Tag Archives: Russia

Trump’s Envoy Had An Eyebrow-Raising Reply To Claims Putin Already Breached Ceasefire Plan

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Donald Trump’s envoy has dismissed claims from Ukraine that Vladimir Putin had already breached terms of a partial ceasefire deal overnight.

The US president said on Tuesday that he had managed to persuade his Russian counterpart to agree to halt all strikes on “energy and infrastructure” in Ukraine for 30 days, in what he described as a major step towards peace.

But the Kremlin’s readout of the call was worded slightly differently, saying Moscow had only agreed to a temporary ceasefire on “energy infrastructure”.

Hours later, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said there had been direct strikes on civilian infrastructure across Ukraine yet again.

European leaders quickly condemned Russia for breaching the terms of the agreement already, but it seems the White House was not so worried.

Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy, told Bloomberg TV he had it on “good information” that Putin had told Russian forces not to strike Ukrainian energy infrastructure within 10 minutes of his call to Trump.

Witkoff said: “Putin issued an order within 10 minutes of his call with the president directing Russian forces not to be attacking any Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

“Any attacks that happened last night would have happened before that order was given.

“In fact, the Russians tell me this morning that seven of their drones were on their way when President Putin issued his order and they were shot down by Russian forces.”

He continued: “So I tend to believe that President Putin is operating in good faith. He said that he was going to be operating in good faith to the President yesterday, and I take him at his word.”

Russia has also accused Ukraine of breaching the truce, saying its defence ministry destroyed 57 Ukrainian drones overnight.

Witkoff then praised the relationship between Putin and Trump, saying he expected to pair to meet soon.

He said: “You know, I can’t speak for them, but my best bet would be that it’s likely to happen. They have a great rapport together. They had a great rapport in the first Trump administration.

“It was on display yesterday. This was really a very positive, very proactive, outcome oriented call, and that’s who President Trump is. He’s there to get to the goal line. And we did a we went a long way yesterday to doing that.”

The envoy’s comments come as Trump and Zelenskyy were having a scheduled phone call about ending the Ukraine war on Wednesday.

Their relationship has been far less “positive” than Trump and Putin’s, especially after the US president chastised Zelenskyy in the Oval Office over his supposed lack of gratitude for America’s support throughout the war.

Trump even withheld military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine until Kyiv agreed to a 30-day ceasefire and a mineral-sharing deal with the States as a form of repayment for wartime support.

Although Putin ordered the full-blown invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Trump has not asked the aggressor to make any concessions in the name of peace.

But Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz has suggested Ukraine may have to do “some type of territory-for-future-security guarantees” for the country’s future – and a “permanent pathway into Nato is incredibly unlikely”.

Meanwhile, Russian troops continue to advance in eastern Ukraine.

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Putin Seems To Ignore Trump Threat And Causes One Of 2025’s Deadliest Days For Civilians In Ukraine

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Vladimir Putin appeared to ignore Donald Trump’s threat to impose sanctions on Russia on Friday and launched deadly attacks across Ukraine.

The US president told the Russian leader to stop “pounding” Ukraine or face serious sanctions last week, after weeks of not applying any pressure to Moscow.

However, the UN has since said Friday was one of the deadliest days for civilians this year after 21 people were killed in Ukraine.

A further 81 people were injured, 79 of whom were in territory controlled by Ukraine.

The UN also found casualty numbers in Ukraine overall for 2025 remain higher than they were in 2024.

The attacks unfolded even as Trump was telling reporters in the White House that Putin “holds all the cards” – and that Russia is “easier to deal with” than Ukraine on Friday.

It’s worth remembering that Russia invaded Ukraine in a land grab in 2022.

But, Trump said Kyiv has to “get on the ball and get the job done” when it comes to a peace agreement, adding: “I have to know that [Ukraine] want to settle – if they don’t want to settle, we’re out of there.

“They’re bombing the hell out of Ukraine… I’m finding it more difficult, frankly, to deal with Ukraine.”

And, despite the ongoing bombardments, Trump then said he thinks Putin wants peace, and “I think he’s doing what anyone else would do”.

He claimed: “I think both parties want to settle. I think we are going to get it settled.”

This also comes after Trump’s Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg said Ukraine brought the US’s pause in intelligence sharing and military aid “on themselves.”

Speaking on Thursday, Kellogg said: “Very candidly, they brought it on themselves, the Ukrainians.

“I think the best way I can describe it is sort of like hitting a mule with a two-by-four across the nose. You got their attention, and it’s very significant, obviously, because of the support that we give.”

“We’re going to end this war, and this is one way to make sure you understand we’re serious about it.

“So is it hard, of course it is, but it’s not like they didn’t know this was coming. They got fair warning it was coming.”

Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton told CNN on Friday that Putin is continuing his attacks on Ukraine because he knows the threat from Trump was “totally hollow”.

″[Trump] did it simply to show some kind of balance given the things he had said about Zelenskyy and Ukrainians,” Bolton said, alluding to the US president’s baseless attacks on the Ukrainian president.

Trump, as he aligns more closely with Moscow, has falsely called Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “dictator”, claimed he is ungrateful for the US’s support during the war and blamed Kyiv for starting the war.

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UK Ambassador Joins Dozens Who Reveal What They Really Think Of Russia With 1 Clear Move

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The UK’s ambassador to the United Nations walked out of the room when Russia’s delegate was addressing its Human Rights Council on Wednesday.

Simon Manley joined dozens of other ambassadors in protesting Vladimir Putin’s representative’s speech during a session which was meant to mark the third anniversary of Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine.

Manley, who walked out of the room as soon as the speech started, later explained that their actions came down to Kyiv’s exclusion from early peace talks between Russia and the US last week in Saudi Arabia.

According to Reuters, the delegate said: “Our support for Ukraine is iron-clad. We want to see a just and enduring peace in line with the UN charter. Ukraine has to be at the negotiating table.”

Speaking outside the room where Russia’s ambassador was speaking, France’s Jerome Bonnafont said: “If we let slide what happened with Ukraine without reacting…we would open the door to a disintegration of fundamental principles on which the UN was founded.”

The Washington delegate did not join those protesting because they had not turned up to the session at all, following US president Donald Trump’s decision to pull the States out of the Human Rights Council earlier this month.

Speaking to those still in the room, Russia’s deputy foreign minister Sergey Vershinin bizarrely accused Ukraine of a “flagrant violation of fundamental human rights”.

“Securing human rights and freedoms is incompatible with double standards,” he added, claiming Kyiv was guilty of Russophobia.

Actually, there is an international arrest warrant out for the Russian president over his alleged war crimes including the forced deportation of Ukrainian children.

Ukraine’s deputy foreign affairs minister Mariana Betsa then slammed Moscow for violating international law, adding: “The aggressor should be punished, aggression should not be rewarded.”

This incident comes after the US voted with Russia twice at the UN security council this week.

The States first voted against a European-drafted resolution condemning Russia’s war on Ukraine, joining Russia, North Korea and Belarus who opposed the resolution.

The States then put forward a different resolution which takes a neutral stance on the conflict, and includes no criticism of Russia.

Since his re-election, Trump has turned US policy towards Ukraine completely on its head.

While pushing for a quick end to the war, the US president is much more sympathetic towards Vladimir Putin than his predecessor Joe Biden.

He has signalled Ukraine may have to cede occupied territory to Russia in exchange for peace, while also blaming Kyiv for starting the war and falsely calling the country’s democratically elected president a dictator.

Meanwhile, prime minister Keir Starmer is in Washington DC today, trying to secure “security guarantees” from Trump for Europe – although Trump has already rejected the idea.

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Starmer Accused of ‘Betraying World’s Most Vulnerable Children’ As He Slashes International Aid

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Keir Starmer has been severely criticised after announcing he is cutting the UK’s foreign aid budget to boost defence spending.

The prime minister declared he would now be increasing the defence budget from its current rate of 2.3% of gross domestic product (GDP) to 2.5% by 2027, three years earlier than planned.

It comes after Donald Trump said Europe could no longer lean on the US for military protection.

The US president is also triggering wider security concerns as he seems to be giving in to Vladimir Putin’s demands just to end the Ukraine war.

But Starmer confirmed he would be reducing the amount spent on international aid from 0.5% of GDP to 0.3% to pay for this bump in defence.

The prime minister said he was not “happy” to make this announcement, but noted that “at times like these the defence and security of the British people must always come first”.

Labour MP Sarah Champion, chair of the Commons international development committee, said: “I urge the prime minister to rethink today’s announcement. Cutting the aid budget to fund defence spending is a false economy that will only make the world less safe.

“The prime minister said today that he was ‘proud’ of the UK’s pioneering work on overseas development. I am bitterly disappointed to see the Government abandon this agenda, not only pulling the rug from under some of the world’s most vulnerable people but endangering our long-term security.”

Charities also hit out at the prime minister, calling the decision “reckless” and “short-sighted”.

The CEO of Bond, the UK network for organisations working in international development, Romilly Greenhill said: “This is a short-sighted and appalling move by both the PM and Treasury.

“Slashing the already diminished UK aid budget to fund an uplift in defence is a reckless decision that will have devastating consequences for millions of marginalised people worldwide.”

She claimed Britain was “following in the US’s footsteps” and that undermine the UK’s global goals as well as weaken its national security interests.

The announcement comes as less than 48 hours before Starmer is due to meet Trump in Washington.

The US president has been calling for Nato member states in particular to hike their defence spending, even claiming it should be hiked to 5%.

Greenhill continued: “Tragically, this cut is even deeper than the last Conservative government’s and will destroy this Labour government’s reputation, tearing to shreds their previous manifesto commitments to rebuild the UK’s international reputation as a reliable global partner.”

Save the Children UK’s CEO, Moazzam Malik, also slammed the news, writing on X: “We are stunned by this decision to cut the aid budget in order to increase military spending. It is a betrayal of the world’s most vulnerable children and the UK’s national interest.”

He said this “signals a withdrawal from efforts to tackle climate change, global poverty and inequality and conflict and humanitarian needs”.

He warned it would damage efforts to address global health, and warned it would “add to economic instability internationally”.

“The impacts will have direct consequences for children and families in the UK as well as around the world.”

Malik continued: “Other countries will watch the UK’s decision and are likely to follow suit in reducing commitments to international collaboration.

“It will undermine aspirations to build a ‘rules based order’ that is so essential for the UK’s long-term security and prosperity. It will make the world a more dangerous place for children now and in the future.”

Malik also pointed out that the move overshadows Starmer’s own promises to defend Ukraine.

“Earlier this week, the prime minister promised to ‘stand with Ukraine’. Now he’s serving notice on the support needed by the country’s children, who have been forced from their homes, seen their schools bombed and lived in fear for three years,” the Save the Children CEO said.

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A statement from our CEO @MoazzamTMalik on the news that the government is cutting the UK aid budget to fund an increase in defence spending:

“We are stunned by this decision to cut the aid budget in order to increase military spending. It is a betrayal of the world’s most… pic.twitter.com/Rk2PA56Ljd

— Save the Children UK (@savechildrenuk) February 25, 2025

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It is a betrayal of the world’s most… pic.twitter.com/Rk2PA56Ljd— Save the Children UK (@savechildrenuk) February 25, 2025\n\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","thumbnail_height":1350,"thumbnail_url":"https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GkoqzvZXkAABF5C.jpg:large","thumbnail_width":1080,"title":"Save the Children UK on Twitter / 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A statement from our CEO @MoazzamTMalik on the news that the government is cutting the UK aid budget to fund an increase in defence spending:

“We are stunned by this decision to cut the aid budget in order to increase military spending. It is a betrayal of the world’s most… pic.twitter.com/Rk2PA56Ljd

— Save the Children UK (@savechildrenuk) February 25, 2025

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