President Vladimir Putin

June 4, 2026 6:44 PM

Putin faces rival visions of war and peace at Russia’s ‘Davos’

President Vladimir Putin faced two rival outlines of Russia's future on Thursday as he hosted his premier annual investment conference with the war in Ukraine unabated. Some participants at the glitzy St Petersburg International Economic Forum said Russia should fight on and gird for global confrontation with the West. Others highlighted the economic benefits to be reaped from ending a war that came almost to the forum's doorstep when Ukrainian drones hit a St Petersburg oil terminal and naval...

June 3, 2026 4:18 PM

Ukraine strikes St Petersburg oil terminal, naval base as Putin’s ‘Davos’ gets under way

Ukrainian drones hit an oil terminal in St Petersburg and a warship in dry-dock at anearby naval base, hours before Vladimir Putin's showcase economic forum got under way in the city, in a clearattempt to embarrass the Kremlin chief. The attack on Putin's home city, location of his own 'Davos' - a glitzy annual economic forum designed to attract foreign investment - comes as both sides dial up strikes against each other in their more than four-year-old war with no imminent end in sight. The Kr...

May 5, 2026 10:17 AM

Putin, Zelenskiy proclaim rival ceasefires around Russia’s Victory day commemorations

President Vladimir Putin on Monday declared a two-day ceasefire in the conflict with Ukraine on May 8-9 to mark Russia’s World War Two victory, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy countered with his own proposed pause in fighting starting earlier, on the night of May 5‑6. Putin had first spoken of a possible ceasefire coinciding with commemorations of the 81st anniversary of the victory in a phone conversation last week with U.S. President Donald Trump. Ukraine had been wary of the...

April 28, 2026 3:36 PM

Trump unhappy with Iran’s latest proposal to end the war

U.S. President Donald Trump is unhappy with the latest Iranian proposal on resolving the two-month war, a U.S. official said, dampening hopes for resolution of a conflict that has disrupted energy supplies, fuelled inflation, and killed thousands. Iran's latest proposal would set aside discussion of Iran's nuclear programme until the war, on hold following a ceasefire announced earlier this month, is ended and disputes over shipping from the Gulf are resolved. Trump is unhappy with Iran's pr...

April 27, 2026 3:25 PM

Iran’s FM Abbas Araghchi Arrives in St Petersburg for Talks with Vladimir Putin

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Russia's St Petersburg on Monday to hold talks with President Vladimir Putin, local media reported on Monday. Upon arrival in St Petersburg, Araghchi was received by Russian officials and Iran's Ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali. According to Jalali, Araghchi and President Putin are set to hold talks in St Petersburg on Monday, Iran's Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported. Speaking to IRNA, Jalali said discussions between Araghchi and P...

April 27, 2026 9:59 AM

Trump says Iran can phone if it wants to talk; Iranian minister heads to Russia

President Donald Trump said on Sunday Iran could telephone if it wants to negotiate an end to their two-month war and stressed it can never have a nuclear weapon, after Tehran said the U.S. should remove obstacles to a deal, including its blockade of Iran's ports. Hopes of reviving peace efforts receded on Saturday when Trump scrapped a visit to Islamabad by his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi shuttled to and from mediators Pakistan and Oman on Sun...

February 24, 2026 8:03 PM

Putin tells FSB to better protect energy sector, warns foes against pushing Moscow too far

President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday ordered the FSB security service to step up protection of Russia's energy and transport infrastructure in response to Ukrainian attacks that he said were conducted with the help of Western intelligence. Putin, speaking on the fourth anniversary of the war, said Russia's enemies would regret it if they pushed Moscow too far. "They did not manage to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia on the battlefield, so the enemy is relying on individual and mass terror: ...

February 24, 2026 4:01 PM

Kremlin says Ukraine conflict has evolved into a much wider confrontation with the West

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Western countries' decision to intervene in the conflict in Ukraine meant it had become a much wider confrontation with nations that Russia believed want to crush it. Speaking exactly four years after tens of thousands of Russian troops entered Ukraine on President Vladimir Putin's orders, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the fighting continued, but that Moscow remained open to achieving its aims through political and diplomatic means. "Following the direct...

December 2, 2025 4:16 PM

Explainer-What is the significance of Russia’s claimed capture of the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk?

President Vladimir Putin has hailed what his commanders told him was the full Russian capture of the city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine as an important victory after a prolonged campaign, saying it would help Moscow fulfil its wider war aims. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine, which has said in recent weeks it was holding back Russian forces in the north of the city. Here are key facts about Pokrovsk, which Russians call by its Soviet-era name of Krasnoarmeysk, and the long battle f...

December 2, 2025 3:29 PM

Putin hails Russian capture of all of eastern Ukraine’s Pokrovsk

President Vladimir Putin hailed what his commanders told him was the full Russian capture of the city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine as an important victory after a prolonged campaign, saying it would help Moscow fulfil its wider war aims. Russia, which uses the Soviet-era name of Krasnoarmeysk to refer to the city, has faced fierce Ukrainian resistance in its battle since mid-2024 to capture Pokrovsk, once a strategic logistics hub for the Ukrainian army. "I want to thank you. This is an impo...