Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared a three-day ceasefire in Ukraine starting from midnight of May 7-8 to mark the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany's defeat in World War II. Putin urged the Kiev regime to follow suit, stating that the ceasefire will be in effect until midnight of May 10-11. Russia also reiterated its readiness for peace talks without preconditions and called for constructive interaction with international partners. The announcement comes as Russia prepares for its Victory Day celebrations on May 9, commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.
The recent conflict between India and Pakistan was among the issues figured during a phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump, according to a Kremlin aide.
'The Alaska Summit made me realise that while difficult, peace is within reach.'
'As one former Indian diplomat put it to me, Delhi has access to the White House, but Islamabad has access to Mar-a-Lago.'
One must wonder whether Mr Modi's efforts to wine and dine the Big Two of today's world were seen as a sign of weakness rather than a proffered arm of friendship, points out R Jagannathan.
United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday said India has not been a good trading partner and announced that he will raise the tariffs on New Delhi 'very substantially' over the next 24 hours because it is buying Russian oil.
'Geopolitically and diplomatically it's a very difficult situation for India.'
On Monday, June 23, 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Moscow.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists that the Belarusian President volunteered because he has been acquainted with Prigozhin for about 20 years.
Russia has returned the remains of 1,212 Ukrainian soldiers in the latest exchange with Kiev, RT reported, citing Kremlin official Vladimir Medinsky.
As Damascus teetered, Assad's aide orchestrated a shadowy airlift, spiriting millions and secrets to Russia, paving his own escape route.
'We need to be very vigilant as we are passing through some fraught times.'
Three firefighters were killed in Kyiv, two civilians were killed in Lutsk, and another person was killed in Chernihiv, according to the Ukrainian State Emergency Service, as per CNN.
United States President Donald Trump's special envoy for Russia-Ukraine negotiations, Keith Kellogg, has been excluded from high-level discussions aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, according to a report in NBC News.
An inconclusive end to this war will pose high risk for Netanyahu of a cascading demand for a regime change in Israel, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
President Vladimir Putin has thanked Palestinian group Hamas for releasing three Russian hostages captivated during the October 2023 attack on Israel.
Britain and the United States on Monday condemned what they said were a litany of malicious cyberattacks orchestrated by Russian military intelligence.
Russian and Ukrainian negotiators convened in Istanbul on Friday for their first direct peace talks in over three years, amidst pressure from US President Donald Trump to resolve Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday proposed holding direct peace talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on May 15 without any preconditions, a move welcomed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who insisted that Moscow must agree to a ceasefire first.
UN chief Antonio Guterres, US President Donald Trump, his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney were among scores of world leaders who offered condolences to the people of India in wake of the tragic plane crash in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
The IOC last month granted provisional recognition to World Boxing in a major step towards the sport's inclusion in the LA Games and Thursday's decision ensured the sport's Olympic presence would continue.
China appears determined to upgrade Pakistan's military capabilities, sufficient to ensure local parity with India, alerts former foreign secretary Ambassador Shyam Saran.
Tensions between the United States and Russia have reached new heights amid the ongoing Ukraine conflict, with a series of developments marking a dangerous escalation.
Kazan in Tatarstan, south west Russia, is where the annual BRICS summit will be held this week.
A gender row involving two female boxers at the Paris 2024 Olympics was the result of a Russian fake news campaign, said International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach.
'Friendship between our countries is higher than the highest mountain and deeper than the deepest ocean,' the defence minister told the Russian president.
Ukraine has been informed about the Trump-Putin call.
'Putin will not be bound by any kind of deal he would sign with the US.'
Putin is keen on establishing a good personal rapport with Trump and anchor a meaningful US-Russia partnership, realistic enough to accept that Trump is as good an American president as Russia would ever get, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The payment of Kremlin grants will cease the month after anti-doping authorities find an athlete, coach or sports specialist guilty of involvement in the use of performance- enhancing drugs, Putin's decree said.
Vladimir Putin took the oath for a new six year term as Russia's president on Tuesday, May 7, 2024.
'There is no question that Putin's preference will be to avoid unpleasantness with Trump, leave alone a collision course,' observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologised to Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev for the crash of Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8432 in which 38 passengers were killed near Aktau in Kazakhstan, Euro News reported.
India is preoccupied with analysing the US sanctions, which may cut off India's access to discounted Russian crude and force it to buy at market prices.
'He may respect others, but he is unlikely to admire them'
The heated exchange between Trump and Zelenskyy and the resulting outpouring of support for the Ukrainian leader highlighted the deep fissures that have emerged between America and Europe over Ukraine.
The wide-ranging sanctions imposed by the US on the Russian oil sector have started to dent near-term oil flows to India with state-owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) saying not enough cargoes are available for March.
Trump knows by now that the western narrative of Biden's war is a load of bullshit peppered with falsehoods and outright lies, and that the war erupted only out of the diabolic western plot to poke the bear, which got provoked finally and hit out, explains Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Prime Minister Modi will hold in-person meetings with President Putin for 8-9 hours during his nearly 24-hour stay in Russia, they said.
The situation in Syria remains a focal point for all the neighbouring nations after Syrian rebels on Sunday entered the capital Damascus, forcing Assad to flee, ending his over two-decade rule in the country.
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