Category Archives: Vladimir Putin

Turkish President Erdogan Says He And Putin Are ‘Only’ Two Leaders Left In The World

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The Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan just claimed he and Vladimir Putin are the “only” two leaders left in the world.

Speaking after Syrian rebels ousted Bashar al-Assad, who had ruled Turkey’s neighbour since 2000, Erdogan heaped praise on Russia’s authoritarian leader.

He said: “Now, there are only two leaders in the world. They are myself and Vladimir Putin.

“I am not saying this because one of them is me. But I have been in office for 22 years, nearly as long as Mr Putin. The rest are gone.”

Putin has been in power for the best part of 25 years and often accused of rigging elections to stay in power.

Turkey is seen as a flawed democracy where elections are still credible, but there are few checks and balances on its government.

It’s worth noting there are 195 governments in the world – so Putin and Erdogan are far from the only leaders left.

According to the Russian state news agency TASS, Erdogan also explained how important it was to remain close to Russia.

He said: “We want our dialogue to continue. It is important to continue politics.

“For instance, politics ended in Germany when Angela Merkel resigned.”

Merkel served as the chancellor in Germany from 2005 until 2021 when she stepped down.

Bizarrely, Erdogan’s comments come at a time when Putin is providing asylum to Assad in Russia after Moscow propped up his regime for years.

Meanwhile, the Turkish president has conducted several incursions into Syria over the last eight years in a bid to create a buffer zone on the border.

Erdogan has also been accused of aiding the Syrian rebels although Turkish officials have rejected such claims.

Turkey and Russia have also emphasised their close connection in the past, with Erdogan once describing Putin as a “dear friend”.

The Turkish president told CNN last May: “Russia and Turkey need each other in every field possible.

“The West is not leading a very balanced approach – you need a balanced approach toward a country such as Russia.

“We are not at a point where we would impose sanctions on Russia like the West has done.”

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Putin Minister Accidentally Hints At Daunting Ukraine War Stat Which Kremlin Has Tried To Keep Secret

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Vladimir Putin’s deputy defence minister may have accidentally revealed Moscow’s estimate of its losses in Ukraine.

Until now, the exact number of those Russian deaths or casualties have been kept firmly under wraps.

Ana Tsivilyova, who is also the daughter of Putin’s cousin, told a meeting with lawmakers that the Kremlin had tens of thousands of appeals from relatives who are searching for missing or dead soldiers.

Speaking in a video published by the independent Astra Telegram channel, she said: “The ministry of internal affairs takes [DNA samples] absolutely free of charge at its own expense, and enters into its database for all the relatives who have applied to us. I’ve already said 48,000.”

Shortly after she let this detail slip, Russia’s defence committee chief Andrei Kartapolov cut in and told viewers: “I earnestly ask you not to use these figures anywhere.

“This is such sensitive, closed information. And when we draw up the final documents, we should not include these figures anywhere.”

Tsivilyova replied: “I didn’t give the numbers of missing people, but the number of requests to us. Many of them will be found. So this number is specifically requests, not data.”

The video was published by popular Telegram channel Astra and streamed at the time on the website for the parliament’s lower house, the Duma.

The exchange reportedly took place on 26 November. Reuters noted that it was not on the site on 4 December.

It remains unclear exactly how many troops have died in the war on either the Ukrainian or the Russian side.

Independent Russian news site Mesiazone and the BBC Russian service confirmed the names of 82,050 soldiers who had died in Ukraine as of 6 December

Meanwhile, Western intelligence estimates that Russian losses – dead or injured – exceed 700,000.

In fact, the UK’s Ministry of Defence reported that November was also the costliest month for the war, with casualties reaching 1,500 a day.

The Kremlin is thought to be reluctant about revealing the true extent of the losses so the Russian public remain unaware of the real wartime impact.

Putin is also pushing ahead at Russia’s fastest rate of the war yet to gain as much land as possible as US president-elect Donald Trump is expected to push for a peace deal once in office.

Speaking to US journalist Tucker Carlson – who interviewed the Russian president in February – Putin’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia will use “any means” to prevent defeat by the West this week.

Lavrov said the West must take Russia’s “red lines” seriously – although he also admitted Russia and the US were not at war right now, despite the aggressive rhetoric from Putin.

He said: “And in any case, this (war) is not what we want. We would like to have normal relations with all our neighbours, of course… especially with a great country like the United States.”

He also said Donald Trump was a “very strong person, a person who wants results”.

The US president-elect has promised to end the war on his first full day back in the White House, but has not explained how he would do so, sparking fears he could pressure Ukraine to cede land to Russia.

Lavrov told Carlson any potential peace deal has to acknowledge the realities on the ground – as Russia controls 20% of Ukraine – and exclude any chance of Ukraine joining Nato.

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Entire UK Army Would Be Destroyed In 6 To 12 Months Of War, Minister Warns

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The entire British Army would be destroyed in six months to a year if it was pulled into a major conflict and lost troops at the same rate as Russia, according to the veterans minister.

There are currently 71,347 full-time, trained troops in the army, which is the force’s smallest size since the 1700s Napoleonic era.

Defence secretary John Healey has already warned that it is expected to decline below 70,000.

Speaking to the Royal United Services Institute think tank, Colonel Alistair Carns pointed out how Vladimir Putin is racking up around 1,500 casualties per day in the Ukraine war.

He said: “In a war of scale — not a limited intervention but one similar to Ukraine — our army, for example on the current casualty rates, would be expended, as part of a broader multinational coalition, in six months to a year.”

But Putin is aspiring to lead the second largest army in the world, with 1.5 million active troops– and leaning on soldiers recruited from North Korea – meaning it’s probably easier to absorb those losses.

However, Carns suggested the UK did not need to emulate Putin’s approach.

He said: “That doesn’t mean we need a bigger army, but it does mean you need to generate depth and mass rapidly in the event of crisis.”

Carns pointed out that Russia is already on its third army – and that major powers now see “attrition” as crucial to victory in modern day warfare.

He added that it was key to have plenty of reservists, saying: “The reserves are absolutely central to that process. Without them we cannot generate mass, we cannot meet the plethora of defence tasks.”

One of the UK’s most senior military chiefs as head of strategic command, General Sir Jim Hockenhull, also added: “The stakes are clear: if we fail to act we risk falling further behind.”

The quarterly service personnel statistics army reserve force has found that there is 25,814 strong, although there are more veterans who are not in the reservers.

Those who left the service within 18 years and are younger than 55 can be compelled to take up arms in a crisis, too.

However, the deputy chief of the British defence staff, Rob Magowan, said last month: “If the British Army was asked to fight tonight, it would fight tonight.”

Still, Carns’ warning comes as Putin continues to amplify his threats against Ukraine’s allies.

After the UK (and the US) finally gave Ukraine permission to use their long-range missiles to target sites within Russia, Putin threatened to bomb the UK last month.

The Russian president said: “In response to the use of American and British long-range weapons on November 21 of this year, the Russian armed forces launched a combined strike on one of the facilities of the Ukrainian defence industry.

“One of the newest Russian medium-range missile systems was tested in combat conditions, in this case, with a ballistic missile in a non-nuclear hypersonic warhead.”

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Russia Making ‘Rapid Advances’ In Ukraine As Volodymyr Zelenskyy Hints At Peace Deal

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Russian forces are making “rapid advances” in Ukraine amid fresh hope of a peace deal in the conflict.

The latest intelligence update from the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Putin’s troops “are attacking behind established Ukrainian defences” as the third anniversary of the beginning of the war approaches.

It came after Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Sky News that he could be willing to give up territory already occupied by Russia to bring about a ceasefire.

In return, the Ukrainian president said land still held by Kyiv could come under “the Nato umbrella”.

He said his country could then seek to get back the land it has lost “in a diplomatic way” in the future.

Any peace deal must also contain a”guarantee that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin will not come back” for more Ukrainian territory, Zelenskyy said.

His comments come as Russia appears to be gaining the upper hand in the war.

The MoD update posted on X said: “In Donetsk oblast, Russian forces have made rapid advances towards the eastern flank of Velyka Novosilka.

“The town has been situated on the front line since 2022 and has acted as a lynchpin of Ukraine’s defensive line.”

The MoD said the area is now “vulnerable to Russian attacks due to the loss of Vuhledar, 30 km to the east, in October”.

They added: “This enabled increased Russian advances into less well defended areas in western Donetsk oblast.

“Russian forces are attacking behind established Ukrainian defences and threatening the primary logistics routes to the town.”

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy has thanked the UK for its ongoing support for Ukraine.

In a video posted on X, he said: “We value the UK’s decision to impose sanctions on Russia’s shadow tanker fleet. This keeps the world on the right track—a course toward justice. Toward ensuring that Russia feels its responsibility for this war, for its consequences, and is compelled towards peace. The world is able to ensure this.”

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Vladimir Putin Claims Trump Is ‘Not Safe,’ Citing Assassination Attempts

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Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said he expects Donald Trump “will find a solution” on the Ukraine war, adding that he hopes the US president-elect recognises he is “not safe.”

Speaking to reporters in Kazakhstan following a security summit, Putin said President Joe Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine to use US-supplied long-range missiles to strike deeper inside Russia could perhaps be part of an effort by Biden to create challenges for the incoming Trump administration.

In either case, Putin said Trump “is an intelligent and already quite experienced person,” according to CNN.

“I think he will find a solution,” he said.

Trump, who has refused to answer whether it would be in the best interest of the US for Ukraine to defeat Russia, has said he could strike a deal between both sides in the conflict “within 24 hours” but has not explained what a potential agreement would entail.

During his remarks, Putin also referred to what he described as “uncivilised methods” deployed against Trump during the campaign, citing the attempts on his life.

“By the way, in my opinion, he is not safe now,” Putin said, according to Reuters.

“Unfortunately, in the history of the United States various incidents have happened. I think he is intelligent and I hope he’s cautious and understands this,” Putin added, the news agency reported.

In July, a gunman targeted Trump while he was delivering a speech at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Trump’s ear was injured, and a rallygoer died in the attack.

Two months later, US Secret Service agents shot at a man who pointed a rifle through a fence at Trump’s West Palm Beach club as the then-presidential candidate was playing golf. Trump was unharmed.

The Russian leader also decried what he described as “humiliating, unfounded judicial procedures” against Trump, without going into further details on the criminal cases the president-elect has faced.

Trump was found guilty in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up an alleged sexual encounter with adult film actress Stormy Daniels in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election. The judge overseeing the case has postponed the sentencing hearing indefinitely.

Special counsel Jack Smith has also moved to dismiss the criminal cases he brought against Trump over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving the White House in January 2021.

The only criminal indictment against Trump that is still technically proceeding is his Georgia racketeering case.

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Putin Bans 15 British Cabinet Ministers From Entering Russia Over Support For Ukraine

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Vladimir Putin has banned 15 cabinet ministers from entering Russia over the UK’s ongoing support for Ukraine.

Angela Rayner, Yvette Cooper and Rachel Reeves are among those unable to enter the country from now on, the Russian foreign ministry announced.

However, prime minister Keir Starmer is not included.

In a lengthy statement, the Kremlin hit out at the “incessant aggressive anti-Russian rhetoric of the British authorities”.

The foreign ministry also condemned “the illegitimate unilateral restrictions systematically introduced by London against our country, as well as the thoughtless policy of the leadership of this country to support the neo-Nazi Kyiv regime, pursuing purely selfish geopolitical interests and leading to a senseless prolongation of the Ukrainian conflict”.

They added: “Russophobic policies, which combine attempts to discredit Russia’s actions and isolate it in the international arena, the dissemination of disinformation about our country, including in the context of a special military operation, coupled with military support for the Ukrainian armed forces, bordering on the direct involvement of Great Britain in the conflict with all the accompanying escalation risks, indicate London’s attitude towards further systemic confrontation with respect to Russia.

“Moscow once again emphasises the futility of such a course and calls on London to abandon it in favour of mutually respectful and constructive interaction for the sake of security and stability in the world.

“As a response to the hostile actions of the British side, a decision was made to include a number of representatives of the political establishment, the military bloc, high-tech enterprises, and the British journalistic corps who have demonstrated themselves in the anti-Russian field on the Russian ‘stop list’.”

The other cabinet members who have been banned are Shabana Mahmood, Pat McFadden, Ed Milliband, Wes Streeting, Steve Reed, Johnathan Reynolds, Liz Kendall, Jo Stevens, Bridget Phillipson, Hillary Benn, Lucy Powell and Angela Smith.

Junior defence minister Maria Eagle is also banned, as are Labour MPs Derek Twigg and Gurinder Josan, plus Tory MP Andrew Snowden.

Journalists Tom Ball and Dan Woodland are also banned, as is RAF commanding officer Keith Bissett, Ministry of Defence adviser Ben Judah and a number of businessmen and women.

Downing Street has been contacted for comment.

The move is latest

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Putin Threatens To Bomb UK After Ukraine Uses British Long-Range Missiles To Attack Russia

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Vladimir Putin has threatened to bomb the UK after Ukraine used British-made missiles to attack targets in Russia.

The Russian president said he was willing to “respond resolutely in a mirror way” is there is further escalation in the ongoing war.

His comments, in an address to the Russian people, came a day after Ukraine fired British Storm Shadow missiles at Russia.

Putin said: “We believe that we have the right to use our weapons against military facilities of the countries that allow to use their weapons against our facilities,” he said.

“And in case of escalation of aggressive actions, we will respond resolutely in a mirror way.”

Putin said he was willing to use a new ballistic missile to target the UK after using the weapon to attack Ukraine.

He said: “In response to the use of American and British long-range weapons on November 21 of this year, the Russian armed forces launched a combined strike on one of the facilities of the Ukrainian defence industry.

“One of the newest Russian medium-range missile systems was tested in combat conditions, in this case, with a ballistic missile in a non-nuclear hypersonic warhead.”

The US said the weapon was a new, experimental intermediate-range missile based on Russia’s existing RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile.

Putin’s comments once again threaten to raise the temperature on a conflict which passed the 1,000 day mark earlier this week.

Commenting on Russia’s ballistic missile attack on Ukraine, Keir Starmer’s official spokesman said: “The reports coming out of Ukraine overnight are deeply concerning.

“If true clearly this would be Another example of depraved, reckless and escalatory behaviour from Russia and only strengthens our resolve.”

Defence secretary John Healey said: “Since the illegal invasion of Ukraine began, Russia has consistently and irresponsibly escalated the conflict while Ukraine continues to fight in self-defence for a democratic future.

“Today’s ballistic missile attack is yet another example of Putin’s recklessness.”

The distance from Moscow to London is around 2,500km, suggesting the range of the new missile could threaten the UK.

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Keir Starmer Fury As Vladmir Putin Makes It Easier For Russia To Launch Nuclear Weapons

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Keir Starmer has condemned Vladimir Putin after he made it easier for Russia to launch nuclear weapons.

The Russian president signed a decree lowering the threshold at which the country’s military can use its deadly arsenal.

It is thought to be in direct response to Joe Biden giving Ukraine the go-ahead to use American long-range missiles on targets inside Russia.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “The use of western non-nuclear missiles by Kyiv against Russia, under the new doctrine, could provoke a nuclear response.”

He added: “Russia has always viewed nuclear weapons as a deterrent, the use of which is an extreme, forced measure.”

Asked about the move, a spokeswoman for the prime minister said: “It would be fair to say it’s the latest example of irresponsibility that we have seen from the depraved Russian government.”

At a press conference at the G20 in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday, Starmer said: “There is irresponsible rhetoric coming from Russia and that is not going to deter our support for Ukraine.

“We’re now on day 1,000 of that conflict. That’s 1,000 days Russian aggression, 1,000 days of sacrifice in Ukraine.

“We have stood with Ukraine from the start and have been doubling down on my clear message that we must ensure that Ukraine has what is needed for as long as is needed to win this war against Putin.”

Earlier, Starmer refused to say whether the UK government will follow Biden’s lead by allowing Ukraine to use British-made Storm Shadow long-range missiles to attack Russia.

He said: “My position has always been that Ukraine must have what it needs for as long as it needs. Putin must not win this war. But look, forgive me, I’m not going to go into operational matters, because there’s only one winner if I do that, and that is Putin and it would undermine Ukrainian efforts.”

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Germany’s Scholz Defends His Call To Putin – But Admits It’s ‘Not Good News’

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German chancellor Olaf Scholz has defended his recent phone call to Vladimir Putin, but admitted what the Russian president had to say was not “good news”.

The two leaders spoke for an hour for the first time in almost two years on Friday, where Scholz tried to encourage the Russian president to end the war in Ukraine.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Scholz said: “It was important to tell [Putin] that he cannot count on support from Germany, Europe and many others in the world waning.

“The conversation was very detailed but continued to a recognition that little has changed in the Russian president’s views – and that is not good news.”

His defence came after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy slammed their conversation.

He said it had opened a “Pandora’s box”, adding: “Now there may be other conversations, other calls. Just a lot of words,

“And this is exactly what Putin has long wanted: It is extremely important for him to weaken his isolation.”

According to the Russian state news agency TASS, Scholz also said: “I don’t think that it will be a good idea to organise talks between the American and Russian president soon while the head of government of one of European’s leading countries doesn’t engage in talks.

“Some people in Germany think it right but I am not among them.”

The chancellor has to contend with pressure from both the left and right within Germany right now, all of whom are pushing for more diplomatic talks to end the European war ahead of snap elections in three months’ time.

However, Scholz claimed to reporters that he had requested to speak to Putin “many times” in the past.

The Kremlin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov offered far less information on their exchange than Scholz.

He only told reporters: “As far as I know it was quite a businesslike conversation, detailed and quite frank, as the sides laid out their positions mutually.”

The leaders’ conversation comes as the war approaches its three-year mark.

Less than 48 hours after the leaders’ conversation, Russia launched a huge missile attack on Ukraine and its energy infrastructure, with missiles reaching to the country’s most western points.

Moscow also alleged Putin had told the German chancellor that any agreement to end the war needed to reflect “new territorial realities” and acknowledge Russia’s security demands such as making sure Ukraine does not join Nato.

In a statement after the call, the German government said: “The federal chancellor urged Russia’s willingness to negotiate with Ukraine with the aim of achieving a just and lasting peace and emphasised Germany’s unwavering determination to keep Ukraine in the peace process.”

The call, the first between the two since December 2022, reportedly lasted around an hour.

The leaders supposedly agreed communication would continue between their aides.

He added that there will be “no new Minsk Agreement”, referring to the ceasefire deals between Ukraine and Russia struck in 2014 and 2015.

Scholz and Putin’s conversation came shortly after Donald Trump won a second term in the White House.

The Republican has repeatedly said he would end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours of being inaugurated in January, but has not specified how he intends to do so.

It has sparked fears that Trump would push Kyiv to cede occupied land to Russia.

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Europe Must Take Trump’s Plan For Putin And Ukraine Seriously, Finnish President Says

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Europe has to take Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Ukraine seriously, according to the Finnish president.

The Republican has vowed to bring the conflict to a close within his first 24 hours of getting into the White House in January.

However Trump has not said how he intends to do that, sparking fears he would pressure Kyiv to cede occupied land to Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Speaking on Bloomberg TV on Tuesday, Finland’s Alexander Stubb revealed he had spoken to Trump on the phone on Monday night.

He warned: “We in Europe and the rest of the world need to understand that Donald Trump is very serious about getting a peace deal sooner rather than later.

“There’s a window of opportunity for these negotiations between the election and inauguration day.”

Speaking at the COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan, Stubb said peace requirements must include territory disputes – although he prefaced that “we don’t know where things are going to settle” on this topic.

Russia still occupies around 18% of Ukraine, while Ukrainian troops are gradually being pushed out of the Russian region of Kursk after temporarily seizing it in August.

Stubb added that security guarantees, justice and reconstruction all needed to be on the agenda, too.

After Russia’s aggression against Ukraine escalated in 2022, Finland quickly applied to join Nato for protection.

Finland’s 800-mile border with Russia now makes up more than half of Nato’s eastern flank.

It means if Moscow were to attack Finland, all Nato members would rally behind Finland and help defend it.

Like much of the West, Finland has also been funding Ukraine – which is still not a Nato member – ever since Russia invaded, providing military aid and financial backing.

Trump has repeatedly praised Putin over the years, once calling his invasion of Ukraine “savvy” and genius”.

The Republican did not deny reports the two had spoken on the phone on multiple occasions since Trump left the White House in 2021, but said, if they had spoken, it was a “smart thing”.

Meanwhile, a Putin ally Dmitry Medvedev told reporters last week that Trump’s victory was bad news for Ukraine.

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