Armenia, US to hold joint military drills On August 12-20, Interfax reports
The Eagle Partner 2025 exercises will focus on peacekeeping tasks and medical evacuation procedures, the ministry was quoted as saying.
Armenia is a treaty ally of Russia and traditionally a close partner, although bilateral relations have become strained in recent years as Yerevan grows closer to the West.
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Reuters
12 minutes ago
- Reuters
India wants US ties based on mutual respect, says its arms purchases are on course
NEW DELHI, Aug 14 (Reuters) - India said on Thursday that it hoped relations with the United States would move forward based on mutual respect and shared interests, seeking to temper worries that ties were headed downhill in the aftermath of high tariffs imposed by Washington. A U.S. defence policy team will be in New Delhi this month for talks with Indian officials and its arms purchases from the U.S. are on course despite the strain in ties, the Indian foreign ministry said. A new friendship built between the two countries has hit a rough patch after President Donald Trump raised tariffs on Indian goods to 50% last week from an earlier 25% saying it was a penalty for India's continued imports of Russian oil. New Delhi has accused the U.S. of double standards in singling it out for Russian oil imports and called the tariffs unfair, unjustified and unreasonable. At the same time, it has also indicated that the warming of ties that began at the turn of the century covers a wide range of areas and should not be seen only through the prism of trade, although it hopes that trade talks will continue and result in a deal. "This partnership has weathered several transitions and we hope that the relationship will continue to move forward based on mutual respect and shared interests," Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a regular media briefing. Purchases of military equipment from Washington were on course, Jaiswal said, adding that a U.S. defence policy team was expected in Delhi this month. Reuters reported last week that India has put on hold its plans to procure new U.S. weapons and aircraft and that a planned trip to Washington by the Indian defence minister had been cancelled. The Indian government subsequently said reports of a pause in the talks were wrong.
The Guardian
41 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Vladimir Putin praises ‘sincere efforts' from US administration to end Ukraine war
Update: Date: 2025-08-14T13:47:12.000Z Title: president Vladimir Putin held a meeting with some of the country's top officials to prepare for the meeting with Trump. Content: Russian president holds meeting with top officials as he prepares to meet US president at 11.30am local time in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday 15 August Jakub Krupa Thu 14 Aug 2025 15.47 CEST First published on Thu 14 Aug 2025 09.45 CEST From 1.05pm CEST 13:05 We are also getting a bit more on the Russian preparations for the summit in Alaska, with Tass reporting that Reuters reported that following the meeting, Putin said the US administration was making 'sincere efforts' to resolve the Ukraine conflict. The Russian president also reportedly suggested Moscow and Washington could reach a deal on nuclear arms control that could strengthen peace. 3.47pm CEST 15:47 In other news across Europe, the situation in Serbia merits renewed attention as large groups of pro-government supporters, most wearing masks, confronted groups taking part in long-running anti-graft protests run by student movements, AFP reported. AFP noted that the worst violence was reported in parts of Belgrade and Novi Sad, where the protest movement first began, with dozens injured and arrested. One man, later identified as a military police officer, fired a pistol into the air as protesters approached the ruling party's offices in Novi Sad, causing panic. Footage also showed supporters of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party launching fireworks at protesters gathered outside the party's headquarters there. Since November, near-daily protests have taken place over the collapse of a train station in Novi Sad. The tragedy, which killed 16 people, soon became a flashpoint as people across the country seized on it to demand greater government transparency and express their broader dissatisfaction with Serbia's increasingly authoritarian rule. The agency said that over the past nine months, thousands of mostly peaceful, student-led demonstrations have been held, some attracting hundreds of thousands. But it added that this week's violence however marks a significant escalation and indicates the increasing strain on Aleksandar Vučić's populist government, in power for 13 years. 2.56pm CEST 14:56 Pjotr Sauer Russian affairs reporter Putin's delegation has been announced (11:20) and, unsurprisingly, the Russian leader will be flanked by some of the most powerful figures in the Kremlin's inner circle – seasoned political operators, financial strategists and diplomatic enforcers who have shaped Russia's foreign and economic policy for more than two decades. The mix of old-guard loyalists and younger financial power-brokers points to Putin's aim of wooing Trump's ear and dangling financial incentives for siding with Moscow on Ukraine. Notably, alongside a cadre of veteran diplomats, Putin is bringing two prominent economic advisers. The presence of finance minister Anton Siluanov is particularly striking: he has overseen Russia's response to sweeping western sanctions, the lifting of which the Kremlin has repeatedly set as a central condition for any peace deal. 2.53pm CEST 14:53 Meanwhile, let's take a closer look at tomorrow's Trump-Putin summit and at the Russian delegation attending with the Russian president. Over to our Russian affairs reporter, Pjotr Sauer. 2.37pm CEST 14:37 Ajit Niranjan Europe environment correspondent The deadly fires come as southern Europe suffers intense heat that has broken temperature records across the continent – made worse by fossil fuel pollution that traps sunlight and heats the planet – and which has dried out vegetation. 'It's obvious that climate change is exacerbating the severity of fires,' said Eduardo Rojas Briales, a forestry researcher at the Polytechnic University of Valencia and former deputy director general of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization. 'But it's not responsible to wait for greenhouse gas emissions to drop … as the sole approach to addressing the problem.' He called for additional policies such as ensuring dead plant material is kept at manageable levels, creating gaps in vegetation, for instance through reversing rural abandonment, and using prescribed burning. 'There is no alternative but to build landscapes … that are truly resilient to fires,' he said. A report published Thursday by XDI, a climate risk analysis group, found that the climate crisis has doubled the risk of infrastructure damage from forest fires in France, Italy, Greece, Romania and Bulgaria since 1990. It predicted risk would increase further still in future. 'We're all asking ourselves, how much worse can it get?,' said Karl Mallon, XDI's head of science and technology. 'According to our latest analysis, a lot.' 2.14pm CEST 14:14 Lisa O'Carroll Meanwhile, Spain has activated an EU civil protection mechanism for the first time seeking outside help to deal with severe wildfires fuelled by the current heatwave, the European Commission has said. The forest fires engulfing parts of Spain have killed three people over recent days (9:51, 10:38). Brussels said it has today sent two planes stationed in France from its 'rescEU' programme designed to protect citizens with teams from the Netherlands and Estonia deployed to support national efforts. The civil protection mechanism allows firefighting personnel and vehicles and aircraft from other countries to be deployed in countries of need with the bill picked up in Brussels. 'The mechanism has been activated 16 times this year, already equal to the total number of activations of the whole summer season last year,' said an EU spokesperson. The EU said: 'During the past week, Greece, Spain, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Albania activated the mechanism to help deal with forest fires – many of which are occurring simultaneously across Europe. Greece activated the Mechanism on 12 August. In response, the two Swedish rescEU helicopters currently in Bulgaria are expected to be deployed. Prepositioned firefighters from Czechia, Moldova and Romania also took part in the efforts to put out the fires. In Bulgaria six countries - Czechia, Slovakia, France, Hungary, Romania, Sweden - mobilised aircraft via the Mechanism including the rescEU helicopters stationed in Sweden. In Albania, the Commission mobilised rescEU aerial assets from Croatia, Bulgaria, Italy and Czechia and Slovakia. 'In Montenegro, the Commission mobilised rescEU assets stationed in Czechia, Croatia and Italy. Serbia, Hungary and Bosnia and Herzegovina also deployed aircraft means as part of bilateral offers, and Austria offered ground firefighting teams.' 1.56pm CEST 13:56 Dan Sabbagh Defence and security editor Speaking to BBC News, from Kyiv I don't think Putin is going to be in a mood to compromise very much in Alaska. I think Donald Trump will be doing very well to get any further concessions out of Putin, because it's the little tactical successes on the frontline that just make Russia keep thinking, 'we can grind our way to a victory there'. There's very little expectation in Ukraine of any kind of sort of goodwill from Vladimir Putin, or any kind of compromise, or anything that leads to compromise. The two sides are miles apart. Russia continues to make these maximalist demands of territory. The latest demand appears to be all of Donetsk province, about 9000 square kilometres, in return for a ceasefire, … including the significant cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk. Zelensky already said he can't agree to that. The idea that Trump can force Vladimir Putin into a dramatically different way of thinking, I don't think there's a lot of optimism around that. What we are likely to see is a lot of theatre and perhaps Putin will try to be smooth as possible to minimise the differences, but the reality is that I would be very surprised to see any significant or meaningful progress. We might see commitment to further meetings, but I'm really not confident we're going to see much more than that. Updated at 1.57pm CEST 1.35pm CEST 13:35 The Trump-Putin summit in Alaska presents 'a viable chance to make progress as long as Putin takes action to prove he is serious about peace,' Downing Street said in a statement after Starmer's meeting with Zelenskyy in London. The UK prime minister and the Ukrainian president discussed yesterday's consultations with Trump, saying 'there had been a powerful sense of unity and a strong resolve to achieve a just and lasting peace in Ukraine,' the readout said. More on our UK live blog: Updated at 1.36pm CEST 1.20pm CEST 13:20 In a short statement after his meeting with UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy said they discussed 'in considerable detail the security guarantees that can make peace truly durable if the United States succeeds in pressing Russia to stop the killings and engage in genuine, substantive diplomacy.' The pair also discussed 'mechanisms for weapons supplies,' with Zelenskyy urging Starmer to join the growing list of countries funding new weapons for Ukraine through Nato's new Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List scheme. They also discussed Ukraine's plans to 'increase production volumes' of drones, with the country 'urgently needing financing for this.' 'Drones play a decisive role on the frontline, and Ukraine's capabilities to produce them are exceptional. Therefore, investment in such production can truly influence the situation at the strategic level. We are working with the UK and all our partners on this.' The leaders also talked about their bilateral partnership agreed earlier this year, Zelenskyy said. 1.15pm CEST 13:15 Lisa O'Carroll Separately, the EU has said it sees no justification for China to sanction two Lithuanian banks in retaliation against the bloc's sanctions on two Chinese banks as part of the 18th package of sanctions on Russia. 'We don't believe those countermeasures have any justification and therefore we call on China to remove them now,' said EU spokesperson Olof Gill. He said the EU was continuing discussions with China about the sanctions on the banks which came into force on 9 August. China took countermeasures against two banks in the European Union, in response to the bloc placing two Chinese financial institutions on a Russia-related sanctions list, its commerce ministry said on Wednesday. Effective immediately, Lithuanian banks UAB Urbo Bankas and AB Mano Bankas were banned from carrying out transactions and cooperation with organisations and individuals within China, the ministry's statement said. 1.14pm CEST 13:14 For days, we have been waiting for progress to be made on the EU-US trade deal agreed politically by Trump and EU's von der Leyen in Scotland, and been expecting a 'joint statement' taking it further towards a legally binding text. EU trade spokesperson Olof Gill has just confirmed there is a bit of progress on that as he said: 'I'm now happy to confirm that we have received a text from the US with their suggestions for, let's say, getting closer to that final finalisation of the document. So we're going to look at that now. We'll have some engagement at both technical and political level with our American counterparts.' He added 'We are now going to invest our substantial high-level skills from this house into transmitting our final views to the US, and then it will be over to them again to get it over the line. I know it's tedious for you all that I'm saying repeatedly we are close, [but] that's the factual analysis of the matter. We are close, we just need to get these final tweaks over the line.' Updated at 1.21pm CEST 1.05pm CEST 13:05 We are also getting a bit more on the Russian preparations for the summit in Alaska, with Tass reporting that Reuters reported that following the meeting, Putin said the US administration was making 'sincere efforts' to resolve the Ukraine conflict. The Russian president also reportedly suggested Moscow and Washington could reach a deal on nuclear arms control that could strengthen peace. 12.54pm CEST 12:54 The commission's spokesperson also said the EU 'welcomed' the indication from the US president, Donald Trump, on yesterday's call that the US could participate in providing security guarantees for Ukraine. Asked if it was down to the bloc's lobbying, she said: It doesn't matter exactly how he arrived to this point. The important aspect is that the US has said that they are willing to do so. And of course, we very much welcome all efforts that will guarantee the possibility for Ukraine to be in a solid position to defend itself. 12.49pm CEST 12:49 In the last few minutes, the European Commission said that the EU's understanding was that 'President Trump will debrief president Zelensky and European leaders following his bilateral meeting' with Putin on Alaska. The commission's deputy chief spokesperson Arianna Podestà said: 'We don't have a specific time frame [that] I can share with you on this. It also depends on the timing of the meeting, length, et cetera, time differences, but our understanding is indeed that there will be a debrief.' 12.46pm CEST 12:46 Separately, the Wall Street Journal highlighted the importance of another leader playing a critical role in getting US president Trump to understand the European position a bit better. Finnish president Alexander Stubb has 'formed an unexpected bond' with Trump, WSJ said, after meeting with the US president for golf, with the pair regularly chatting on the phone ever since. Playing golf with Trump 'vaulted the little-known Stubb into a back-channel role with the US president,' WSJ said, making him 'a key conduit for European officials seeking to influence' the US position ahead of this Friday's high-stakes summit with Putin. 'People know that we Finns don't have a hidden agenda, and we're also quite blunt. I can communicate what Europeans or Zelensky think to Trump, and then I can communicate what Trump thinks to my European colleagues,' he told WSJ. Influential Republican senator Lindsey Graham is said to speak with Stubb even twice a day, confirming to the paper that they would regularly text each other, 'getting insight about what's going on, giving advice.' In a revealing paragraph, the WSJ said: 'Their contacts have become so frequent that Finnish diplomats in Washington joke that instead of reporting developments in Washington to Helsinki they were hearing about it from the president.' You can read the WSJ's profile in full here.
Daily Mail
42 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Putin praises Trump for 'energetic and sincere efforts' to bring peace in Ukraine as historic meeting between the two men nears
Vladimir Putin has praised Donald Trump for his administration's 'energetic and sincere efforts' to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine, ahead of their face-to-face meeting in Alaska. The two leaders are set to meet tomorrow at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska's largest military base, to discuss how to bring Putin's invasion of Ukraine to an end. In a short video released by the Kremlin, the Russian despot said Trump's administration was making 'quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the hostilities' and to 'reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved in this conflict.' Putin also suggested agreements could be reached with the US 'in the area of control over strategic offensive weapons at the next stage.' Trump was frostier in his comments, telling reporters that Russia would face 'very severe consequences' if Putin does not agree to stop the war against Ukraine after Friday's meeting. Despite the pivotal meeting's theme surrounding Ukraine's fate, leader Volodymyr Zelensky was not invited. Instead, he was welcomed to London by UK prime minister Keir Starmer. The two embraced warmly outside Starmer's offices at 10 Downing Street without making any comments. Around an hour later, Starmer walked Zelensky back to his waiting car, and the two leaders shared another embrace as the Ukrainian president departed. Vladimir Putin has praised Donald Trump (pictured) for his administration's 'energetic and sincere efforts' to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine Zelensky's trip to the British capital came a day after he took part in virtual meetings from Berlin with US President Donald Trump and the leaders of several European countries. Those leaders said Trump had assured them he would make a priority of trying to achieve a ceasefire in Ukraine when he meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday in Anchorage. Both Zelensky and the Europeans have worried the bilateral US-Russia summit would leave them and their interests sidelined, and that any conclusions reached could favor Moscow and leave Ukraine and Europe's future security in jeopardy. Yet some of those leaders, like German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron, praised Wednesday's video conference with Trump as constructive. And despite Friday's meeting, new satellite images have revealed that Russia is gearing up to test its nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed cruise missile. Experts say recent satellite images show intense preparations at the Pankovo test site on Novaya Zemlya, a remote archipelago in the Barents Sea. The pictures, taken in recent weeks by commercial satellite firm Planet Labs, reveal a surge in personnel, equipment, ships and aircraft linked to earlier tests of the 9M730 Burevestnik, known to NATO as the SSC-X-9 Skyfall. A Western security source has also verified that Russia is preparing a Burevestnik launch, supporting the findings by Jeffrey Lewis from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies and Decker Eveleth, of the CNA research and analysis organisation. Lewis told Reuters that it could happen this week, which could potentially overshadow the planned Putin-Trump summit in Alaska. Putin has previously described the Burevestnik as 'invincible' to current and future missile defences, claiming it has almost unlimited range. The development of the missiles has become a prime focus for Putin, especially after Trump revealed what he called the US Golden Dome missile in January, according to experts. However, some specialists are sceptical that it can truly evade defence systems or give Russia extra capabilities it does not already possess. There are also concerns that the missile could release dangerous radiation along its route. Putin and Trump are set to meet in Alaska on Friday to discuss ending the war in Ukraine Researchers believe the test would have been scheduled long before the summit was announced. But they say Putin could have slowed or halted visible preparations to demonstrate that he was open to ending the war in Ukraine and restarting arms control talks with Washington. The Burevestnik does not have a stellar track record, according to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, with just two partial successes in 13 known tests. Lewis and Eveleth say Planet Labs images taken since late July show stacks of shipping containers, more equipment and more personnel arriving at the site. Lewis said two aircraft equipped to collect test data have been parked at Rogachevo military airfield since mid-July, both carrying saucer-shaped radar domes. He also noted the presence of at least five ships linked to past tests, and said ship-tracking site showed a sixth vessel, the Teriberka cargo ship, heading towards Novaya Zemlya this week. Reuters confirmed the vessel's course but could not independently verify the rest of the findings. The researchers say they began monitoring Pankovo in July and increased scrutiny after Russia issued a maritime warning on August 6 for the period between August 9 and 12. The movement of equipment since mid July has led experts to believe that Putin test the missiles this week Some experts have said Putin could have postponed the tests if he wanted to Notices on the US Federal Aviation Administration's system suggested a possible launch window from August 9 to 22. Norway's military told Reuters the Barents Sea is a 'prime location for Russian missile tests' and that warnings pointed to 'preparations for test activities', though it would not confirm the type of weapon. In late July, Eveleth noticed a large shelter protecting the launcher being moved back and forth, which he called 'very clear evidence' of an upcoming launch. Lewis provided August 7 images showing the launcher cover, stacks of containers, a crane and a helicopter. 'It's full steam ahead,' he said. The revelation comes after Trump warned Putin 'there will be very severe consequences' if Russia does not agree to stop the war in Ukraine after their meeting on Friday. The US President took a tougher tone against the dictator today saying he was yet to be convinced he would be able to persuade Putin to stop killing civilians. European leaders also said Mr Trump had agreed to make an immediate ceasefire at the start of negotiations a priority - something that will be painful for Moscow which is gaining territory by the day. In more encouraging news for Ukraine, the US President said tomorrow is only 'setting the table' for a second meeting where Volodymyr Zelensky will be present. The US President took a tougher tone against the dictator today saying he was yet to be convinced he would be able to persuade Putin to stop killing civilians Trump said he hoped that there would be a 'quick second meeting' following the summit between Putin, Zelensky 'and myself if they'd like to have me there' In more encouraging news for Ukraine, the US President said tomorrow is only 'setting the table' for a second meeting where Volodymyr Zelensky will be present Mr Trump cautioned that if he 'doesn't get the answers' he needs on Friday 'then we're not going to have a second meeting'. Asked if Russia will face consequences in that scenario, Mr Trump said: 'Yes, they will. There will be consequences.' Asked if that would be sanctions or tariffs, Trump said: 'I don't have to say. There will be very severe consequences.' But he hoped that there would be a 'quick second meeting' following the summit between Putin, Zelensky 'and myself if they'd like to have me there'. Describing the purpose of Alaska, Mr Trump said it was 'to find out where we are and what we are doing' before a 'more productive meeting' with the Ukrainian president. It is hoped that this second summit would take place in a neutral European country. Yesterday, it emerged Mr Trump is planning to offer Putin access to rare earth minerals to incentivise him to end the war, including opening up Alaska's natural resources to Moscow and lifting some sanctions. It may also include giving Russia access to the rare earth minerals in the Ukrainian territories under their occupation, the Telegraph reported. JD Vance yesterday said the US President had vowed that they would 'bring peace to Europe' in a speech at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire Mr Zelensky, who dialled in from Berlin where he was meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, described the talks as 'constructive and good' JD Vance today said the US President had vowed that they would 'bring peace to Europe' in a speech at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. He channelled the spirit of how America and Britain had brought peace by victory in World War Two after spending the week with Foreign Secretary David Lammy at Chevening House in Kent. Describing what he and Mr Lammy had discussed, the Vice President said: 'What we did is we worked on one of our most important shared security goals in Europe, which is the end of the war between Russia and Ukraine. 'The President of the United States came in six months ago, and I just talked to him right before I came on the stage, and he said very simply that we are going to make it our mission as an administration to bring peace to Europe once again.' It marked a successful day of European diplomacy after Mr Trump's deeply concerning press conference on Monday where he appeared to blame Mr Zelensky for the war and take a softer stance against Putin. EU leaders scrambled to hold a virtual summit with the US President and the Ukrainian leader today which Mr Trump said he 'would rate a 10'. Afterwards Mr Zelensky, who dialled in from Berlin where he was meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, described the talks as 'constructive and good'. He said that 'Trump supported us today' and that leaders around the world are unified towards reaching 'peace in Ukraine'. Mr Zelensky also warned leaders that Putin 'is bluffing' that sanctions 'do not matter to him and are ineffective' as they are in fact 'hitting Russia's war economy hard'. Chancellor Merz reiterated to Mr Trump that they must apply more 'pressure' on Putin if there is no movement towards peace. He said the US president 'knows this position and agrees with it'. Chancellor Merz also stressed that a ceasefire must come at the beginning of negotiations - and that Mr Trump 'also wants to make this one of his priorities'. Sir Keir Starmer, who was also present on the call, said the 'coalition of the willing' is ready to deploy a 'reassurance force' when the moment arises. In more encouraging signs, Mr Vance joined a call for the coalition of the willing for the first time today, dialling in from RAF Fairford before Mr Trump also joined. It marks a significant turn around since the Vice President disparagingly dismissed the peacekeeping proposal in March as '20,000 troops from some random country that hasn't fought a war in 30 or 40 years'. Sir Keir said today: 'For three-and-a-bit years this conflict has been going on and we haven't got anywhere near the prospect of actually a viable solution, a viable way of bringing it to a ceasefire - and now we do have that chance because of the work that the president has put in.'
