Vladimir Putin Russia Ukraine war

Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz spoke to Mr Putin by phone for 80 minutes. The pair "insisted on an immediate ceasefire and a withdrawal of Russian troops", the ...

There are multiple, credible reports of war crimes carried out by occupying Russian forces. It is a stark contrast not just with the readout from the EU allies - who said the focus was on the welfare of the 2,500 prisoners-of-war who surrendered - but with the evidence of all independent observers. To read the Kremlin's report of the call between Presidents Putin and Macron and Chancellor Scholz, Russia is engaged in a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine. Its actions in the southern port of Mariupol - a city that has been reduced to rubble - are all about "establishing peaceful life" and "liberation". Elsewhere in the call, the French and German leaders asked Mr Putin to lift Russia's blockade of the Ukrainian port of Odesa, to allow for grain exports. Russia has previously said more than 900 of the fighters were moved to a reopened prison colony in Olenivka, a village in Russian-occupied Donetsk. A smaller number with serious wounds were taken to a hospital in the town of Novoazovsk, also in Donetsk. The leaders of France and Germany have urged Russia's Vladimir Putin to hold "direct [and] serious negotiations" with Ukraine's president, the German chancellor's office said.

President Vladimir Putin spoke with the leaders of Germany and France, who urged a cease-fire and for Moscow to free captured fighters.

Kyiv has been unable to export grain supplies due to Russia's invasion, which has sent global food prices soaring.

As Ukraine’s Western backers were considering whether to send more arms supplies to Kyiv, Putin also told Macron and Scholz the continuing arms supplies were “dangerous”, warning “of the risks of further destabilisation of the situation and aggravation of the humanitarian crisis,” the Kremlin said. “Putin said that Russia is willing to allow the passage of those ships, roughly around 300 of them, from the main port in Odesa in Ukraine. That is something up for discussion, but of course, that is something that has to be done through the Russian military,” Jabbari said. “Russia is ready to help find options for the unhindered export of grain, including the export of Ukrainian grain from the Black Sea ports,” Putin told Macron and Scholz, the Kremlin said.

Moscow has been accused of "weaponising hunger", with its invasion of its neighbour sending prices of grains, cooking oils and fuel soaring.

Moscow has been accused of "weaponising hunger", with its invasion of its neighbour sending prices of grains, cooking oils and fuel soaring. Moscow has been accused of "weaponising hunger", with its invasion of its neighbour sending prices of grains, cooking oils and fuel soaring. Britain's Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has accused Moscow of "weaponising hunger" and rejected the idea of sanctions relief in exchange for grain corridors.

Russia's president seemingly conditioned a potential reopening of Ukraine's grain exports on a relaxation of Western sanctions imposed after Russia invaded ...

The lawmakers then deprived Vasyukevich and Shulga of their right to take the floor at the session. Although it occupies almost half of the entire Central Asian country, it has a population of only 250,000. "There are things to discuss with the Russian leader. RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the major developments on Russia's invasion, how Kyiv is fighting back, the plight of civilians, and Western reaction. Thousands have been arrested and much of the opposition leadership has been jailed or forced into exile. The move will add to the widening of existing railway routes connecting East with West." Nehammer, who spoke to reporters after the 45-minute call, said Putin told him that Moscow is ready to discuss a prisoner swap with Ukraine but the question is complex. "There are things to discuss with the Russian leader. RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the major developments on Russia's invasion, how Kyiv is fighting back, the plight of civilians, and Western reaction. Nehammer, who spoke to reporters after the 45-minute call, said Putin told him that Moscow is ready to discuss a prisoner swap with Ukraine but the question is complex. "[Johnson] said that the U.K. would work with G7 partners to push for urgent progress" on grain exports, London's readout of the Johnson-Zelenskiy call said. "It is expected that the transaction will be completed on Monday."

Russia: President Vladimir Putin told his French and German counterparts that Moscow was open to resuming talks with Ukraine, but that the supply of Western ...

Mr. Putin, in a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, “confirmed the openness of the Russian side to the resumption of dialogue,” the Kremlin said. Russian President Vladimir Putin told his German and French counterparts that Moscow was open to resuming negotiations with Ukraine, but that the West’s supply of weapons to the Kyiv government could exacerbate the crisis, the Kremlin said Saturday. The comments came a day after U.S. officials signaled that the Biden administration is likely to approve the transfer of advanced, long-range rocket systems to Ukraine that the Kyiv government says are necessary to stop Russian advances in the Donbas region in the country’s east, where fighting has been intense.

Russian President Vladimir Putin tells the leaders of France and Germany that Moscow is ready to look for ways to ship grain stuck in Ukrainian ports.

Moscow generates lies: "🇺🇦 refuses from negotiations". We can negotiate, but only if 🇷🇺 renounces hypocrisy (say one thing – do another), leaves the south of the country and withdraws its troops. This is clearly a sign of weakness,” Zelenskyy said in his evening address. And what type of terror will be next?” “A barbarian can only be stopped by force.” If the West really wants 🇺🇦’s victory, maybe it is time to give us long-range MLRS? It is hard to fight when you are attacked from a 70 km distance and have nothing to fight back with. On their readiness to provide Ukraine with everything necessary to defend freedom. Terror in the food market, and on a global scale. Ukraine can bring Russia back behind the Iron Curtain, but we need effective weapons for that,” Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter. Those who are confident in their position would definitely not make such decisions. “Every day we are bringing closer the time when our army will surpass the occupiers technologically and by firepower. “These are all our guys who played different sports. 🇺🇦 can bring 🇷🇺 back behind the Iron Curtain, but we need effective weapons for that.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed that Ukraine will "take everything back" from Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law ...

However, he acknowledged that the situation in the Donbas remains difficult, especially in the areas of Severodonetsk, Lysychansk, Bakhmut and Popasna. - "Tough defensive position": Constant Russian shelling is pounding Severodonetsk and fighting is raging on the outskirts of the city, according to Ukrainian reports. - Zelensky defiant: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address on Saturday that his country will"take everything back"from Russia. "This is an imperative," Zelensky said, "And it's just a matter of time.

The Russian war has now escalated to day 95 with colossal damage to life and property in Ukraine. Noting the devastation, a branch of Ukraine's Orthodox ...

The head of the civil-military administration in the embattled Ukrainian, Oleksandr Striuk, on Saturday said that Ukrainian forces were in a "tough defensive position" in Severodonetsk as the fighting escalated. As concerns mount due to the rising food crisis amid the Russian aggression in Ukraine, the Russian President Vladimir Putin has indicated that Russia is open to talking about options to allow Ukraine to resume grain supplies from seaports in a conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, as the Kremlin suggests. Nearly a third of the world's wheat is produced in Russia and Ukraine, which is also a big producer of fertilizer and a large exporter of corn and sunflower oil. As concerns mount due to the rising food crisis amid the Russian aggression in Ukraine, the Russian President Vladimir Putin has indicated that Russia is open to talking about options to allow Ukraine to resume grain supplies from seaports in a conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, as the Kremlin suggests. There are no active actions in Belarus near the border in the region next to Kyiv, as Chairman of Kyiv OVA, Oleksiy Kuleba suggests. Nearly a third of the world's wheat is produced in Russia and Ukraine, which is also a big producer of fertilizer and a large exporter of corn and sunflower oil. The report suggested that Berlin has delivered only two weapon packages in the given period despite Ukraine's repeated calls for arms supply to help deter Russian aggression. Calling for more weapons supply, the embattled President added that the victory "very much depends on the partners." However, the United States has already declined Russia’s offer to reopen Ukrainian ports in exchange for lifting sanctions, stating that they have heard false promises from the Russian Federation before. In a video message, he said that every day, they strive to improve their defence and every day, they get closer to the point where their army outweighs the occupiers both technologically and militarily. In addition, the Russia-appointed health authorities also ramped up blood donations for wounded Russian soldiers. In addition, the Russia-appointed health authorities also ramped up blood donations for wounded Russian soldiers.

The Kremlin chief warned French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz saying they could further destabilise the situation in the ...

"The president of the Republic and the German chancellor asked for the release of some 2,500 defenders of Azovstal made prisoners of war by the Russian forces," the French presidency said. Macron and Scholz for their part urged Russia to lift the blockade of the Ukrainian port of Odessa to allow the export of grain, the French presidency said. "Russia is ready to help find options for the unhindered export of grain, including the export of Ukrainian grain from the Black Sea ports," Putin told Macron and Scholz, the Kremlin said.

Fighting for the eastern Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk rages with Russian forces conducting assault operations. Invading forces appear close to seizing ...

- A ship entered the Ukrainian port of Mariupol for the first time since Russia completed its capture of the city to load metal and ship it east to Russia. - Putin told Macron and Scholz that Moscow was willing to discuss ways to make it possible for Ukraine to resumeshipments of grain, the Kremlin said. - Invading forces appear close to seizing all of the Luhansk region, one of the more modest war goals of the Kremlin.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the conditions in the Donbas are “indescribably difficult” as Ukrainian forces try to hold out in the face of ...

Slow, solid Russian gains in recent days point to a subtle momentum shift in the war, now in its fourth month. The group discussed stalled negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, with the Kremlin saying Kyiv was to blame for the current impasse. "The key areas of fighting on the frontline are still Severodonetsk, Lysychansk, Bakhmut, Popasna and other cities where the Russian offensive is focused. "On 25 May, Russia's deputy foreign minister, Andrei Rudenko, said Russia is ready to provide a humanitarian corridor for vessels carrying food through the Black Sea in return for the lifting of sanctions. And I am grateful to all those who withstood this onslaught of the occupiers," he added. Thus, in the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the occupation administration ordered to stop accepting civilians in order to vacate the beds for the wounded. "The situation is very complicated. "Rudenko's request for Ukraine to de-mine follows a core tenet of modern Russian messaging strategy: introducing alternative narratives, however unconvincing, to complicate audiences' understanding. Putin "confirmed the openness of the Russian side to the resumption of dialogue," Russia said in a read-out following the 80-minute call. Air defense units destroyed Orlan-10 UAVs. [Russian] enemy has losses in other areas," they added. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the situation in the Donbas region is "indescribably difficult" as Russian forces continue to target the area, and thanked Ukrainian forces for withstanding Russia's onslaught. In particular, sanitary, which necessitates the creation of additional opportunities for medical care.

Ukraine pleads for heavy weapons as Russia advances in the east, claiming to have captured strategically important Lyman.

Two rounds landed in courtyards of high-rise buildings, and one shell fell close to a kindergarten, CNN reported. Russia’s defence ministry claims to have captured the strategically important city of Lyman and several other smaller towns and encircled Sievierodonetsk, which Ukraine denies. Ukrainian officials say they urgently need advanced US-made mobile multiple launch rocket systems, which are capable of striking targets up to 300km away, to halt Russian advances in Luhansk and Donetsk.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Lyman, the second small city to fall this week, had been “completely liberated” by a joint force of Russian soldiers and ...

Meanwhile, some 50 homes in the village of Demydiv remain partially submerged months after a dam was destroyed and the area flooded to stop Russian troops from advancing on Ukraine capital Kyiv, regional governor Oleksiy Kuleba said. The Ukrainian military blew up a dam on the river Irpin in February, sending water surging into the village and thousands of acres around it, flooding houses and fields, but preventing Russian tanks from reaching the capital city. The Russian Defense Ministry said Lyman, the second small city to fall this week, had been “completely liberated” by a joint force of Russian soldiers and Kremlin-backed separatists, who have waged war for eight years in the industrial Donbas region bordering Russia. Ukraine’s train system has ferried arms and evacuated citizens through Lyman, a key railway hub in the east.

As Russia seeks to capture the last Ukrainian controlled city in the eastern Luhansk region, Ukraine announced a counteroffensive around a southern port ...

Thermobaric weapons are not banned, and they are not addressed in the Geneva Conventions, a series of international agreements that govern warfare. Such explosives, also called fuel-air bombs or vacuum bombs, scatter a flammable mist or powder that is then ignited and burns in the air. The Russian weapon carries a box of rockets atop a tanklike tracked vehicle. Better use of artillery and a deliberately slower tempo of operations has helped Russia advance in the region, according to analysts. Russian and Ukrainian forces have been locked in increasingly heavy street fighting in the area of Sievierodonetsk, a major railway hub in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. And Ukraine’s Army said on April 5 that it had fired Heatwave thermobaric rockets from a captured system back at Russian troops, intending to burn them with their own weapon, in fighting near Izium. He said that the shells landed in a residential area near a kindergarten. According to Ukrainian and British officials, Russia has been using one of its most fearsome conventional weapons, a rocket artillery system nicknamed the Heatwave, in a systematic fashion. Russian forces have been active in the region since 2014 in support of separatists. The Ukrainian military said on Sunday that hospitals in Crimea had been ordered by Moscow to stop treating civilians to attend to the needs of wounded soldiers. Crimea was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014 and has been a key staging ground for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine had been asking for the systems, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain agreeing on Friday that they should be supplied.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has made it clear that he will not tolerate criticism of his assault on Ukraine. Russians who describe his “special military ...

Putin pledged to Scholz and Macron that if Ukraine demines areas of the sea around ports, Russia would not use the opportunity to take “offensive actions,” the German statement said. Putin said Moscow was ready to continue peace talks with Kyiv, Russia’s Tass news agency reported, citing the Kremlin press service. Scholz and Macron called on Putin to negotiate directly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to end the three-month conflict. Meanwhile, Ukraine has continued to seek military support from Western allies to enable it to resist Russian military pressure in the east of the country. Russia has been trying to encircle Severodonetsk, the easternmost city still under Ukraine’s control. Something must be done for the world to get better.” Haidai said Severodonetsk remains under Ukrainian control — echoing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — as Russian forces try to encircle the city. In interviews with The Washington Post, foreign fighters from the United States and elsewhere described glaring disparities between what they expected the war to be like and what they experienced. Russian forces are making gains in eastern Ukraine, with more than 95 percent of the Luhansk region under their control, according to the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War. Severodonetsk, one of the largest Ukrainian-controlled cities in Luhansk, is now facing a direct Russian assault. The Russian state-owned news agency Tass appeared to confirm Denisova’s account. Moscow has tried to downplay these losses, but the battlefield setbacks have raised questions. Russia is also trying to encircle the eastern city of Severodonetsk, but the regional governor said Saturday that the city has not been cut off.

Kremlin is concentrating on capturing Sievierodonetsk as part of its focus on the battle in the east.

Vladimir Kara-Murza's wife Evgenia says Russian president will fall over war in Ukraine.

And I brought him back to the US. He recovered and then he went back to Russia. Everything – speaking and being on stage, speaking to journalists – is very new to me. Kara-Murza said that since the war started Russia had switched from being an authoritarian regime to a totalitarian one. “Thanks to an amazing independent investigation by Bellingcat and Insider, we now know the names and the faces of those people from the FSB, who had followed him before the poisoning. “He was targeted by an FSB team that tried to kill him twice in 2015 and 2017. On the basis of the charges laid so far Vladimir is now facing up to 10 years.”

Evgenia Kara-Murza, whose husband Vladimir was arrested in Moscow in April, said he may have reason to fear for his life.

"And there are no more media outlets in Russia that can talk about it." "That is important to say it out loud... She could not immediately be reached for further comment.

Zelensky has been based in Kyiv since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale attack on Ukraine on Feb. 24. "In this war, the occupiers are ...

"We need to keep employment. "Evacuation is very unsafe, it's isolated cases when we manage to get people out. We will fight and we will definitely win." On Sunday, the Russian defence ministry said it had destroyed a Ukrainian armed forces arsenal in the southeastern city of Kryvyi Rih with "long-range high-precision missiles." "The situation is very difficult, especially in those areas in the Donbas and Kharkiv regions, where the Russian army is trying to squeeze at least some result for itself," Zelensky said late on Saturday in his daily address to the nation. Meanwhile, on the eastern bank of the Donets river, Russian forces "carried out assault operations in the area of the city of Severodonetsk," according to the Ukrainian general staff.

Ukrainian forces endured heavy artillery barrages on Sunday as they held off Russian attempts to capture Sievierodonetsk, the largest city Kyiv still ...

Ukraine and Western countries say Russia's claims are a false pretext for a war of aggression. The journalist heard what appeared to be outgoing artillery fire and Russian aircraft dropping a bomb close to the town. "I do not believe that we can restore all of our territory by military means. Dozens of buildings have been destroyed in the past few days. Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War in Washington said the Russians had still not managed to encircle the city and the Ukrainian defenders have inflicted "fearful casualties" on them. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

The outcome of Russia's attacks on the Donetsk and Luhansk areas will determine the fate of the rest of Ukraine.

Since the Russians withdrew at the beginning of April, there has been no artillery threat, and no repeat of the booms from the suburbs that characterised the first weeks of the war. The occasional air raid siren and men with guns on the streets are reminders of the war, but cafe terraces are busy, the opera has reopened and the curfew has been pushed back to 11pm. Last Thursday, areas within the city limits were shelled for the first time in two weeks and nine civilians died, according to local authorities. Now, there is talk of rapid annexation of the parts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia provinces that Russia took in the first days of the invasion. Ukraine will not accept the loss of these areas, but if it launches a counterattack, Russia could claim Ukraine was attacking Russian territory. Last week, the focus was on the city of Sievierodonetsk, where local governor Serhiy Haidai said Russia had committed 10,000 soldiers and an extra 2,500 pieces of equipment to attacking the city.

KRAMATORSK, Ukraine (AP) — As Russia asserted progress in its goal of seizing the entirety of contested eastern Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin tried ...

Mariupol became a symbol of massive destruction and human suffering, as well as of Ukrainian determination to defend the country. The war has caused global food shortages because Ukraine is a major exporter of grain and other commodities. Residents who had not yet fled faced the choice of trying to do so now or staying. Some supply routes are functioning, and evacuations of the wounded are still possible, Striuk said. And residents risked exposure to shelling to get water from a half-dozen wells, he said. Ukraine’s train system has ferried arms and evacuated citizens through Lyman, a key railway hub in the east. Luhansk Gov. Serhii Haidai reported that Ukrainian fighters repelled an assault on Sievierodonetsk but Russian troops still pushed to encircle them. Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Anatoliy Antonov, said Saturday that such a move would be “unacceptable” and admonished the White House to “abandon statements about the military victory of Ukraine.” In the call with Macron and Scholz, the Kremlin said, Putin emphasized that Russia was working to “establish a peaceful life in Mariupol and other liberated cities in the Donbas.” On Saturday, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar disputed Moscow’s claim that Lyman had fallen, saying fighting there was still ongoing. “If Russia did succeed in taking over these areas, it would highly likely be seen by the Kremlin as a substantive political achievement and be portrayed to the Russian people as justifying the invasion,” the British Ministry of Defense said in a Saturday assessment. A Kremlin readout of the call said Putin affirmed “the openness of the Russian side to the resumption of dialogue.” The three leaders, who had gone weeks without speaking during the spring, agreed to stay in contact, it added.

Ukraine said on Friday that Russia had captured most of Lyman but that its forces were blocking an advance to Sloviansk.

Russia justified its assault in part on ensuring Ukraine does not join the U.S.-led NATO military alliance. Russian forces shelled parts of Kharkiv on Thursday for the first time in days killing nine people, authorities said. Russia accuses Ukraine of mining the ports. She said a shell hit the courtyard, killing two people and wounding eight. Russia's attacks included artillery assaults in the Sievierodonetsk area "with no success", it said. A withdrawal could bring Russian President Vladimir Putin closer to his goal of capturing eastern Ukraine's Luhansk and Donetsk regions in full.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said the situation in Donbas is "very difficult" as Russia ramps up firepower and manpower, but vowed the region ...

Previously, citizens aged 18 to 40 and foreigners aged 18 to 30 could enlist in the Russian military. A statement from the French presidential office, the Elysee Palace, said: "Any solution to the war must be negotiated between Moscow and Kyiv." The two leaders also urged Putin to lift the blockade of Odesa to allow the export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea in order to avoid a world food crisis, according to the statement. Hayday said intense Russian shelling was underway in Severodonetsk, an industrial center which is the last major stronghold of Ukrainian control in Luhansk. Ukrainian forces are fighting to stave off an apparent effort by Russian forces to encircle the defenders of Severodonetsk, while Russian troops make advances from several directions. The statement in a series of tweets from the WNBPA reads: “Brittney Griner is our teammate, our friend, and our sister. It is about 60 kilometers (37 miles) away from Kherson, which has been under Russian control since the early days of the invasion. A member of OUR global sports community, we need to stand up and stand together to call for her release. "But we must understand that Russian troops are practically on the outskirts of Severodonetsk." Elsewhere in Lysychansk, CNN's Nick Paton Walsh met a large family with young children that is staying put, despite the shelling. Over and over [such actions] will remind the world that Russia must finally be officially recognized as a terrorist state, a state sponsor of terrorism,” Zelensky said. Only an initial level of medical care is available in the city." Zelensky said Russian forces inflicted “barbaric blows” on the Sumy region using rockets and mortars. "A real battle can be heard in the main bus station area," he said.

Severodonetsk is the last major city held by Ukrainian forces in Luhansk, in the eastern Donbas region. Russian forces are trying to encircle the defenders of ...

The statement in a series of tweets from the WNBPA reads: “Brittney Griner is our teammate, our friend, and our sister. "But we must understand that Russian troops are practically on the outskirts of Severodonetsk." It is about 60 kilometers (37 miles) away from Kherson, which has been under Russian control since the early days of the invasion. Over and over [such actions] will remind the world that Russia must finally be officially recognized as a terrorist state, a state sponsor of terrorism,” Zelensky said. Only an initial level of medical care is available in the city." "Tough defensive position": Constant Russian shelling is pounding Severodonetsk and fighting is raging on the outskirts of the city, according to Ukrainian reports. "A real battle can be heard in the main bus station area," he said. However, he acknowledged that the situation in the Donbas remains difficult, especially in the areas of Severodonetsk, Lysychansk, Bakhmut and Popasna. It is about 60 kilometers (37 miles) from Kherson, which has been under Russian control since the early days of the invasion. Putin scraps age limit: TheRussian President has signed a law scrapping the upper age limit for Russians and foreigners to join the military as contract service members, according to Russian state news agency TASS. Russia’s State Duma passed the bill on Wednesday but Putin's signature was needed for it to become law. Russian forces are trying to encircle the defenders of the city this weekend, with troops advancing in several directions around a pocket of Ukrainian-held territory. Zelensky defiant: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address on Saturday that his country will "take everything back" from Russia. "This is an imperative," Zelensky said, "And it's just a matter of time.