'Talks Were Pragmatic...': Kremlin's Big Reveal On Trump-Putin Phone Call
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Ukrainian drone strikes force Kremlin to scale down Navy Day celebrations
Russia dramatically scaled back its Navy Day festivities on Sunday due to mounting security concerns amid a surge in Ukrainian drone attacks. The Kremlin cancelled traditional warship parades in major port cities including St. Petersburg, with officials citing the need to prioritise public safety. read more Russian President Vladimir Putin, second left arrives to visit the frigate "Admiral Grigorovich" in Kronstadt, outside St. Petersburg during Navy Day celebration, Russia. AP Russia scaled back its Navy Day celebrations on Sunday, citing security concerns amid ongoing Ukrainian drone attacks that continue to challenge the Kremlin. Russian authorities called off the warship parades that are typically held to commemorate the annual Navy Day celebrations in St. Petersburg, the Kaliningrad region on the Baltic, and the far-eastern port of Vladivostok. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to reporters' questions about why the parade in St. Petersburg was called off, even as President Vladimir Putin arrived in his hometown to tour the navy headquarters, by saying that 'it's linked to the overall situation, security reasons, which are above all else.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Over the course of the night, 99 Ukrainian drones were shot down by Russian air defences, according to the Russian Defence Ministry. It claimed that 51 more drones were shot down close to St. Petersburg later that day. According to local officials, a woman was injured by drone fragments in the Lomonosov area. Due to the drone threat, the Pulkovo airport in St. Petersburg halted dozens of flights early on Sunday. Putin paid a visit to St. Petersburg's historic Admiralty headquarters to receive reports on four-day naval manoeuvres that ended on Sunday. 150 vessels from the Baltics to the Pacific participated in the July Storm exercise. In addition to promising to increase the navy's training and build more warships, Putin also stated that 'the navy's strike power and combat capability will rise to a qualitatively new level.' He also visited the Admiral Grigorovich frigate of the Baltic Fleet at the Kronstadt naval base just west of St. Petersburg to hail its crew for fending off a Ukrainian drone attack in the region earlier in the day. Reducing the scale of the Navy Day celebrations reflects Moscow's worries about Ukraine's sweeping drone attacks across the country. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD In a series of strikes earlier in the war now in its fourth year, Ukraine sank several Russian warships in the Black Sea, crippling Moscow's naval capability and forcing it to redeploy its fleet from Russia-occupied Crimea to Novorossiysk. And in an audacious June 1 attack code-named 'Spiderweb,' Ukraine used drones to hit several Russian air bases hosting long-range bombers across Russia, from the Arctic Kola Peninsula to Siberia. The drones were launched from trucks covertly placed near the bases, taking the Russian military by surprise in a humiliating blow to the Kremlin. The raid destroyed or damaged many of the bombers that had been used by Moscow to launch aerial attacks on Ukraine, providing a major morale boost for Kyiv at a time when Kyiv's undermanned and under-gunned forces are facing Russian attacks along the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line. Russia continued to batter Ukraine with drone and missile strikes Sunday. In Sumy in Ukraine's northeast, a drone attack damaged civil infrastructure objects, an administrative building and non-residential premises, leaving three people wounded. Elsewhere in the region, two men died after being blown up by a land mine and another woman was injured from a drone attack on another community in the region, the regional military administration said. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD French President Emmanuel Macron had a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday and said later on X that he reaffirmed France's support for Kyiv and vowed to raise pressure on Moscow to force it to 'agree to a ceasefire that paves the way for talks leading to a solid and lasting peace, with full European involvement.'
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First Post
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‘They want to settle now': Trump links trade deals to peace as Thailand, Cambodia agree to talks
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he believed both Thailand and Cambodia wanted to settle their differences after he told the leaders of both countries that he would not conclude trade deals with them unless they ended their fighting. read more US President Donald Trump said Sunday he believed Thailand and Cambodia were ready to resolve their conflict following his warning that trade agreements with Washington would be on hold unless the fighting stopped. Speaking to reporters in Turnberry, Scotland before a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Trump said, 'I spoke to both of the prime ministers, and I think by the time I got off, I think they want to settle now.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Trump added that he expected officials from both countries to engage in talks in the coming days. The current wave of violence began Thursday following a land mine blast that injured five Thai soldiers. Each side has accused the other of sparking the conflict. Ambassadors have been recalled, and Thailand has shut its border crossings with Cambodia. Despite growing calls for de-escalation, active fighting continued on Sunday in multiple parts of the contested region. Thailand reported one more soldier killed on Sunday, raising its death toll to 21, most of them civilians. Cambodia said it has lost 13 lives. Over 131,000 people have been displaced within Thailand, while more than 37,000 Cambodians have fled homes in three border provinces. Many border villages now lie abandoned, with schools and hospitals closed. The UN Security Council has urged ASEAN to mediate an end to the crisis, while Human Rights Watch condemned reports of cluster munitions—prohibited under international law—being used in populated zones. The group called on both governments to prioritise civilian protection. Tensions between Thailand and Cambodia over their 800-kilometre border have simmered for decades. While past flare-ups have generally been brief, the current escalation follows a deadly confrontation in May that led to the death of a Cambodian soldier and further strained diplomatic relations. With inputs from agencies
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Business Standard
4 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Thai, Cambodian leaders to meet in Malaysia for talks to end dispute
Thai and Cambodian leaders will meet in Malaysia for talks to end hostilities, a spokesperson for the Thai prime minister's office said on Sunday. This comes following pressure from US President Donald Trump to end a deadly border dispute, now in its fourth day, which has killed at least 34 people and displaced more than 168,000. Jirayu Huangsap said Acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai will attend Monday's talks in response to an invitation from Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to discuss peace efforts in the region. The spokesperson also said Phumtham's Cambodian counterpart Hun Manet will also attend the talks, though this was not immediately confirmed by the Cambodian side. He added that Anwar was acting in his capacity as chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, held on an annual rotating basis by its 10 members. Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturday that he spoke to the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia and suggested he would not move forward with trade agreements with either country if the hostilities continued. He later said both sides agreed to meet to negotiate a ceasefire. Both sides agree to discuss a ceasefire Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said earlier Sunday his country agreed to pursue an immediate and unconditional ceasefire. He said Trump told him that Thailand had also agreed to halt attacks following the US president's conversation with Phumtham. He said he tasked his deputy, Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, to coordinate next steps with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and to engage directly with Thailand's foreign minister to implement the ceasefire. Thailand expressed cautious support. Phumtham thanked Trump and said that Thailand agreed in principle to a ceasefire but stressed the need for sincere intention from Cambodia, the Thai Foreign Ministry said. Phumtham called for swift bilateral talks to discuss concrete steps toward a peaceful resolution, it said. Both sides blame the other for the clashes The fighting flared Thursday after a land mine explosion along the border wounded five Thai soldiers. Both sides blamed each other for starting the clashes. Both countries recalled their ambassadors and Thailand closed its border crossings with Cambodia. Despite the diplomatic efforts, fighting continued Sunday along parts of the contested border, with both sides refusing to budge and trading blame over renewed shelling and troop movements. Col. Richa Suksowanont, a Thai army deputy spokesperson, said Cambodian forces fired heavy artillery into Surin province, including at civilian homes, early Sunday. He said Cambodia also launched rocket attacks targeting the ancient Ta Muen Thom temple, claimed by both countries, and other areas in a bid to reclaim territory secured by Thai troops. Thai forces responded with long-range artillery to strike Cambodian artillery and rocket launchers. Richa said Trump's efforts to mediate were a separate matter. The battlefield operations will continue and a ceasefire can only happen if Cambodia formally initiates negotiations, he added. Any cessation of hostilities cannot be reached while Cambodia is severely lacking in good faith and repeatedly violating the basic principles of human rights and humanitarian law," Thailand's Foreign Ministry said separately. Cambodian Defence Ministry spokesperson Lt. Gen. Maly Socheata accused Thai forces of escalating the violence with bombardment of Cambodian territory early Sunday, followed by a "large-scale incursion" involving tanks and ground troops in multiple areas. Such actions undermine all efforts toward peaceful resolution and expose Thailand's clear intent to escalate rather than de-escalate the conflict, she said. Thailand on Sunday reported a new death of a soldier, bringing the total number of fatalities to 21, mostly civilians. Cambodia said 13 people have been killed. More than 131,000 people in Thailand have evacuated to safe locations and over 37,000 people fled from three Cambodian provinces. Many border villages are mostly deserted, with many schools and hospitals shut. Evacuees hope for a swift end to the fighting Pichayut Surasit, an air-conditioning technician in Thailand, said the sudden outbreak of fighting meant leaving his work in Bangkok to return home to protect his family. I didn't have the heart to continue with my work when I heard the news. I wanted to come back as soon as possible, but I had to wait until the evening, he said. Now at a shelter in Surin housing some 6,000 evacuees, Pichayut worries for his wife and twin daughters, hoping the conflict will end soon so they can return to their home in Kap Choeng district, one of the hardest hit by shelling. Bualee Chanduang, a local vendor who moved to the same shelter Thursday with her family and pet rabbit, is counting on swift negotiations to end the violence. I pray for God to help so that both sides can agree to talk and end this war, she said. The UN Security Council has called on ASEAN, a regional bloc, to mediate peace between the two members. Human Rights Watch has condemned the reported use of cluster munitions, weapons banned by International law, in populated areas, and urged both governments to protect civilians. The 800-kilometre frontier between Thailand and Cambodia has been disputed for decades, but past confrontations have been limited and brief. The latest tensions erupted in May when a Cambodian soldier was killed in a confrontation that created a diplomatic rift and roiled Thailand's domestic politics.
