Russia

Newsweek reports: A Russian official said that the nation could offer American billionaire Elon Musk political asylum over his fierce dispute with U.S. President Donald Trump. The U.S. president and the world’s richest man have had a dramatic fallout, leaving many wondering what will come of the relationship. Dmitry Novikov [photo], first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on …

“I just finished speaking, by telephone, with President Vladimir Putin, of Russia. The call lasted approximately one hour and 15 minutes. We discussed the attack on Russia’s docked airplanes, by Ukraine, and also various other attacks that have been taking place by both sides. “It was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate Peace. President …

The Telegraph reports: A senior official who dismantled the US government’s Russian disinformation unit is married to a Russian woman with links to the Kremlin, The Telegraph can reveal. Darren Beattie has provoked alarm within the State Department since being appointed in February for his ardent pro-Russian views. He has been noted for his focus on destroying the agency tasked with …

CNN reports: President Donald Trump could move ahead with new sanctions on Russia in the coming days as he vents frustration at Russian President Vladimir Putin for his aerial assault on Ukraine over the weekend, according to people familiar with the matter. Options were drawn up in the past several weeks to apply new measures punishing Moscow, but so far …

From the Wall Street Journal editorial board: Mr. Trump may be the only person in the world still surprised by how Mr. Putin is behaving. The Russian is the same man he’s been for two decades, bent on reconstituting as much of the old Soviet empire as he can get away with. Ukraine is his obsession. He’s not going to …

NBC News reports: Germany’s chancellor said Monday that his government will lift all range restrictions on weapons it sends to Ukraine, meaning that all of Kyiv’s major western allies have now relaxed red lines on the use of their weapons inside Russia to fight Moscow’s offensive. The decision from Chancellor Friedrich Merz comes as Europe seeks to bolster Kyiv’s war …

The Independent reports: Republican Senator Chuck Grassley is calling on President Donald Trump to sanction Russia after the Kremlin launched a massive drone and missile attack against Ukraine over the weekend. A fed-up Grassley demanded on his X account Monday that Trump to take punitive action against Russian President Vladimir Putin for his continued aggression in Ukraine. “I’ve had enuf …

The Hill reports: The Kremlin on Monday responded to President Trump’s criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin, citing “emotional overload” at this “very important moment.” “We are really grateful to the Americans and to President Trump personally for their assistance in organizing and launching this negotiation process,” said spokesman Dmitry Peskov when asked about Trump’s remarks, according to Reuters. “Of …

Reuters reports: A monument to Soviet dictator Josef Stalin erected in Moscow’s metro is stirring debate, with some Russians welcoming it as a historical tribute, but others saying it’s a mistake to commemorate someone who presided over so much suffering. The life-size wall sculpture in Moscow’s Taganskaya metro station depicts Stalin standing on Moscow’s Red Square surrounded by a crowd …

SEN. BILL KEATING: The person we’re negotiating with, Vladimir Putin, is he a war criminal? MARCO RUBIO: Well, I think you can look at instances that have happened there and certainly characterize them as war crimes, but our intent is to end the war. KEATING: Is he a war criminal? RUBIO: We can’t end the war without talking to Mr. …

“Just completed my two hour call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia. I believe it went very well. Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War. The conditions for that will be negotiated between the two parties, as it can only be, because they know details of a negotiation that …

NBC News reports: President Donald Trump is set to speak Monday with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in what the U.S. president said is an attempt to stop the “bloodbath” of the war in Ukraine. Trump said the call would be taking place at 10 a.m. — although he did not specify whether this was on eastern daylight time or …

NBC News reports: Trump’s special envoy broke with long-standing protocol by not employing his own interpreter during three high-level meetings with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, opting instead to rely on translators from the Kremlin, a U.S. official and two Western officials with knowledge of the talks told NBC News. Steve Witkoff, who has been tasked with negotiating an end to the …

The New York Times reports: The Kremlin said on Monday that President Vladimir V. Putin had ordered a three-day cease-fire in Ukraine next month, the second time in two weeks that Russia’s leader has promised a temporary pause in the fighting as President Trump shows growing impatience with his refusal to stop the war. The Kremlin said in a statement …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump said in an interview published on Friday that “Crimea will stay with Russia,” the latest example of the U.S. leader pressuring Ukraine to make concessions to end the war while it remains under siege. “Zelenskyy understands that,” Trump said, referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, “and everybody understands that it’s been with them for …

“Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is boasting on the front page of The Wall Street Journal that, ‘Ukraine will not legally recognize the occupation of Crimea. There’s nothing to talk about here.’ This statement is very harmful to the Peace Negotiations with Russia in that Crimea was lost years ago under the auspices of President Barack Hussein Obama, and is not …

The Washington Post reports: The Trump administration has been engaged in a concerted effort to undo initiatives aimed at holding Russia and its leaders and allies accountable for alleged war crimes in Ukraine. Since taking office, the administration has moved to withdraw from an international group led by the European Union that was created to punish Moscow for violating international …

Axios reports: The U.S. expects Ukraine’s response Wednesday to a peace framework that includes U.S. recognition of Crimea as part of Russia and unofficial recognition of Russian control of nearly all areas occupied since the 2022 invasion, sources with direct knowledge of the proposal tell Axios. The one-page document the U.S. presented Ukrainian officials in Paris last week describes this …

CNN reports: The Trump administration is ready to recognize Russian control of Crimea as part of the US proposal to drive an end to the war with Ukraine, an official familiar with the framework told CNN on Friday. Crimea, southern Ukraine, has been under Russian occupation since it was illegally annexed in 2014. Four other Ukrainian regions – Donetsk and …

The Washington Post reports: Trump is ready to “move on” from peace talks between Ukraine and Russia if there is no progress “within days,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters Friday. “The president has spent 87 days at the highest level of his government repeatedly taking efforts to bring this war to an end,” said Rubio. “We are now …