
Putin Dismisses Zelenskiy's Call for Direct Leaders Meeting
Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed the idea of a meeting with his counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy even as the Ukrainian leader reiterated his call for direct top-level negotiations as the only way to end the war.
'How can such meetings be held under these conditions? What is there to talk about?' Putin said during a televised meeting with government officials by video conference, discussing the collapse of bridges in Russia that Moscow blamed on Ukraine. Kyiv denies any involvement.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Russia says its strike against Kyiv and other centres was a response to Ukrainian 'terrorist acts'
MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia's Defence Ministry said on Friday that its forces had carried out a massive and successful strike on military and military-related targets in Ukraine overnight in response to what it called Ukrainian "terrorist acts" against Russia. Russia's military released the statement after Ukrainian officials said Russia had launched an intense missile and drone barrage at Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, in the early hours of Friday and that three people had been killed. Russia has accused Ukraine of being behind a deadly bomb attack on a bridge over a railway line in western Russia at the weekend that was blown up just as a train carrying 388 passengers to Moscow was passing underneath. Seven people were killed and 155 injured in the incident which Kyiv has not taken responsibility for. Separately, Ukraine attacked Russian nuclear-capable bomber planes at airfields over the same weekend, causing significant damage. President Vladimir Putin told U.S. President Donald Trump this week that he would retaliate. The Kremlin confirmed on Friday that the big overnight strikes had been a response to what it called Kyiv's "acts of terrorism". "Everything that is taking place within the framework of the special military operation (in Ukraine), everything that is being done by our military on a daily basis, is a response to the actions of the Kyiv regime, which has acquired all the characteristics of a terrorist regime," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Ukraine has frequently accused Russia of terrorism, citing attacks in which thousands of civilians have been killed. Both sides say they do not target civilians. The Russian military said in its statement that it had used long-range weapons to strike Ukraine. "In response to terrorist acts by the Kyiv regime, the Russian Armed Forces carried out a massive strike overnight with long-range air, sea and land-based precision weapons," the ministry said. It said the strike had targeted "Ukrainian design bureaus, enterprises for the production and repair of weapons and military equipment, assembly workshops for strike drones, flight training centres, and Ukrainian armed forces weapons and military equipment depots." "The objective of the strike was achieved. All designated targets were hit." Russian troops had also taken control of the settlement of Fedorivka in eastern Ukraine, the Defence Ministry said. Reuters could not independently confirm the battlefield report.


Bloomberg
43 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Russia Hits Kyiv with Missile Wave After Putin Vowed Reprisals
Russian drone and missile attacks killed at least three people in Kyiv and wounded more than a dozen others, in a wave of overnight strikes including civilian targets that followed President Vladimir Putin's vow to retaliate for a Ukrainian drone attack on Russian air bases. Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv military administration, posted the casualty figures on Telegram. Kyiv Metro — whose deep tunnels are used as shelters — said that its infrastructure had been damaged and one of the key lines was partially closed, with repairs expected to take 24 hours.


News24
an hour ago
- News24
Harvard scores a temporary victory in battle against Trump administration ‘vendetta'
A court on Thursday put a temporary stay on Donald Trump's latest effort to stop foreign students from enrolling at Harvard, as the US president's battle with one of the world's most prestigious universities intensified. A proclamation issued by the White House late Wednesday sought to bar most new international students at Harvard from entering the country, and said existing foreign enrollees risked having their visas terminated. 'Harvard's conduct has rendered it an unsuitable destination for foreign students and researchers,' the order said. Harvard quickly amended an existing complaint filed in federal court, saying: 'This is not the Administration's first attempt to sever Harvard from its international students.' '(It) is part of a concerted and escalating campaign of retaliation by the government in clear retribution for Harvard's exercising its First Amendment rights to reject the government's demands to control Harvard's governance, curriculum, and the 'ideology' of its faculty and students.' READ | 'Such a disgrace': Outrage as Trump ramps up attacks on Harvard, Columbia US District Judge Allison Burroughs on Thursday ruled the government cannot enforce Trump's proclamation. Harvard had showed, she said, that without a temporary restraining order, it risked sustaining 'immediate and irreparable injury before there is an opportunity to hear from all parties'. The same judge had already blocked Trump's earlier effort to bar international students from enrolling at the storied university. The government already cut around $3.2 billion of federal grants and contracts benefiting Harvard and pledged to exclude the Cambridge, Massachusetts, institution from any future federal funding. Harvard has been at the forefront of Trump's campaign against top universities after it defied his calls to submit to oversight of its curriculum, staffing, student recruitment and 'viewpoint diversity'. Trump has also singled out international students at Harvard, who accounted for 27% of total enrolment in the 2024-2025 academic year and are a major source of income. In its filing, Harvard acknowledged that Trump had the authority to bar an entire class of aliens if it was deemed to be in the public interest, but stressed that was not the case in this action. The president's actions thus are not undertaken to protect the 'interests of the United States' but instead to pursue a government vendetta against Harvard. Harvard filing Since returning to office Trump has targeted elite US universities which he and his allies accuse of being hotbeds of antisemitism, liberal bias and 'woke' ideology. Trump's education secretary also threatened on Wednesday to strip Columbia University of its accreditation. The Republican has targeted the New York Ivy League institution for allegedly ignoring harassment of Jewish students, throwing all of its federal funding into doubt. Unlike Harvard, several top institutions - including Columbia - have already bowed to far-reaching demands from the Trump administration.