BEIJING: Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Wednesday in Beijing&#39;s Great Hall of the People, Russian media reported. Putin is in Beijing seeking to underscore their unshakeable alliance, days after US President Donald Trump visited the Chinese capital. Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing late on Tuesday for talks with his Chinese counterpart and &quot;long-time good friend&quot; Xi Jinping, intending to show their ties are unshakeable days after a visit by Donald Trump. The confirmation of Putin&#39;s trip came just hours after Trump wrapped up his visit on Friday, the first by a US president to China in nearly a decade and one aimed at stabilizing their turbulent relations. Putin arrived at Beijing Capital International Airport around 11:15 p.m. (1515 GMT) on Tuesday, where he was greeted by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and a military band. It was a near-mirror image of Trump&#39;s arrival days earlier, with both leaders stepping out of their planes onto a red carpet as Chinese youths chanted &quot;welcome, welcome&quot; - &nbsp;this time, waving Russian flags instead of American. Putin and Xi are set to discuss how to strengthen Russia and China&#39;s strategic partnership and &quot;exchange views on key international and regional issues&quot;, according to a Kremlin statement. Their ties have deepened since Russia&#39;s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with Putin visiting Beijing every year since as his country is cut off diplomatically on the world stage. However, their relationship is far from equal, with Moscow heavily dependent economically on Beijing, the main buyer of sanctioned Russian oil. Among topics Xi and Putin could discuss is the construction of the major &quot;Power of Siberia 2&quot; natural gas pipeline from Russia to China through Mongolia - a land alternative to crude imported by sea from the Middle East - which Moscow is keen to get underway. Setting a warm tone for the visit, Xi and Putin exchanged &quot;congratulatory letters&quot; on Sunday to mark 30 years of their countries&#39; strategic partnership. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun lauded &quot;the enduring friendship between China and Russia&quot; on Tuesday. And in a video message to the Chinese people released on Tuesday, Putin said relations have reached &quot;a truly unprecedented level&quot;, and that &quot;trade between Russia and China continues to grow&quot;. &quot;The close strategic relationship between Russia and China plays a major, stabilizing role globally. Without allying against anyone, we seek peace and universal prosperity,&quot; Putin said, without mentioning any third country. The two leaders are also expected to sign a joint declaration after their talks. &#39;Dear, old friends&#39;Xi welcomed Putin with open arms as an &quot;old friend&quot; when he last visited Beijing in September 2025 - language the Chinese leader did not extend to Trump last week. Putin, who in turn called Xi his &quot;dear friend&quot;, will be keen to show the world that their relations are unaffected by Trump&#39;s visit. While Putin&#39;s visit is not expected to receive the same pomp as Trump&#39;s, &quot;the Xi-Putin relationship does not require that kind of performative reassurance&quot;, said Patricia Kim from the Brookings Institution in Washington. Both sides view ties as &quot;structurally stronger and more stable&quot; than those between China and the United States, she said. Beijing has regularly called for talks to end the war in Ukraine but has never condemned Russia for sending in troops, presenting itself instead as a neutral party. Trump and Xi discussed Ukraine last week, but the US president left China without a breakthrough. &quot;Xi will almost certainly brief Putin on his summit with Trump,&quot; Kim said. The lack of clear outcomes from the Xi-Trump meeting, though, &quot;likely reassures Moscow that Xi did not strike any understanding with Trump that would materially undercut Russian interests&quot;. Appetite for oilPutin will be hoping that China deepens its commitment to Moscow, after Trump told Fox News during his visit that Beijing had agreed to buy US oil to feed its &quot;insatiable&quot; appetite for energy. With Russia reliant on sales to China to sustain its war effort, &quot;Putin does not want to lose that support&quot;, Asia Society&#39;s Lyle Morris told AFP. &quot;Putin will likely be keen to hear from Xi about China&#39;s next step in the Middle East,&quot; Morris said, after &quot;Trump signaled clearly that he hopes Beijing will play a leading role&quot;. When it comes to the US-Israeli war on Iran, though, China and Russia may have different priorities. &quot;(China) relies on the freedom of the world&#39;s major waterways to sustain its economic activities, and would prefer that the standoff in the Strait of Hormuz end sooner rather than later,&quot; James Char of Singapore&#39;s Nanyang Technological University told AFP. On the other hand, Moscow has &quot;been benefitting economically from the fighting in Iran due to the relaxation of sanctions against Russian energy supplies, so may have a different view&quot;, he said. Russia&#39;s top diplomat, Sergei Lavrov, said after meeting Xi in April that Russia could &quot;compensate&quot; for China&#39;s energy shortages as the Middle East war hits global supplies. &quot;Expanded energy ties may feature prominently at the meeting (as) Beijing seeks more Russian energy,&quot; said Joseph Webster from the Atlantic Council. &quot;From Moscow&#39;s perspective, shipping more oil east may be more attractive in the wake of Ukraine&#39;s relentless campaign targeting Russian energy infrastructure.&quot;

China

Asia

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing late on Tuesday for talks with his Chinese counterpart and "long-time good friend" Xi Jinping, intending to show their ties are unshakeable days after a visit by Donald Trump

Russian media says Putin, Xi begin talks in Beijing

MOSCOW: Russia on Tuesday tested a new long-range missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads, months after the last treaty with the United States limiting their atomic arsenals lapsed.&nbsp;The ending of the New START agreement in February formally released the world&#39;s two largest nuclear powers from a raft of restrictions.&nbsp;&quot;This is the most powerful missile system in the world,&quot; claimed Russian President Vladimir Putin after receiving a report of a successful launch of Sarmat, an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).&nbsp;He said the missile could carry a warhead more than four times more powerful than anything Western militaries possessed, adding that Sarmat would be on &quot;combat duty&quot; by the end of this year.&nbsp;Even though Moscow and Washington agreed to reestablish high-level military dialogue shortly after New START expired, there were no immediate signs of renewing or prolonging it.&nbsp;US President Donald Trump has repeatedly pressed for a new treaty to include China, whose arsenal is growing but still significantly smaller than those of Russia or the US, but Beijing has publicly rejected the pressure.&nbsp;Trump had been mostly silent on Russian calls to extend New START, which was signed in 2010 and imposed the last restrictions on Moscow and Washington after decades of agreements dating from the Cold War.&nbsp;Both countries have repeatedly accused each other of failing to adhere to the agreement.&nbsp;Sarmat, referred to as &quot;Satan II&quot; in NATO designation, is the first ICBM produced in post-Soviet Russia to be classed as &quot;super heavy&quot;.&nbsp;Put said it was capable of travelling 35,000 kilometers (22,000 miles).

Europe

Russia tested a new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads after the New START treaty with the US expired. Putin said it is the world’s most powerful missile, entering combat duty soon.

Russia tests long-range missile after US nuclear treaty expires

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday said the war in Ukraine was winding down, slamming Western support for Kyiv, as the first day of a US-brokered ceasefire was marked by mutual accusations of violations.&nbsp;The Russian leader has made the memory of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II a central narrative of his 25-year rule and repeatedly invoked it to justify his Ukraine offensive.&nbsp;Russian authorities typically mark the Victory Day parade with pomp and grandeur. But a spate of Ukrainian long-range attacks in recent weeks prompted the Kremlin to ramp up security measures and downsize this year&#39;s celebrations.&nbsp;When asked after the parade whether the Western military aid to Ukraine had gone too far, Putin said: &quot;They started ratcheting up the confrontation with Russia, which continues to this day.&nbsp;&quot;I think it (the conflict) is heading to an end but it&#39;s still a serious matter.&quot;&nbsp;&quot;They spent months waiting for Russia to suffer a crushing defeat, for its statehood to collapse. It didn&#39;t work out.&nbsp;&quot;And then they got stuck in that groove and now they can&#39;t get out of it,&quot; Putin said, referring to the Western countries.&nbsp;Putin added he was ready to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a third country only once all conditions for a potential peace agreement were settled.&nbsp;&quot;This should be the final point, not the negotiations themselves,&quot; he said.&nbsp;Ceasefire violationsAfter two failed attempts at truces this week by both Russia and Ukraine, US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that a three-day ceasefire between both sides would come into effect from Saturday.&nbsp;Moscow and Kyiv traded accusations of violations, but no major strikes were reported, despite continued drone activity and civilian casualties on both sides.&nbsp;&quot;Hopefully, it is the beginning of the end of a very long, deadly, and hard fought War,&quot; Trump posted on his Truth Social network, adding the ceasefire would be accompanied by a prisoner exchange.&nbsp;The Kremlin said that as of now there were no plans to prolong the truce.&nbsp;The warring sides also agreed to swap 1,000 prisoners each during the truce. But Putin said Saturday that Russia had not yet received any proposals from Ukraine on the exchange.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Ukraine war was nearing an end while criticizing Western support for Kyiv, as Russia and Ukraine exchanged ceasefire violation accusations despite a US-brokered three-day truce and planned prisoner swap.

Putin says Ukraine war is 'heading to an end'

JAKARTA: Indonesia&#39;s President Prabowo Subianto will depart for Russia on Sunday for talks with counterpart Vladimir Putin on oil, Prabowo&#39;s office said.&nbsp;The presidency in Jakarta confirmed to AFP that Prabowo would leave Sunday evening.&nbsp;Foreign Minister Sugiono said Saturday that oil, which is &quot;of strategic importance for the Indonesian nation&quot;, would be on the agenda.&nbsp;&quot;He will meet with President Putin and will also discuss global geopolitics and, certainly, the energy situation,&quot; said Sugiono, who like many Indonesians has only one name.&nbsp;Prabowo, who recently travelled to South Korea and Japan, has defended his foreign travels.&nbsp;&quot;Brothers and sisters, it&#39;s to secure oil, I have to go everywhere,&quot; he said in an address to his cabinet last week.&nbsp;Like many nations, Indonesia has come under pressure from soaring global oil prices over the war in the Middle East.&nbsp;Southeast Asia&#39;s largest economy, where fuel is heavily subsidised, is an oil producer but nevertheless a net importer.&nbsp;Last month, Prabowo&#39;s government announced fuel rationing and mandated a day-per-week work-from-home policy for civil servants to conserve energy stocks.&nbsp;It has vowed not to increase the price of fuel in the near future.&nbsp;Russia&#39;s ambassador to Indonesia Sergei Tolchenov told reporters in March that his country was open to selling oil to Indonesia.&nbsp;&quot;If Indonesia needs it, so please tell us and you will have it,&quot; Tolchenov said as the countries prepared for joint military exercises at a Jakarta port.&nbsp;Last year, Jakarta joined the BRICS bloc of emerging economies that includes Russia and China.&nbsp;But Prabowo has also signed a trade deal with US President Donald Trump and joined his so-called &quot;Board of Peace&quot;.&nbsp;

Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto will visit Russia to meet Vladimir Putin, focusing on oil supply, energy security, and geopolitics, as Jakarta faces rising prices, fuel subsidies pressure, and seeks stable imports amid Middle East tensions.

Indonesian president to meet Putin in Russia for oil talks

MOSCOW:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/russian-says-no-deadlines-to-end-ukraine-war" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Moscow</a>&nbsp;and Kyiv will each release a total of 500 prisoners of war over Thursday and Friday, Russia&#39;s top negotiator said, with the Russian defense ministry saying the first 200 on each side had already been swapped. &quot;There will be an exchange of prisoners of war with Ukraine. 500 for 500,&quot; Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky wrote on Telegram. He added that the swap was part of agreements reached at trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States in Geneva searching for an end to the conflict. The Russian defense ministry said the UAE and the United States helped mediate Thursday&#39;s exchange of 200 captured Russian soldiers for 200 captured Ukrainians. It added that the Russian servicemen were in <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/ski-body-blocks-russian-belarusian-athletes-from-2026-winter-olympics" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Belarus</a>, a close ally of Russia that neighbors Ukraine. Moscow and Kyiv have held several rounds of prisoner exchanges throughout the war, one of the rare areas of cooperation between the warring countries. The swaps are among the very few tangible results of the talks, being pushed and mediated by Washington, trying to broker a deal to end the war. Negotiations appeared to have stalled amid a lack of progress and since the eruption of war in the Middle East. Kyiv had said there had been a tentative plan to hold talks in Abu Dhabi this week - one of the places being hit by Iranian missiles and drones. <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/trump-zelensky-speak-before-ukraineus-talks-in-geneva" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky</a> on Monday suggested holding the next meeting in Switzerland or Turkey, which both have hosted previous rounds talks, instead.

This handout photograph taken and released by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine on March 5, 2026 shows buildings on fire following a Russian attack in the coast of Bilgorod-Dnistrovskyi district in Odesa region. (AFP)

The swap was part of agreements reached at trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States in Geneva searching for an end to the conflict.

Russia, Ukraine to exchange 500 POWs on March 5-6: negotiator

KYIV: Vladimir Putin has not broken Ukraine, its leader Volodymyr&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/zelensky-says-europe-fragmented-looks-lost-facing-trump" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Zelensky</a>&nbsp;said Tuesday, as the Kremlin marked the fourth year of its invasion by vowing that it will keep fighting Europe&#39;s bloodiest conflict since World War II until it achieves its goals. Moscow had hoped to take Kyiv in days when it launched its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/ukraine-marks-four-years-since-russian-invasion" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">invasion</a>&nbsp;on February 24, 2022. Four years later &mdash; with hundreds of thousands dead, millions forced to flee, much of eastern Ukraine destroyed and US-led peace talks still deadlocked over territory &mdash; it conceded that it has not achieved all it wants in the country. &quot;The goals haven&#39;t been fully achieved yet, which is why the military operation continues,&quot; Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in response to an AFP question. Ukraine, meanwhile, was ready to do &quot;everything&quot; it could to secure peace, Zelensky said in a video address that featured images of Ukrainians carrying out acts of resistance against Russian soldiers in the opening days of the conflict. But any settlement must not &quot;betray&quot; the price paid by Ukrainians throughout the conflict, he said. &quot;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/putin-says-developing-russias-nuclear-forces-absolute-priority" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Putin</a>&nbsp;has not achieved his goals. He did not break the Ukrainians. He did not win this war. We have preserved Ukraine, and we will do everything to achieve peace -- and to ensure there is justice,&quot; Zelensky said. &quot;We want peace. Strong, dignified, and lasting peace,&quot; he said, adding that any agreement &quot;must not simply be signed, it must be accepted by Ukrainians&quot;. &quot;Everything Ukraine has gone through. It must not be surrendered, forgotten, or betrayed,&quot; he added. In a later video address to the European Parliament, Zelensky urged Brussels to set out a clear timeline for his country&#39;s accession to the <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/pakistan-urges-diplomacy-warns-of-disinformation-risks-at-un-meeting-on-ukraine" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">bloc</a>. Several European leaders including Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson visited Kyiv on Tuesday to mark the anniversary. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen was also there, reaffirming that Europe stood &quot;unwaveringly with Ukraine, financially, militarily, and through this harsh winter.&quot; Zelensky was also hosting a video-conference with Kyiv&#39;s top allies, including Britain, France and Germany, to push for more support to deter the Russian invasion. In the suburb of Irpin -- where the bodies of hundreds of civilians were discovered in 2022 after it and the neighbouring suburb of Bucha were occupied by Russian forces -- kindergarten manager Olena Ponomariova said Ukrainians had become united and more resilient. But she &quot;can&#39;t say&quot; what victory would look like, she told AFP, adding: &quot;I don&#39;t know if that will happen, but let&#39;s hope it will.&quot; Territory dispute The United States has been pushing to end the conflict, mediating talks between the two sides this year in Geneva and Abu Dhabi, but they remain at odds over the issue of territory. Russia, which occupies around 20 percent of Ukraine, is fighting to gain full control of Ukraine&#39;s eastern Donetsk region as part of any deal. It has threatened to take it by force if Kyiv does not cave at the negotiating table. Ukraine has rejected the demand and said it would not sign a deal without security guarantees from allies &mdash; including the US &mdash; to deter Russia from invading again. Despite heavy losses, Russian troops have in recent months advanced on the front line, particularly in the eastern Donbas region, which Moscow wants to annex. The <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/russian-missile-barrage-hits-energy-railways-across-ukraine" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Russian army</a> seized more territory during the fourth year of the Ukraine war than in the preceding two years combined, according to an AFP analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). Since February 24, 2025 &mdash; the third anniversary of Russia&#39;s invasion &mdash; Moscow&#39;s troops have taken 4,524 square kilometres, an area slightly larger than the US state of Rhode Island. That is according to data from the ISW, which works with the Critical Threats Project (part of the American Enterprise Institute, or AEI), another US think-tank specializing in conflict. The grinding four-year war has devastated Ukraine, which even before the fighting was one of the poorest countries in Europe. The cost of post-war reconstruction is estimated at around $588 billion over the next decade, according to a joint World Bank, EU and UN report with Kyiv, published on Monday. Russia cast its decision to send troops into Ukraine as a defensive move to halt Ukraine&#39;s ambition to join NATO. Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, considers the war to be a resurgence of Russian imperialism aimed at subjugating the Ukrainian people.

A woman holding flowers pays her respect at the Wall of Remembrance of the Fallen for Ukraine in Kyiv on February 24, 2026, as Ukraine marks the fourth anniversary of Russia's invasion. (AFP)

Ukraine marks four years of war as Zelensky vows peace, Russia presses territorial gains, while European leaders visit Kyiv and reconstruction costs are estimated at $588 billion, according to ISW and UN reports.

Zelensky says Ukraine unbroken after 4 years, but Russia vows to fight on

BEIJING/MOSCOW: Russian leader Vladimir Putin hailed Moscow&#39;s economic, political, and security ties with Beijing as a &quot;stabilizing&quot; factor in turbulent times globally, in a video call with China&#39;s Xi Jinping on Wednesday. &quot;Amid growing turbulence, the foreign policy alliance between Moscow and Beijing remains an important stabilising factor,&quot; Putin told Xi in a video broadcast on Russian state TV.&nbsp; Xi was holding the call with Putin via a video link from the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Wednesday afternoon, state broadcaster CCTV reported. The call comes days after top diplomats from both countries agreed bilateral relations could &ldquo;break new ground&rdquo; this year as <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/britains-starmer-hails-good-progress-after-meeting-chinas-xi" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Beijing</a>&nbsp;and Moscow seek to ramp up economic cooperation. &lsquo;Close exchanges&rsquo;Their strategic partnership has grown closer since Russia&#39;s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. The two leaders, who are regularly in contact, exchanged New Year greetings on Dec. 31, in which Xi expressed &quot;readiness to continue maintaining close exchanges&quot; with Putin, according to China&#39;s foreign ministry. They last met in person in September when the Russian leader attended Beijing&#39;s massive military parade. &lsquo;Unprecedented level&rsquo;During the visit, Putin told Xi during talks that their countries&#39; ties were at an &ldquo;unprecedented level&rdquo;. Putin and a slew of world leaders had visited the port city of Tianjin before that to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit - a forum that China sees as an alternative to Western-dominated international cooperation. Xi also visited Moscow last year, in May, for Russia&#39;s celebrations of the World War II defeat of the Nazis. The two chatted while they watched tanks and missiles roll across Red Square during Russia&rsquo;s flagship Victory Day Parade.

'Amid growing turbulence, the foreign policy alliance between Moscow and Beijing remains an important stabilising factor,' Putin told Xi in a video broadcast on Russian state TV. 

Putin tells Xi Moscow-Beijing alliance 'stabilizing' for world

MOSCOW: Russia has confirmed that a new round of talks with Ukraine and the United States in Abu Dhabi on ending the four-year-war will start Wednesday, after they were postponed from this weekend. Moscow blamed a scheduling issue for the delay, a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also said the negotiations would take place in the UAE capital on Wednesday and Thursday. &quot;They were indeed originally planned for this past Sunday. But additional coordination of the schedules of the three parties was needed,&quot; Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters &quot;Now, on Wednesday-Thursday, the second round will indeed take place. It will be held in Abu Dhabi. We can confirm that,&quot; he added. The talks will take place less than two weeks before the fourth anniversary of Moscow launching its full-scale offensive against Ukraine. They are expected to focus on the crucial issue of territory, with neither side so far showing any sign of a breakthrough. Washington is pushing for an end to the war between the neighbours, which has killed tens of thousands, forced millions to flee their homes and destroyed much of eastern and southern Ukraine.

A Palestinian delegation convoy drives inside the Kremlin grounds during talks between Russian President and Palestinian President in central Moscow on January 22, 2026. (AFP)

Moscow blamed a scheduling issue for the delay, a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also said the negotiations would take place in the UAE capital.

Kremlin confirms Ukraine war talks this week in Abu Dhabi

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed to halt attacks on Kyiv and other cities for a week, as Moscow&#39;s strikes leave Ukraine facing its toughest winter since the start of the war.&nbsp;Russian strikes on Ukraine&#39;s power infrastructure have left millions with disrupted light, heating and water supplies in freezing temperatures, pushing the war-battered country towards humanitarian crisis.&nbsp;&quot;Because of the cold, extreme cold... I personally asked President Putin not to fire on Kyiv and the cities and towns for a week during this,&quot; Trump told a cabinet meeting at the White House.&nbsp;&quot;It&#39;s extraordinary. It&#39;s not just like cold, it&#39;s extraordinary cold. Record setting cold, over there too, they are having the same, it&#39;s a big pile of bad weather,&quot; added Trump, comparing it to a current cold snap in Washington.&nbsp;&quot;They&#39;ve never experienced cold like that. And I personally asked President Putin not to fire into Kyiv and the various towns for a week. And he agreed to do that, and I have to tell you, it was very nice.&quot;&nbsp;There was no immediate reaction from the Kremlin but Trump -- whose summit in Alaska with the Russian leader last August ended without a breakthrough -- said he trusted Putin to honor the agreement.&nbsp;&quot;I have to tell you, people said, &#39;don&#39;t waste the call. You&#39;re not going to get that.&#39; And he did it,&quot; said Trump.&nbsp;&quot;And we&#39;re very happy that they did it, because on top of everything else, that&#39;s not what they need is missiles coming into their towns and cities.&quot;&nbsp;Ukraine&#39;s state weather agency on Thursday forecast a drastic dip in temperatures to as low as minus 30C in coming days as authorities race to restore services.&nbsp;Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned in an evening address on Wednesday of fresh Russian attacks on energy facilities.&nbsp;Trump added that there had been &quot;a lot of progress&quot; in US-brokered talks between Kyiv and Moscow to end Russia&#39;s invasion of its pro-Western neighbor, which will soon enter its fifth year.&nbsp;Russian attacks killed six people in central and southern Ukraine on Thursday, regional authorities and emergency services said.

Americas

Trump said Putin agreed to pause Russian attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities for a week, after strikes caused heating outages during freezing weather, calling the move an agreeable diplomatic.

Trump says Putin agreed not to attack Kyiv for a week 

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday strongly condemned the reported targeting of the residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling it a grave threat to peace and regional stability.&nbsp;In a statement posted on social media platform X, the prime minister said Pakistan stood in solidarity with the government and people of the Russian Federation and reiterated Islamabad&rsquo;s firm rejection of all forms of violence aimed at undermining peace and security. <div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=eyJ0ZndfdGltZWxpbmVfbGlzdCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOltdLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2ZvbGxvd2VyX2NvdW50X3N1bnNldCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOnRydWUsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdHdlZXRfZWRpdF9iYWNrZW5kIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6Im9uIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd19yZWZzcmNfc2Vzc2lvbiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfZm9zbnJfc29mdF9pbnRlcnZlbnRpb25zX2VuYWJsZWQiOnsiYnVja2V0Ijoib24iLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X21peGVkX21lZGlhXzE1ODk3Ijp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6InRyZWF0bWVudCIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3Nob3dfYmlyZHdhdGNoX3Bpdm90c19lbmFibGVkIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6Im9uIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd19kdXBsaWNhdGVfc2NyaWJlc190b19zZXR0aW5ncyI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdXNlX3Byb2ZpbGVfaW1hZ2Vfc2hhcGVfZW5hYmxlZCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdmlkZW9faGxzX2R5bmFtaWNfbWFuaWZlc3RzXzE1MDgyIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6InRydWVfYml0cmF0ZSIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfbGVnYWN5X3RpbWVsaW5lX3N1bnNldCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOnRydWUsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdHdlZXRfZWRpdF9mcm9udGVuZCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9fQ%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2005822489709142201&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Fsections%2F&sessionId=92548bd0643675c14bf9567fc2f63c551b5729ac&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 345px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" data-tweet-id="2005822489709142201"></iframe></div></div>The statement comes hours after Russia accused Ukraine of launching a large-scale <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/russia-says-ukraine-attacked-putins-home-kyiv-calls-this-lie" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">attack on one of President Vladimir Putin&rsquo;s residences</a> &mdash; an allegation Kyiv dismissed as false and politically motivated.&nbsp;Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed that Ukraine fired 91 long-range unmanned aerial vehicles at Putin&rsquo;s residence in the Novgorod region between late Sunday and early Monday, all of which were allegedly intercepted. No evidence was provided.&nbsp;Lavrov warned that Russia would reconsider its negotiating position, accusing Kyiv of shifting toward what he described as &ldquo;state terrorism.&rdquo;&nbsp;Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected the accusation, calling it &ldquo;a complete fabrication&rdquo; aimed at undermining US-led peace efforts.&nbsp;US President Donald Trump, who held a phone call with President Putin earlier on Monday, criticised the timing of the alleged incident.&nbsp;&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t like it. It&rsquo;s not good,&rdquo; Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago residence. &ldquo;You know who told me about it? President Putin told me about it.&rdquo;&nbsp;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a delicate period of time. This is not the right time,&rdquo; he added.

Foreign Affairs

Calls it a grave threat to peace and regional stability.

Articles tagged with "Russian President Vladimir Putin"

Russian media says Putin, Xi begin talks in Beijing

Russia tests long-range missile after US nuclear treaty expires

Putin says Ukraine war is 'heading to an end'

Indonesian president to meet Putin in Russia for oil talks

Russia, Ukraine to exchange 500 POWs on March 5-6: negotiator

Zelensky says Ukraine unbroken after 4 years, but Russia vows to fight on

Putin tells Xi Moscow-Beijing alliance 'stabilizing' for world

Kremlin confirms Ukraine war talks this week in Abu Dhabi

Trump says Putin agreed not to attack Kyiv for a week

PM Sharif condemns attack on Russian president’s residence

Russian media says Putin, Xi begin talks in Beijing