budapest in coming weeks — reiterated his stance that Ukraine will need to give up territory by having the fighting “stop at the lines where they are.”“The rest is very tough to negotiate if you’re going to say, ‘You take this, we take that,’” he said. “You know, there are so many different permutations.”The comments amounted to another shift in position on the war by the U.S. leader. In recent weeks, Trump had shown growing impatience with Putin and expressed greater openness to helping Ukraine win the war.Contrary to Kyiv’s hopes, Trump did not commit to providing it with Tomahawks following his meeting with Zelenskyy. The missiles would be the longest-range weapons in Ukraine’s arsenal and would allow it to strike targets deep inside Russia, including Moscow, with precision.Russians modified bombs for deeper strikesMeanwhile, Ukrainian prosecutors claim that Moscow is modifying its deadly aerial-guided bombs to strike civilians deeper in Ukraine. Local authorities in Kharkiv said Russia struck a residential neighborhood using a new rocket-powered aerial bomb for the first time.Kharkiv’s regional prosecutor’s office said in a statement that Russia used the weapon called the UMPB-5R, which can travel up to 130 kilometers (80 miles), in an attack on the city of Lozava on Saturday afternoon. The city lies 150 kilometers (93 miles) south of Kharkiv, a considerable distance for the weapon to fly.Russia continued to strike other parts of Ukraine closer to the front line. In the Dnipropetrovsk region, at least 11 people were injured after Russian drones hit the Shakhtarske area. At least 14 five-story buildings and a store were damaged, said acting regional Gov. Vladyslav Haivanenko.A Russian strike also hit a coal mine in the Dnipropetrovk region. Some 192 miners were brought to the surface without injury, the company that operates the mine said.Ukraine’s General Staff also claimed a separate drone strike hit Russia’s Novokuibyshevsk oil refinery, in the Samara region near Orenburg, sparking a blaze and damaging its main refining units.Video below: Trump reacts to John Bolton, his former national security adviser, being indictedThe Novokuibyshevsk facility, operated by Russian gas major Rosneft, has an annual capacity of 4.9 million tons, and turns out over 20 kinds of oil-based products. Russian authorities did not immediately acknowledge the Ukrainian claim or discuss any damage.Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement early Sunday that its air defense forces had shot down 45 Ukrainian drones during the night, including 12 over the Samara region, one over the Orenburg region and 11 over the Saratov region neighboring Samara.In turn, Ukraine’s air force reported Sunday that Russia during the night launched 62 drones into Ukrainian territory. It said 40 of these were shot down, or veered off course due to electronic jamming.
President Donald Trump said Sunday that the Donbas region of Ukraine should be “cut up,” leaving most of it in Russian hands, to end a war that has dragged on for nearly four years.
“Let it be cut the way it is,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One. “It’s cut up right now,” adding that you can “leave it the way it is right now.”
Video above: Trump and Zelenskyy to discuss U.S. sending missiles to support Ukraine
“They can negotiate something later on down the line,” he said. But for now, both sides of the conflict should “stop at the battle line — go home, stop fighting, stop killing people.”
Trump’s latest comments came after Ukrainian drones struck a major gas processing plant in southern Russia, sparking a fire and forcing it to suspend its intake of gas from Kazakhstan, Russian and Kazakh authorities said Sunday.
The Orenburg plant, run by state-owned gas giant Gazprom and located in a region of the same name near the Kazakh border, is part of a production and processing complex that is one of the world’s largest facilities of its kind, with an annual capacity of 45 billion cubic meters. It handles gas condensate from Kazakhstan’s Karachaganak field, alongside Orenburg’s own oil and gas fields.
Video below: Labor unions challenge Trump administration for visa-holder social media surveillance
According to regional Gov. Yevgeny Solntsev, the drone strikes set fire to a workshop at the plant and damaged part of it. The Kazakh Energy Ministry on Sunday said, citing a notification from Gazprom, that the plant was temporarily unable to process gas originating in Kazakhstan, “due to an emergency situation following a drone attack.”
Ukraine’s General Staff said in a statement Sunday that a “large-scale fire” erupted at the Orenburg plant, and that one of its gas processing and purification units was damaged.
Trump says Ukraine may have to give up land for peace
Trump has edged back in the direction of pressing Ukraine to give up on retaking land it has lost to Russia, in exchange for an end to Moscow’s aggression.
Asked in a Fox News interview conducted Thursday whether Russian President Vladimir Putin would be open to ending the war “without taking significant property from Ukraine,” Trump responded: “Well, he’s going to take something.”
“They fought and he has a lot of property. He’s won certain property,” Trump said. “We’re the only nation that goes in, wins a war and then leaves.”
Then on Sunday evening, while flying from Florida to Washington, Trump — who plans to meet Putin in Budapest in coming weeks — reiterated his stance that Ukraine will need to give up territory by having the fighting “stop at the lines where they are.”
“The rest is very tough to negotiate if you’re going to say, ‘You take this, we take that,’” he said. “You know, there are so many different permutations.”
Mark Schiefelbein
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One, Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025, en route to Joint Base Andrews, Md., as he returns from a trip to Florida.
The comments amounted to another shift in position on the war by the U.S. leader. In recent weeks, Trump had shown growing impatience with Putin and expressed greater openness to helping Ukraine win the war.
Contrary to Kyiv’s hopes, Trump did not commit to providing it with Tomahawks following his meeting with Zelenskyy. The missiles would be the longest-range weapons in Ukraine’s arsenal and would allow it to strike targets deep inside Russia, including Moscow, with precision.
Russians modified bombs for deeper strikes
Meanwhile, Ukrainian prosecutors claim that Moscow is modifying its deadly aerial-guided bombs to strike civilians deeper in Ukraine. Local authorities in Kharkiv said Russia struck a residential neighborhood using a new rocket-powered aerial bomb for the first time.
Kharkiv’s regional prosecutor’s office said in a statement that Russia used the weapon called the UMPB-5R, which can travel up to 130 kilometers (80 miles), in an attack on the city of Lozava on Saturday afternoon. The city lies 150 kilometers (93 miles) south of Kharkiv, a considerable distance for the weapon to fly.
Russia continued to strike other parts of Ukraine closer to the front line. In the Dnipropetrovsk region, at least 11 people were injured after Russian drones hit the Shakhtarske area. At least 14 five-story buildings and a store were damaged, said acting regional Gov. Vladyslav Haivanenko.
A Russian strike also hit a coal mine in the Dnipropetrovk region. Some 192 miners were brought to the surface without injury, the company that operates the mine said.
Ukraine’s General Staff also claimed a separate drone strike hit Russia’s Novokuibyshevsk oil refinery, in the Samara region near Orenburg, sparking a blaze and damaging its main refining units.
Video below: Trump reacts to John Bolton, his former national security adviser, being indicted
The Novokuibyshevsk facility, operated by Russian gas major Rosneft, has an annual capacity of 4.9 million tons, and turns out over 20 kinds of oil-based products. Russian authorities did not immediately acknowledge the Ukrainian claim or discuss any damage.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement early Sunday that its air defense forces had shot down 45 Ukrainian drones during the night, including 12 over the Samara region, one over the Orenburg region and 11 over the Saratov region neighboring Samara.
In turn, Ukraine’s air force reported Sunday that Russia during the night launched 62 drones into Ukrainian territory. It said 40 of these were shot down, or veered off course due to electronic jamming.
Russia launched hundreds of drones and missiles at Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, overnight. Four people were killed and dozens were injured in what was one of the most sustained attacks since Moscow’s invasion. Leigh Kiniry has more on the impact.
Russia would consider NATO forces protecting Ukrainian airspace as a declaration of war, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday.
“Implementing the provocative idea of Kiev and other idiots to create a no-fly zone over ‘Ukraine’ and allowing NATO countries to down our drones will mean only one thing: NATO’s war with Russia,” the politician wrote on his Telegram channel.
After a slew of Russian drones violated Polish airspace last week, NATO deployed additional fighter jets along its eastern flank. That prompted fresh discussion in Europe about extending protection to western Ukraine and shooting down incoming Russian drones or missiles there.
Since the start of the large-scale invasion in 2022, Ukraine has been calling for a NATO-enforced no-fly zone. But Kiev’s Western allies have so far refrained from such a step, fearing a direct military confrontation with Moscow.
Medvedev, who now wields significant power in Russia as deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, also threatened retaliation if Russia’s state assets frozen in the European Union were paid out to Ukraine as a part of a reparations loan.
Moscow, he wrote, would pursue the responsible EU states and politicians “in all possible international and national courts — and in some cases, outside of them.”
Vladimir Putin is on a roll the past few weeks. First President Trump invited him to Anchorage. Then he got a three-way hug with China’s President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a summit in China. And an invitation to a grand military parade in Beijing.
Since the 2014 annexation of Crimea, Putin had been shunted to the fringes of summit group photos. After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, he had been treated as a pariah by the United States and Europe. Indicted by the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide, he could travel only to countries that wouldn’t arrest him. In short, Moscow was not being treated with the respect it believed it deserved.
Trump thought that by literally rolling out the red carpet for Putin in Alaska — and clapping as the Russian loped down the red carpet — he could reset the bilateral relationship. And it did. But not the way Trump intended.
The Alaskan summit convinced the Russians that the current administration is willing to throw the sources of American global power out the window.
Trade partners, geopolitical allies and alliances — everything is on the table for Trump. The U.S. president believes this shows his power; the Russians see this as a low-cost opportunity to degrade American influence. Putin was trained by the KGB to recognize weakness and exploit it.
There is no evidence that being friendly to Putin and agreeing with Russian positions are going to make Moscow more willing to stop fighting in Ukraine. Overlooking Russia’s intensifying hybrid attacks on Europe, in February, Vice President JD Vance warned Europe that it should be focusing instead on the threat to democracy “from within.” This followed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth‘s assurances that Ukraine would never join NATO. Trump has suggested that U.S. support for NATO and Europe is contingent on those countries paying up. In an event that sent Moscow pundits to pop the Champagne, Trump told Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office that he just didn’t “have the cards” and should stop trying to beat Russia.
Did any of this bring Putin to the negotiating table? No.
In fact, the Kremlin indicated a readiness to talk with Trump about the war only when Trump threatened “very, very powerful” sanctions in mid-July. This time, he seemed serious about it. The Alaska summit happened a month later. The tougher Trump is with Russia, the more likely he is to get any kind of traction in negotiations. It’s unfortunate that the president has now gone back to vague two-weekdeadlines for imposing sanctions that never materialize.
Russia believes it will win the war. China has been a steady friend, willing to sell Russia cars and dual-use technology that ends up in drones that are attacking Ukrainian cities. It has also become Russia’s largest buyer of crude oil and coal. Western sanctions have not been biting the Russian economy, though they have nibbled away at state revenues. Europe and the United States have not been willing to apply the kind of economic pressure that would seriously dent Russia’s ability to carry on the war.
Putin keeps saying that a resolution to the war requires that the West address the “root causes” of the war. These causes, for Russia, relate to the way it was treated after losing the Cold War. The three Baltic nations joined Europe as fast as they could. Central and Eastern European countries decided that they would rather be part of NATO than the Warsaw Pact. When Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine started asking for membership in the European Union and NATO, Russia realized it wouldn’t be able to convince them to stay with economic appeal or soft power. It had to use force. Unable to demonstrate the attraction of its suffocating embrace, or the value of its Eurasian Economic Union, Russia believed it had to use force to keep Ukraine by its side. It reminds one of a grotesque Russian expression: “If he beats you, it means he loves you.”
The real “root cause” of the war in Ukraine is Russia’s inability to accept that centuries of empire do not confer the right to dominate former colonies forever. Mongolia learned this. As did the British. And the French. And the Ottomans. The Austro-Hungarians.
Eventually this war will end. But not soon. Russia is insisting on maximalist demands that Ukraine cannot agree to, which include control over territory it hasn’t managed to occupy. Ukraine will not stop fighting until it is sure that Russia will not attack again. Achieving that degree of certainty with flimsy security guarantees is impossible.
In the meantime, Ukrainian cities on the frontline will continue being wiped out, citizens in Kherson will continue being subjects of “human safari” for Russian drone operators, people across Ukraine will continue experiencing daily air raids that send them scurrying into shelters. Soldiers, volunteers, civilians and children will continue dying. Trump appears to care about the thousands of daily casualties. Most of these are Russian soldiers who have been sent to their death by a Russian state that doesn’t see their lives as worth preserving.
Trump is understandably frustrated with his inability to “stop the killing” because he has assumed that satisfying Russian demands is the answer. The opposite is true: Only by showing — proving — to Russia that its demands are unattainable will the U.S. persuade the Kremlin to consider meaningful negotiations. Countries at war come to the negotiating table not because they are convinced to abandon their objectives. They sit down when they realize their goals are unattainable.
Alexandra Vacroux is the vice president for strategic engagement at the Kyiv School of Economics.
Insights
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Ideas expressed in the piece
Putin has successfully leveraged recent diplomatic engagements to break out of international isolation, using meetings with Xi Jinping and Modi, along with Trump’s invitation to Alaska, to demonstrate that Western attempts to sideline Russia have failed. These high-profile gatherings signal to the world that Russia remains a significant player on the global stage despite sanctions and international legal proceedings.
Trump’s accommodating approach toward Putin represents a fundamental misreading of Russian psychology and strategic thinking, as Putin was trained to recognize and exploit weakness rather than respond to friendship with reciprocal gestures. The president’s willingness to question support for NATO and suggest contingent relationships with allies signals to Moscow that American global influence can be degraded at low cost.
Russia only demonstrates willingness to engage in meaningful negotiations when faced with credible threats of severe consequences, as evidenced by the Kremlin’s indication of readiness to talk only after Trump threatened “very, very powerful” sanctions in July. Conversely, accommodating gestures and vague deadlines for sanctions that never materialize encourage Russian intransigence.
The fundamental driver of the conflict stems from Russia’s inability to accept the end of its imperial dominance over former territories, not the grievances about post-Cold War treatment that Moscow frequently cites. Russia’s resort to force against Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova reflects its failure to maintain influence through economic appeal or soft power, revealing an outdated imperial mindset that refuses to acknowledge former colonies’ right to self-determination.
Meaningful negotiations will only occur when Russia recognizes that its maximalist territorial and political demands are unattainable through military means, requiring sustained pressure rather than premature concessions. Current Russian demands for control over territory it hasn’t occupied and Ukraine’s complete capitulation demonstrate that Moscow still believes it can achieve total victory.
Different views on the topic
The Russia-China partnership faces significant structural limitations that constrain the depth of their cooperation, despite public declarations of “no limits” friendship. While both nations conduct joint military exercises and maintain substantial trade relationships, their military collaboration remains “carefully managed and circumscribed by each nation’s broader strategic interests,” with no mutual defense agreements or deep operational integration between their armed forces[1].
India’s apparent warming toward China and Russia reflects strategic autonomy principles rather than genuine alignment toward an anti-Western axis, as fundamental tensions between New Delhi and Beijing persist over unresolved border disputes and strategic competition in the Indian Ocean region[2]. Recent diplomatic gestures may be tactical responses to trade tensions rather than indicators of a permanent realignment away from partnerships with Australia, Japan, the European Union, and other democratic allies[2].
The potential for wedging strategies between Russia and China remains viable due to underlying structural tensions and competing interests, particularly in Central Asia where both powers seek influence. American policymakers increasingly recognize that the “reverse Nixon” approach of driving wedges between Moscow and Beijing could exploit inherent limitations in their partnership, as their relationship represents neither unlimited friendship nor a completely stable alliance[4][5].
China’s military cooperation with Russia serves Beijing’s interests in testing tactics and equipment while maintaining careful distance from direct involvement in conflicts that could jeopardize its broader strategic goals[1]. Chinese support for Russian drone production and dual-use technology transfers reflects calculated assistance that stops short of full military alliance, suggesting Beijing prioritizes its own strategic flexibility over unconditional support for Russian objectives[3].
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has accused neighbouring Finland of pursuing a course of war against Russia – and has renewed claims for reparations for World War II.
“After joining NATO, Helsinki is pursuing a course of confrontation in preparation for war with Russia under the pretext of defence measures and is apparently preparing a bridgehead for an attack on us,” Medvedev, who is still influential as deputy head of the National Security Council, wrote in a column for the state news agency TASS.
Medvedev complained that staff structures for army units were being created in Lapland “in the immediate vicinity of the Russian border.”
It was clear who these structures were directed against, as NATO had declared Russia an enemy, he wrote. The column itself is entitled: “Finland’s new doctrine: Stupidity, lies, ingratitude.”
The Finns’ security endeavours following the Russian invasion of Ukraine are perceived as ungrateful in Moscow. Finland, which was neutral for decades after World War II, joined NATO together with Sweden as a reaction to the start of the Ukraine war.
Medvedev now sees this as an opportunity to renew old demands for reparations, claiming that the new Finnish policy tramples on old agreements.
Moscow is therefore no longer bound by the peace treaty of 1947, which limited Soviet reparation claims to $300 million: Medvedev argued the damage actually caused by Finland during World War II amounted to 20 trillion roubles ($244 billion), he claimed.
Finland took part in the war against the Soviet Union alongside Hitler’s Germany in 1941. The Finns saw this as a continuation of the Winter War launched by the Soviet Union in 1939, in which Moscow annexed large areas of Finland.
To this day, the 1939 Winter War following the Hitler-Stalin Pact is just as rarely discussed in Russian historiography as the annexation of the Baltic States carried out by Moscow at the time.
In this context, Medvedev wrote that Finland was just as responsible for World War II as Germany.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed some 20 deals with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on a visit to Beijing on Tuesday that highlighted the two countries’ strong bilateral relations, according to reporting by Chinese news agency Xinhua.
Among them was a legally binding memorandum for the construction of a new gas pipeline through Mongolia to China, announced by Gazprom chief Alexei Miller in Beijing and reported by Russian news agencies.
Miller announced the agreement after a meeting between Putin, Xi and Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh.
The price of gas supplied via the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline would be lower than for Europe, Miller noted, pointing to reduced transport costs.
Gazprom and the China National Petroleum Corporation also signed documents to boost gas deliveries through the existing Power of Siberia pipeline from 38 billion cubic metres per year to 44 billion cubic metres, according to the reports.
The 6,700-kilometre-long Power of Siberia 2 pipeline, including 2,700 kilometres on Russian soil, is due to have a capacity of 50 billion cubic metres per year. The contract is set for 30 years, according to the Russian reports.
Miller described the pipeline as the “largest, most extensive and capital-intensive gas project worldwide,” without giving details on the costs, which are estimated at tens of billions of dollars.
The timeline for the construction of the new pipeline remains unclear. Negotiations on the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline have been ongoing for five years, with Moscow and Beijing unable to agree on the price.
Visa-free travel trial for Russians
Beijing and Moscow also agreed to a trial of visa-free travel for Russians with valid passports to China, Russia’s official TASS news agency reported.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry official told TASS that the new regulation, which applies to stays of up to 30 days, will be in effect for a trial period of one year.
Current rules permit Russians with diplomatic or official documentation to travel to China, and there is a bilateral agreement on visa-free group trips.
The new regulation is to take effect on September 15.
The leaders also signed other cooperation agreements in fields such as energy, aviation, artificial intelligence and agriculture.
Visit sends signal to the West
The two leaders were at pains to highlight their countries’ strong relations, which Putin described as being at an “unprecedentedly high level.”
Xi said their ties had withstood the test of international change and could be further expanded, Xinhua reported.
Putin, along with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, is due to attend a large-scale military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Beijing on Wednesday.
In a similar show of support, Xi attended a Russian parade in Moscow marking the end of World War II in May.
China is considered Russia’s most significant backer in the Ukraine war, since Beijing has not condemned Moscow’s actions and has put forward Russian demands in its own proposals for resolving the conflict.
However, no details emerged on what Xi and Putin said about Russia’s war on Ukraine. Information from Beijing indicated that the two leaders discussed “regional issues of common interest.”
Western countries accuse China of supplying Russia with goods that can be used for military purposes, thereby supporting the Russian arms industry.
On Monday, Xi and Putin called for a new world order at the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The Russia-friendly SCO is seen as a counterbalance to Western alliances, including NATO.
Putin stated that the eurocentric and Euro-Atlantic model had become obsolete.
We’ve read quite a bit about President Trump’s “hot mic” comment, during a meeting with European leaders about the Russian war against Ukraine, that Vladimir Putin “wants to make a deal for me, as crazy as it sounds.”
Pundits debated whether this was an embarrassment for Trump; they wondered why he would say such an important thing in a whisper to French President Emmanuel Macron — as if Trump’s verbal goulash were something new. Headlines were full of the word “deal” for a while, including three days later, when they were reporting that Trump said Putin might not want “to make a deal.” And, of course, there is no deal.
The press coverage of the meeting in Alaska said there were lots of “constructive” conversations. Putin spoke about “neighborly” talks and the “constructive atmosphere of mutual respect” in his conversations with Trump. There were reports about agreements “in principle” on various things under discussion, although there were no details about what they might be.
I covered more than a few superpower summits, first as a reporter for the Associated Press and later for the New York Times. Although that was more than 30 years ago, the smoke and mirrors nonsense usually produced by meetings like these has not changed. Verbal gas is abundant and facts almost nonexistent. Trump’s comments were worth about as much as anything else he has said on the subject, which is almost nothing. And yet, they were reported and parsed endlessly as if they had the same meaning as other presidents’ words had in the past.
I had a powerful sense of deja vu from a five-day trip to Afghanistan in January 1987. The Kremlin had finally agreed to let a group of Western journalists visit Kabul and Jalalabad to witness the “cease-fire” that had been announced a few days before we arrived. The visit was billed as an Afghan government tour, which nobody — especially the Afghan government — believed.
We saw no fighting, although we could see artillery fire in the hills at night. Some of the “specials,” as we wire service correspondents called the major media then, reported that we were fired on. We were not.
Mostly, we shopped for rugs and drank cold Heinekens, which were unavailable in Moscow but mysteriously well stocked at the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul. We were ushered to various peace and unity events between the Afghan and Russian peoples and toured the huge Soviet military camps just outside Kabul with a U.S. official (allegedly a diplomat from the Embassy, but we knew from experience that this person was from the Central Intelligence Agency).
On Jan. 19, we were taken (each reporter in an individual government car with a minder) to a news conference by Mohammad Najib, the Afghan leader whose name had been Najibullah until he changed it to make it sound less religious for his Bolshevik friends. Najib said that Afghanistan and the Soviet Union had agreed “in principle” on a “timetable for withdrawal” of Soviet occupation forces.
At that point, the Reuters correspondent, who was fairly new to Moscow still, bolted from the room and raced back to our hotel, where there was one Telex machine for us all to send our stories back to Moscow. He filed a bulletin on the announcement. When the rest of us made our leisurely return, we were greeted with messages from our home offices demanding to know about the big deal to end the war in Afghanistan.
We wrote our stories, which were about a business-as-usual press conference that yielded no real news. We each appended a message to explain why the Reuters report was just plain wrong. Talk of Soviet withdrawal was common, and always wrong. The very idea that the puppet government in Kabul had something to say about it or was a party to any serious discussions about ending the war was absurd. The most pithy comment came from the Agence France-Presse reporter, who told her editors that the Reuters story was “merde.” The Soviet military did not withdraw until February 1989, more than two years later, following its own schedule.
Much of the recent coverage about Russia and Ukraine reminds me of that Afghan news flash in 1987. The Kremlin has never been, was not then and is not now interested in negotiation or compromise. Under Soviet communism and under Putin, diplomacy is a zero-sum game whose only goal is to restore Russian hegemony over Eastern Europe. And yet, for some reason, the American media and the country’s diplomats seem as oblivious today as they always were. After the summit, they announced breathlessly that there was no peace deal out of the summit, although they all knew going in that there was no deal on the table and there never was going to be one.
But of course Putin wants a “deal” on Ukraine. It’s the same deal he has wanted since he violated international law (not for the first time) and invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. He wants to redraw the boundaries of Ukraine to give him even more territory than he has already seized, and he wants to be sure Ukraine remains out of NATO and under Moscow’s military thumb as he has done with other former Soviet regions, like Georgia, which he invaded in 2008 as soon as the country dared to suggest it might be interested in NATO membership. His latest nonsense was to demand that Russia be part of any postwar security arrangements. He wants the NATO allies to stop treating him like the war criminal that he is and to be seen as an equal actor on the international stage with NATO and especially the United States.
That he got, in abundance, from Trump in Alaska, starting with the location. Trump invited Putin to the United States during a period of travel bans to and from Russia, immediately giving the Russian dictator a huge PR win. It also, conveniently, put him in the only NATO country where he is not wanted on charges of crimes against humanity.
As for peace talks, check the headlines from Ukraine before, during and after the Alaska summit: The Russians have stepped up their killing and destruction in Ukraine with new ferocity and have been grabbing as much land in eastern Ukraine as they can. Every square inch of that land — and more the Kremlin has not yet occupied — will be part of any “deal” that Putin will accept. Trump himself has been talking about “land swaps” (as he has from the start of the war, by the way) — a nonsensical idea when you consider the land Ukraine holds is its sovereign territory and the land Russian holds was stolen.
The brilliant M. Gessen, perhaps the leading authority on dictatorship, published an essay in the New York Review, “Autocracy: Rules for Survival,” shortly after the 2016 election. “Rule #2: Do not be taken in by small signs of normality,” they wrote.
A U.S. president and a Russian leader sitting down to talk and emerging with bluster about progress seems normal enough, perhaps encouraging when American-Russian relations have been at a historic low. Just remember that coming from these two men, the comments signify nothing — or, worse, make us wonder what Trump has given away to Putin with his talk of land swaps.
Andrew Rosenthal, a former reporter, editor and columnist, was Moscow bureau chief for the Associated Press and Washington editor and later editorial page editor for the New York Times.
ANCHORAGE — Three hours of negotiations with Vladimir Putin over Russia’s war in Ukraine were “extremely productive,” but only Kyiv can decide whether a deal toward a ceasefire is possible, President Trump said Friday, capping a historic summit with the Russian leader.
At a news conference at a U.S. air base in Alaska, the two men alluded to agreements made, but offered no details and took no questions. “We didn’t get there,” Trump said.
“I believe we had a very productive meeting. There were many, many points that we agreed on,” Trump said, adding: “There’s no deal until there’s a deal. I will call up NATO in a little while. I will call up various people.
“It’s ultimately up to them,” he added.
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Standing alongside Trump, Putin warned Europe not to “torpedo the nascent progress” of “the agreement that we’ve reached.”
“We’re convinced that, in order to make the settlement last in the long term, we have to eliminate all the primary roots, the primary causes of the conflict,” Putin said. “Naturally, the security of Ukraine should be ensured as well.”
The talks were the first high-level negotiations in Russia’s years-long military campaign, a war of conquest that has resulted in Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II.
Trump had said before the summit he would know if Putin was serious about peace within minutes of their meeting. Yet, before the talks began, the Russian leader, a global pariah since launching his full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago, received a red carpet arrival on American soil and a greeting of applause from the U.S. president.
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It was an extraordinary welcome for Putin, whose government has called the United States an “enemy state” and who faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court over war crimes in Ukraine. Putin’s war has led to 1.4 million casualties, according to independent analysts, including 1 million dead and wounded among Russian soldiers alone.
At the end of their news conference, Putin suggested Trump visit Moscow for their next summit. Trump said he would consider it.
Thehigh-stakes summit came amid ongoing Russian strikes on civilian targets. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, condemned Russian forces for striking a market in Sumy mere hours before the Alaska summit.
“On the day of negotiations, the Russians are killing as well,” Zelensky said in a statement. “And that speaks volumes.”
Zelensky was not invited to the Anchorage negotiations. But Trump said he hoped his meeting Friday would lead to direct talks “very shortly.”
The Ukrainian president met with Britain’s prime minister in recent days, and planned to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron after the Alaska summit.
Speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One on his way to Anchorage, Trump suggested he had planned to take a tougher line with Putin, threatening to walk if he didn’t see immediate progress.
“I want to see a ceasefire,” Trump said. “I don’t know if it’s going to be today, but I’m not going to be happy if it’s not today.”
The two men were scheduled to meet privately, accompanied only by interpreters, before joining their aides for a working lunch. But in-flight, Trump’s plans changed to include his secretary of State and national security advisor, Marco Rubio, as well as his special envoy to the conflict, Steve Witkoff.
Whether Putin is ready to implement an immediate ceasefire is far from clear, with the Russian Foreign Ministry stating this week that the Kremlin’s war aims are “unchanged.” Over the past week, with the presidential summit scheduled, the Russian army launched an aggressive attempt to breech the Ukrainian front lines.
Trump’s deference toward Putin has been a fixture of his time in office, with the president often refusing to criticize the Russian leader. But his tone began to shift toward Putin at a NATO summit in June, held in The Hague, where European leaders agreed to significant defense spending commitments in a bid to keep Trump on their side.
Since then, Trump has repeatedly expressed “disappointment” with Putin’s refusal to heed his calls for a ceasefire, authorizing the deployment of Patriot missiles in Ukraine and the shipment of other U.S. military equipment.
The Trump administration set a deadline of Aug. 8 for Putin to demonstrate he was seriously committed to peace negotiations, or otherwise face a new round of sanctions, this time targeting its trading partners. Witkoff, a real estate investor with no experience in the region and no diplomatic background, was dispatched to Moscow for meetings with Kremlin leadership.
Within hours of Witkoff’s departure, White House planning for the summit was underway.
The summit came together with so little time that the White House and the Kremlin struggled to secure hotels and venue spaces across Anchorage. The Kremlin press corps, comprising roughly 50 journalists, found itself sleeping on American Red Cross cots on the floor of a University of Alaska sports center.
President Trump meets with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. At right is Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
(Julia Demaree Nikhinson / Associated Press)
Trump received Putin on the tarmac of the U.S. air base with a U.S. stealth bomber flying overhead, flanked by U.S. fighter jets and Air Force One. The two men then entered the “Beast,” the official presidential vehicle, for a short ride that included no aides or translators.
On his way to Anchorage, Trump said that Putin would face “economically severe” consequences if the negotiations failed to yield progress toward peace. He said that only Ukraine could decide whether to cede territory to Moscow. And he expressed support for U.S. security guarantees for Ukraine in any future peace agreement, so long as they fall short of NATO membership for the beleaguered nation.
“Yes, it would be very severe,” Trump said. “Very severe.”
Putin brought several Russian business leaders along with him from Moscow, according to the Kremlin, a sign he had hoped to begin discussions on normalizing relations with Washington. But Trump said he would not discuss business opportunities until the war is settled. Despite bringing his Treasury and Commerce secretaries to Alaska alongside him, a lunch scheduled to include an expanded circle of their aides, to discuss matters other than Ukraine, did not appear to go forward.
European leaders have urged Trump to approach Putin with a firm hand after months of applying pressure on Zelensky to prepare to make concessions to Moscow.
Trump had said in recent days that a peace deal would include the “swapping” of land, a prospect roundly rejected in Kyiv. But the Ukrainian constitution prohibits territorial concessions without the support of a public referendum.
He seemed to soften that stance ahead of the Friday meetings.
“They’ll be discussed, but I’ve got to let Ukraine make that decision,” the president said of land swaps. “I’m not here to negotiate for Ukraine. I’m here to get them to the table.”
The summit is the first of its kind between a U.S. and Russian president since 2021.
ANCHORAGE — Vladimir Putin is lavishing praise on President Trump ahead of their high-stakes summit in Alaska on Friday, thanking his host for “energetic and sincere efforts to stop the fighting” in Ukraine over three years since the Russian leader attempted to conquer the country.
Trump, at the White House, also expressed optimism ahead of the talks, telling reporters he believes Putin “would like to see a deal” after suffering more than a million Russian casualties on the battlefield.
Yet Russian Foreign Ministry officials said Wednesday that Putin’s war aims remain “unchanged.” And an aggressive Russian advance along the front lines this week provided evidence to military analysts that Moscow has no plans to implement a ceasefire.
It was a day of diplomatic maneuvering ahead of an extraordinary visit from a Russian president to the U.S. homeland, and the first audience Putin has received with a Western leader since the war began.
“It’s going to be very interesting — we’re going to find out where everybody stands,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday. “If it’s a bad meeting, it’ll end very quickly. And if it’s a good meeting, we’re going to end up getting peace in the very near future.”
Putin’s positioning ahead of the summit, and Trump’s eagerness for a deal, continue to fuel worries across Europe and in Ukraine that the Alaska negotiations could result in a bilateral agreement designed by Moscow and endorsed by Washington that sidelines Kyiv.
In London, Britain’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday, offering support for Trump’s effort while placing the onus on Putin to “prove he is serious about peace.”
“They agreed there had been a powerful sense of unity and a strong resolve to achieve a just and lasting peace in Ukraine,” 10 Downing Street said in a statement.
Trump said the Alaska summit, to be held at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, is meant to “set the table” for direct talks between Putin and Zelensky that could include himself and European leaders.
Journalists stand outside Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage on Thursday ahead of Friday’s summit between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
(Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)
But addressing reporters, Trump suggested that denying Putin dominion over all of Ukraine — and allowing him to hold on to the territories he has seized militarily — would be concession enough from Moscow. The president had said in recent days that land “swapping” would be part of an ultimate peace settlement, a statement rejected by Kyiv.
“I think President Putin would like to see a deal,” Trump said. “I think if I weren’t president, he would take over all of Ukraine.”
“I am president, and he’s not going to mess around with me,” he added.
Russian state media reported Thursday that Putin had gathered his advisors to inform them of “how the negotiation process on the Ukrainian crisis is going.”
Trump, “in my opinion, quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the fighting, stop the crisis and reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved in this conflict,” Putin said.
But U.S. efforts to get Russia to halt the fighting have proved futile for months, with Moscow pressing forward in an offensive that has secured incremental gains on the battlefield.
“Putin thinks that he is winning this war militarily,” said Frederick Kagan, director of the Critical Threats Project, which collaborates with the Institute for the Study of War to produce daily battlefield assessments on the conflict. “He’s also confident that Western support for Ukraine, and particularly U.S. support, will break, and that when it does, Ukraine will collapse, and he’ll be able to take control of the whole thing.”
“It’s been his theory of victory for a long time,” Kagan said, “and it’s a huge part of the problem, because he’s not going to make any concessions so long as he’s confident that he’s winning.”
Russian incursions along a strategic portion of the front line, near a crucial Ukrainian logistics hub, spooked Ukraine’s supporters earlier this week. While serious, Kagan said that Russia does not hold the territory, and said that the conditions for offensive Russian operations had been set over the course of months.
“The Russians continue to have the initiative, and they continue to make gains,” he added. “The first step in changing Putin’s calculation about the war is to urgently help the Ukrainians stop the gains.”
Zelensky, after meeting with Starmer in London, said that he and the British leader had “discussed expectations for the meeting in Alaska and possible prospects.”
“We also discussed in considerable detail the security guarantees that can make peace truly durable,” Zelensky said, “if the United States succeeds in pressing Russia to stop the killings and engage in genuine, substantive diplomacy.”
Trump and Putin plan on arriving of the U.S. airbase within moments of one another, and are expected to meet on the tarmac before retreating into a private meeting.
FOOTAGE appears to show North Korean troops marching alongside Russian soldiers at a military base near Vladivostok as Putin’s men debate “what the f**k to do with them”.
Tyrant Putin and ruthless dictator Kim Jong-un have long had a close relationship
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Footage analysed by The Washington Post appeared to show North Korean troops training in RussiaCredit: Avalon.red
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Footage previously emerged showing Kim’s troops allegedly being trained up inside Russia
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Kim Jong Un commands one of the world’s largest armies – with some 1.2 million men
Video analysed by The Washington Post showed hordes of men who appeared to be of Korean descent at Sergeevka military training ground – near Russia’s eastern border with North Korea.
The clips also included audible Korean phrases spoken with a North Korean accent.
And audio intercepted by Ukrainian intelligence shows Russian soldiers talking offensively about the Korean troops – calling them “the f*****g Chinese”.
One even says: “And he’s like standing there with his eyes out, like… f**k… He came here and says what the f**k to do with them.”
Kyiv’s intercepted clips reveal possible plans to issue one interpreter and three senior officers for every 30 Pyongyang troops.
It showed the soldiers movements as concentrated in the Postoyalye Dvory field camp in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukraine launched a surprise invasion earlier this year.
Ukraine, South Korea and the US have voiced deep concern about possible military cooperation between the two.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Wednesday: “We assess that between early- to mid-October, North Korea moved at least 3,000 soldiers into eastern Russia.”
He added that it’s a “highly concerning probability” the Pyongyang soldiers are there to fight against Ukraine.
The security chief warned: “After completing training, these soldiers could travel to western Russia and then engage in combat against the Ukrainian military.”
Ukrainian intelligence has estimated that some 12,000 troops – including three generals – will be dispatched to Russia.
They told the Post that one such group has already arrived in Kursk – where US officials feared they might be sent.
Kim Jong Un lords over one of the world’s largest militaries – with some 1.2 million soldiers.
According to South Korea’s spy agency, special operations troops known as the “Storm Corps” have been sent to Russia.
They are among the best trained and equipped of all the North Korean units.
Just days ago a North Korean flag was apparently spotted next to a Russian one in Ukrainian territory.
A blurry photo, allegedly taken near the besieged key city of Pokrovsk showed the two flags flying between the trenches.
It implied that Korean troops had been deployed to the trenches, marking the first time a third country has put boots on the ground in the three-year conflict waged by Putin inside Ukraine.
Dramatic videos from the Far East of Russia allegedly show Kim’s soldiers being given battlefield equipment and taking part in strict military training.
Other footage appears to show North Korean troops posing for photos in Moscow’s Red Square.
Both Moscow and Pyongyang have denied the presence of North Korean troops.
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A handout from South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) shows what it claims to be North Korean troops at Russia’s Ussuriysk military facility
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Other footage appears to show North Korean troops posing in Moscow’s Red Square
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A North Korea flag flying alongside the Russian flag in occupied Ukraine
A FEMALE journalist has died after spending more than a year in Russian detention, claim Ukrainian officials.
Victoria Roshchyna, 27, mysteriously disappeared last August while reporting from inside Russian occupied Ukraine with officials now saying she has tragically died as Vladimir Putin’s prisoner of war.
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Ukrainian Journalist Victoria Roshchyna has died after spending more than a year in Russian captivityCredit: Instagram/ victoria_roshchyna
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Roshchyna mysteriously disappeared last AugustCredit: Instagram/ victoria_roshchyna
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Roshchyna was detained last year after reporting about the Ukraine war inside Russian occupied landCredit: Instagram
Roshchyna’s family first reported her missing to Ukrainian officials on August 12 last year after not hearing from her for days.
The journalist last spoke to her sister a week earlier as she said she had made it through routine border checks to get across Russian land but didn’t disclose her location.
An official missing person case was then filed on September 21.
The esteemed Ukrainian reporter was missing for over 6 months with her whereabouts finally revealed in April 2024 when her worried father was sent a letter from Moscow.
Russia‘s defence ministry said Roshchyna was being held at a Russian detention centre, according to Ukraine’s main journalist union.
The reason why she was arrested and subjected to months of imprisonment has never been made public.
The exact location of the jail has also been kept underwraps by Russian officials.
Her death was first announced by Petro Yatsenko, a spokesman for Ukraine’s prison of war coordination headquarters.
He said: “Unfortunately, information about Victoria’s death has been confirmed.
“It is too early to talk about the circumstances of the death, we are working to establish them.”
Watch moment £16m Russian stash of 400 kamikaze drones are blown to smithereens in crippling blow to Putin’s air power
Press rights group Reporters Without Borders say they are “shocked” over Roshchyna’s death.
Russian news outlet Mediazona have claimed she may have died when she was being transferred to Moscow from a prison in Taganrog, near to the Ukrainian border.
Victoria claimed at the time that Russians fired at her vehicle and forced a group of press to abandon the car and lie down hiding in a field.
After returning to the car some time after and continuing on with the trip across southern Ukraine Roshchyna was allegedly taken by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), her colleagues said.
She was released after 10 days in captivity.
Unfortunately, information about Victoria’s death has been confirmed
Petro YatsenkoUkraine’s prison of war coordination headquarters
Roshchyna worked as a freelancer for various independent news outlets in Eastern Europe.
These included Ukrainska Pravda and the Ukrainian service of US-funded media outlet Radio Free Europe.
In 2022, her frontline reporting was honoured when she received the Courage in Journalism award by the International Women’s Media Foundation.
Roshchyna is just one of thousands of Ukrainians known to be held in Russia after they opposed to Moscow’s iron fist ruling.
Many have been detained in Russian occupied territories since Putin’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Rights groups say some have faced torture and abuse at the hands of their captors.
Back in May, Ukraine claimed more than two dozen media officials are being held in Russian captivity.
The country are in negotiations to free those still locked up.
Many other Russian prisoners jailed on bogus charges have been released this year.
A huge 24 person swap deal between the US and Russia in July saw journalists, military officials and foreign opposers to Putin’s regime freed in exchange for Russian prisoners.
Russia preventing firms from leaving the nation is an example of how Moscow is breaking down market institutions amid its war in Ukraine, a UChicago professor says. Contributor/Getty Images
Russia is breaking down institutions and “borrowing from the future,” Konstantin Sonin says.
The economist notes Russia is taking measures to exert more control over its economy.
But those actions are hurting Moscow’s economic future, Sonin said.
Russia is dealing with an economic “time bomb,” according to one top economist.
Konstantin Sonin, a professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, said he foresaw a dark economic future ahead for Russia. That’s because the war in Ukraine has put Moscow in a position where it needs to exert more control over the economy, leading it to break down key market institutions and “borrow” funds from the future, Sonin wrote in an op-ed for Project Syndicate on Friday.
Sonin pointed to a handful of measures Russia has taken to prop up its economy, including implementing export restrictions on key commodities to counter Western sanctions.
The change has prompted some companies to issue steep price hikes, Sonin said, and it’s an example of market levers breaking down in the nation.
Russia has also taken steps to block firms from leaving the country. Some companies, like Heineken, have been forced to sell their operations in Russia for as little as one euro.
The Kremlin is also financing the war by “borrowing from the future,” Sonin said, pointing to cuts to key public spending programs, while military spending soars. The Kremlin is still planning to spend more on national defense than healthcare or education for the next two years, according to plans Russia’s finance ministry published in 2023.
“Even more important, Putin’s borrowing from the future takes the form of a gradual, yet pervasive dismantling of the market institutions that the Russian people paid such a high price to acquire during the reforms of the 1990s,” Sonin wrote.
“Investing massively in military production and simultaneously dismantling market institutions may strengthen Putin’s hand in the short term, but it sets a time bomb under longer-term economic development.”
Still, Russia’s economy isn’t close to collapse, Sonin noted. Russia’s GDP is estimated to grow another 3.2% this year, according to the International Monetary Fund, which experts have attributed to Moscow’s hefty war spending.
Yet, Sonin sees a challenging economic future.
“Whenever the Ukraine war ends and Russia returns to international trade (beyond raw materials), all the nationalizations of recent years will come back to haunt it. Putin’s war not only imposes on today’s Russians a worse life than they otherwise would have had. It also condemns future generations,” he added.
Other forecasters have also warned of weak growth prospects in Russia over the long run. While GDP continues to grow, longer-term indicators of economic health are in decline, with the nation suffering from a major worker shortage and labor productivity falling more than 3% last year, according to CEIC data.
