Moscow, Russia | AFP | President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said he would seek a new six-year term in March elections, a move that would make him the longest-serving Russian leader since Joseph Stalin. Putin, who has run Russia both as president and prime minister for the past 18 years, …
Read More »In Russia, Sudan’s Bashir asks Putin for ‘protection’ from US
Sochi, Russia | AFP | Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide and war crimes, on Thursday asked Russia’s Vladimir Putin to protect his country from the United States. Speaking during his first visit to Russia as president, Bashir also said he wanted …
Read More »Putin urges ‘compromise’ ahead of new Syria peace talks
Sochi, Russia | AFP | Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that efforts to end Syria’s six-year war were entering “a new stage” ahead of a planned meeting of Syrian government officials and opposition leaders, warning both sides that compromise would be necessary. The new talks should happen soon, Putin said …
Read More »Putin informs Trump about talks with Assad: Kremlin
Moscow, Russia | AFP | Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday informed US counterpart Donald Trump of his talks with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, saying Damascus is in favour of conducting parliamentary and presidential polls, the Kremlin said. “Vladimir Putin informed Donald Trump of the main results of a meeting with …
Read More »Trump, Putin agree ‘no military solution’ in Syria
Danang, Vietnam | AFP | The United States and Russia issued a presidential joint statement saying there was “no military solution” to the war in Syria after their leaders met briefly on the sidelines of a regional summit in Vietnam. There had been mixed messages for days from both Moscow and …
Read More »No decision on Trump, Putin meeting: Tillerson
Beijing, China | AFP | Russia and the US disagreed on Thursday over whether US President Donald Trump plans to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at an Asia-Pacific summit in Vietnam. Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov told Russian news agencies that the meeting “will be on November 10,” with the exact …
Read More »Russia faces ‘very real’ threat of attack at World Cup
Moscow, Russia | AFP | Russia says it will take extraordinary measures to combat any terrorist threat when it hosts the World Cup next year, as its military campaign in Syria makes the country a prime target for jihadists. A bombing on the metro in Saint Petersburg in April that …
Read More »Putin visits Tehran for talks on Syria, nuclear deal
Tehran, Iran | AFP | Russian President Vladimir Putin met Iran’s leadership Wednesday in Tehran as the two Damascus allies push a Syria peace plan and the Kremlin offers its backing for a landmark nuclear deal facing US opposition. Putin — on his first visit to Tehran since 2015 — …
Read More »Putin heads to Turkey for talks on weapons deal, Syria
Istanbul, Turkey | AFP | Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday meets his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan for talks on Syria and a key weapons deal, hoping to strengthen an increasingly active relationship that has troubled the West. Despite a regional rivalry that goes back to the Ottoman Empire and …
Read More »World Cup trophy starts tour in Moscow
Moscow, Russia | AFP | The World Cup trophy tour began a worldwide tour in Moscow on Saturday at a ceremony attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin and FIFA chief Gianni Infantino. Ten months before the 2018 World Cup kicks off there, the ceremony took place at Luzhniki stadium, which has …
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