Russia

Russian Reservists Face Call-Ups as Ukraine Hits Refineries

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday signed a law that allows using reservists to guard oil refineries after Ukrainian drone strikes led to gasoline shortages in some regions. Kyiv has been targeting Russian refineries in retribution for Moscow's drone and missile strikes in Ukraine, and in an attempt to cut off energy revenues that ...

A War Still Without End: Why Russia and Ukraine Remain Locked in Conflict

On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, marking the most significant military conflict in Europe since World War II. The decision was rooted in a blend of political, strategic, and ideological motives that had been building for years. At the core of Moscow’s reasoning was the determination to prevent Ukraine, a ...

Trump says Russia, China Have Secretly Tested Nuclear Weapons, China Denies

China denied testing nuclear weapons on Monday after US President Donald Trump alleged the country was among those to have conducted tests unknown to the public. "China has always adhered to the path of peaceful development, pursued a policy of no first use of nuclear weapons, upheld a self-defense nuclear strategy and abided by its ...

North Korea’s Top Diplomat Heads to Russia and Belarus for Talks

North Korea's Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui will visit Russia for a three-day trip from Sunday, the Russian foreign ministry said. Choe would be in Russia "on a working visit" from Sunday to Tuesday, it said in a statement. Russian ambassador Aleksandr Matsegora accompanied the minister to the airport, the Russian embassy in Pyongyang said in a ...

Hungary Looking at Ways Around US Sanctions on Russian Oil: Orban

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Friday that his government was working on "ways to circumvent" US sanctions against Russian energy companies. The United States on Wednesday hit Russia's two biggest oil producers -- Rosneft and Lukoil -- with sanctions, the first against Russia since US President Donald Trump returned to ...

EU Takes Small Step Towards Using Russian Assets for Ukraine

EU leaders Thursday tasked the European Commission to move ahead with options for funding Ukraine for two more years, leaving the door open for a mammoth loan using frozen Russian assets. In broadly-worded conclusions adopted after marathon talks in Brussels, EU leaders stopped short of greenlighting plans for the 140-billion-euro ($162-billion) ...

Zelensky Hails 'Strong' Message' of US Sanctions on Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday hailed the "strong and much-needed" message sent by US sanctions on Russia's energy sector, after President Donald Trump moved to ratchet up pressure on Moscow in step with the EU. "We waited for this. God bless, it will work, and this is very important," Zelensky told journalists at an EU summit ...

Russia Holds Scheduled Nuclear Drills, Week After NATO

Russia held planned strategic nuclear drills on Wednesday, a week after NATO began similar annual exercises, as tensions in Europe over the Ukraine war run high. "Today we are conducting planned, I would like to emphasise, planned, nuclear forces training," Russian President Vladimir Putin told generals in a televised meeting. NATO began similar ...

Trump and Putin's Budapest Summit Shelved

US President Donald Trump put plans to meet Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Budapest on hold Tuesday, as efforts to end the war in Ukraine ran into yet another roadblock. Trump said just days ago that he would meet Putin within two weeks, while at the same time pressuring Ukraine to give up the eastern Donbas region in exchange for peace, a ...

Lavrov and Rubio Discuss Putin-Trump Summit, Zelensky Seeks Invite

Russia's top diplomat Sergei Lavrov and US counterpart Marco Rubio discussed preparations for an upcoming summit between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in a call on Monday, both sides said. Rubio "emphasized the importance of upcoming engagements as an opportunity for Moscow and Washington to collaborate on advancing a durable resolution of the ...