All posts tagged: Vladimir Putin

‘Self-destructive’ Putin loses home support as Ukraine war rages on – Press Review

‘Self-destructive’ Putin loses home support as Ukraine war rages on – Press Review

Published by Sam Flores

PRESS REVIEW – Monday, 25 May 2026: First, papers discuss whether Russian President Vladimir Putin has lost support from his backers. Next, a police raid of opposition party headquarters in Turkey is getting considerable coverage. Also, the Enhanced Games do not lead to the many breakthroughs that were expected, with only one new world “record”. Meanwhile, a 99-year-old breaks records in the sky. Finally, actors called Chris and talking animals are more likely to make it in Hollywood than women over the age of 60. The Russian strikes on Ukraine over the weekend are still being discussed in the papers. The Guardian quotes Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky, who called the attacks “deranged” in a social media post. The paper also suggests that Russia’s Putin is “trying to keep up appearances” despite losing the trust of his supporters. Fortune magazine describes an increasingly alarmed Russian elite. The Atlantic says that Putin can no longer hide his catastrophe, and that he has lost control of the narrative.  In Turkey, the Turkish state paper Daily Sabbah reports that police officers evicted the headquarters of the main opposition party, the CHP. Libération also reports that Istanbul’s private Bilgi University was closed on Friday. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has since announced it would reopen. Libération suggests that these …

Trump is doing a Ukraine on Taiwan. And it exposes a startling new level of US weakness

Trump is doing a Ukraine on Taiwan. And it exposes a startling new level of US weakness

Published by Sam Flores

An unreliable ally in the West, Donald Trump is now signalling that the US is happy to abandon its friends in Asia with the suspension of a $14 billion arms sale to Taiwan after his visit to China’s leader Xi Jinping. The US president is taking on his country’s policy of “strategic ambiguity” over the delicate standing of Taiwan, which China claims as its own, by tilting towards Beijing. “Right now we’re doing a pause in order to make sure we have the munitions we need for Epic Fury – which we have plenty,” US Navy secretary Hung Cao said in a Senate hearing on Thursday. “We’re just making sure we have everything, but then the foreign military sales will continue when the administration deems necessary,” he added, referring to the US-Israeli war against Iran, which has absorbed vast stockpiles of American munitions and achieved none of its stated aims. Donald Trump takes part in a welcome ceremony with China’s President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing (AFP/Getty) Trump had …

Lithuania calls for frozen Russian assets to return to Ukraine funding debate – POLITICO

Lithuania calls for frozen Russian assets to return to Ukraine funding debate – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

The EU ultimately opted for a €90 billion interest-free loan for Ukraine for 2026 and 2027, financed through EU borrowing rather than the direct use of frozen Russian sovereign assets, after the asset plan ran into legal concerns from Belgium and political resistance from Hungary amongst other countries. Hungary later lifted its veto on the loan after Viktor Orbán was voted out of office, clearing the way for approval, but the compromise left the frozen-assets question unresolved: EU leaders reserved the right to use the assets for repayment if Russia does not pay reparations. Budrys said the issue had effectively been postponed by the loan deal, but should now return to the political agenda. Asked whether he wanted frozen assets back on the table, he replied: “Yes.” “I’m looking forward to discussing it,” he said. “It’s not closed.” Budrys argued that Ukraine will continue to need major financing even after the current support package runs its course. “Who believes that there will be no need for money for the upcoming years after these two years?” …

Sweden backs Ukraine’s path to NATO, defense minister says – POLITICO

Sweden backs Ukraine’s path to NATO, defense minister says – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

The question of Ukraine’s NATO future remains one of the most sensitive issues inside the alliance. Several allies support keeping the door open to Kyiv, while others fear that moving too quickly could escalate tensions with Russia or import an active war into NATO. Jonson acknowledged that there was no consensus among allies. “I recognize that there are allies that are against it,” he said. “But if you ask me for our position, that is our position.” The Swedish minister sees Ukraine as a future security asset for Europe. He pointed to the scale of Ukraine’s armed forces, its wartime innovation and its defense industrial capacity as reasons to bring the country closer to NATO. “Where else in Europe can we find 110 brigades?” Jonson said. “Where else in Europe can we find the innovation system that Ukraine has provided? Where else can we find the industrial capacity as well?” Jonson also argued that Ukraine’s defense market had become one of Europe’s most efficient, saying Kyiv had deregulated, privatized and opened up competition after Russia’s …

Putin’s moment of truth: End the war or embrace Stalinism

Putin’s moment of truth: End the war or embrace Stalinism

Published by Sam Flores

Suddenly, say those who live there, the mood in Moscow feels very different. Ever since Ukraine’s counter-offensive stalled in August 2023, the Russian capital has exuded confidence. Its residents could either bathe in the patriotic glory of war or ignore it altogether, shutting their eyes to distant suffering while reaping the benefits the conflict brought to Russia’s economy. No longer. From the corridors of power to ordinary Muscovite living rooms, the discourse has changed radically. Bombast and swagger have given way to introspection, fear and, above all, a growing longing for the war that dares not speak its name to end. The reasons are not hard to discern. War no longer feels remote. Last weekend, Moscow and its environs came under one of the most sustained aerial attacks of the conflict, with Ukraine launching hundreds of drones at the capital. The strikes killed three people, damaged residential buildings, shut all four Moscow airports and hit the city’s oil refinery. Credit: Supernova+/Telegram Muscovites listening to drones buzz overhead and air defences firing into the night were …

Russia flexes nuclear muscles as tensions rise with NATO

Russia flexes nuclear muscles as tensions rise with NATO

Published by Sam Flores

NUCLEAR WAR GAMES As part of the drills, Russia test-fired a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia and a Zircon hypersonic missile from a frigate in the Barents Sea, while a submarine launched a liquid-fuelled Sineva ballistic missile, the defence ministry said. Russia displayed a Borei-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, Il-38 anti-submarine aircraft and a MiG-31 armed with a Kinzhal hypersonic missile. Units in Belarus and Russia were issued with nuclear munitions as part of the exercises, Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian General Staff, told Putin. Russian nuclear exercises typically use dummy warheads. One video released by the defence ministry showed a tarp-backed military truck travelling with minimal security. The drills come as Moscow says it is locked in an existential struggle with the West over Ukraine. Throughout the war, Putin has issued reminders of Russia‘s nuclear might as a warning to the West not to go too far in its support of Kyiv. Ukraine and some Western leaders have dismissed such moves as irresponsible sabre–rattling. Source link

How Trump and Putin’s back-to-back visits put Beijing at the centre of great-power diplomacy

How Trump and Putin’s back-to-back visits put Beijing at the centre of great-power diplomacy

Published by Sam Flores

But routine did not mean insignificance, said analysts. For Moscow, the visit reaffirmed access to China’s markets and political support. For Beijing, it reinforced a partnership that helps diversify energy supplies and counterbalance US pressure. The visits showed “whether by coincidence or design” that China has options and can maintain good relations with both Washington and Moscow, said Dylan Loh, an associate professor at Nanyang Technological University’s School of Social Sciences. “They are not mutually exclusive,” he said. G2, TRIANGULAR OR MULTIPOLAR ORDER? Beyond Trump and Putin, a series of leaders – particularly from Europe – have also visited Beijing, creating the optics of multiple countries courting China, Loh added. For Ivanov, the visits reinforced China’s image as a major power whose engagement is sought by rivals, partners and hedging states alike. To Washington, the message was that Beijing has other strategic options; to Moscow, it was that Russia remains central to China’s wider diplomatic architecture, he said. China and Russia also sought to put that message in broader ideological terms. In a joint statement …

Xi and Putin reaffirm unity but gas pipeline deal eludes Moscow again

Xi and Putin reaffirm unity but gas pipeline deal eludes Moscow again

Published by Sam Flores

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and China’s President Xi Jinping tour a photo exhibition on Russia-China ties in Beijing on May 20, 2026. (Photo by Alexander KAZAKOV / POOL / AFP via Getty Images) Alexander Kazakov | Afp | Getty Images Russian President Vladimir Putin left Beijing Wednesday with declarations of enduring friendship with China and a stack of bilateral agreements — but without the energy pipeline breakthrough Moscow was eyeing, signaling the evolving geometry of a partnership that is increasingly tilting in Beijing’s favor. Little progress on gas deal The two leaders failed to reach a breakthrough on the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline that Moscow had flagged would be “discussed in great detail,” as Russia’s gas exports to Europe have substantially shrunk following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Following the summit, Russian Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said Beijing and Moscow had arrived at an understanding on the venture’s key parameters, but “some nuances remain to be ironed out,” with no clear timeframe …

Putin’s trolls are weakening Merz to boost Russia-friendly far right – POLITICO

Putin’s trolls are weakening Merz to boost Russia-friendly far right – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

“In my view, it’s a tactically astute move to bring Gerhard Schröder — who, after all, still enjoys considerable popularity in Germany — back into the picture, as if to say, ‘If you want, we can negotiate,’” said Georg Maier, the SPD interior minister of the eastern state of Thuringia. “It’s basically a lie, because if you actually wanted to negotiate, you wouldn’t need Gerhard Schröder for that. But of course, the impression meant to be created is that the [German] government wants this war and wants to sell weapons, wants to expand NATO’s influence — and this disinformation is working.” The AfD too says it’s ready to talk to Russia given what it portays as Merz’s refusal to do so. This week AfD leader Alice Weidel suggested Ukraine, not Russia, poses a threat to Germany, and said her party was willing to talk peace with Putin. “We consider Ukraine’s conduct of the war to be absolutely disastrous, posing an immense security risk to Germany,” she said in Berlin. “A German government led by the …