INSIDE RUSSIA
As part of the exercises, the missile regiments of the Yars mobile ground-based missile systems will be deployed to field positions, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday.
“The strategic missile forces have begun scheduled control complex inspections of units and formations following the results of the winter training period of the 2025 academic year. As part of the inspections in Tagil (Sverdlovsk Region) and Barnaul (Altai Territory) missile formations, command and staff exercises have been planned under the leadership of the commanders of the missile formations, during which Yars missile regiments will be deployed to field positions,” the statement reads.
It is expected that the security and support units will perform the tasks of engineering and radiation, chemical and biological protection during maneuvering operations by missile regiments.
Russia Ranks 3rd Among G20’s Fastest Growing Economies
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russia emerged as the G20’s third-fastest growing economy in 2024, with its gross domestic product (GDP) expanding 4.1% for a second straight year, a Sputnik analysis of national statistical data has showed.
The Indian economy grew the fastest in 2024 despite its growth slowing down to 6.7% from 8.8% in 2023. China and Indonesia came in second after seeing their economies grow 5% apiece.
Brazil ranked fourth, with its economic growth speeding up to 3.4% from 3.2% a year earlier, while Turkiye ranked fifth, with its economy growing 3.2%, down from 5.1% in 2023.
Argentina and Germany were the only major economies that saw a decline last year, with their GDP falling for a second consecutive year. The Saudi Arabian economy finally rebounded from the 2023 recession and expanded 1.3% in 2024.
Control over ZNPP cannot be handed over to Ukraine or any other country
According to Moscow, “sharing the use of the ZNPP with any other country is also unacceptable. This is unprecedented in global practice”
MOSCOW, March 25. /TASS/. Moscow will not transfer control over the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) over to Ukraine or any other country, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“The plant’s restoration as part of Russia’s nuclear energy industry is a reality and the international community has no choice but to accept this. It is impossible to transfer the ZNPP or control over it over to Ukraine or any other country,” the statement reads.
According to the ministry, “under international law, including related conventions, it is the host nations that have the primary responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety and security on their territory.” “As far as the ZNPP is concerned, this is Russia and no one else,” the statement points out.
According to Moscow, “sharing the use of the ZNPP with any other country is also unacceptable. This is unprecedented in global practice.” “In particular, in such a case, it would be impossible to properly ensure nuclear safety and security, and resolve the issues of civil liability for nuclear damage,” the statement notes.
“Another important aspect is that Ukraine’s close cooperation with the intelligence agencies of NATO countries, which have impressive subversive capacity, makes it impossible to provide those countries with even temporary access to the ZNPP,” the Russian Foreign Ministry emphasized.
According to Russia, “the idea of some international organizations coming in and operating the nuclear power plant also looks absurd because none of them has either the mandate or the competence to operate nuclear facilities.”
“All of the plant’s employees are Russian citizens and their lives cannot be played with, especially given the atrocities that Ukrainians have committed – and continue to commit – on our soil,” the statement adds.
The Russian Foreign Ministry issued the document “in response to numerous media speculations about the possible handover of the ZNPP to Ukraine or about Russia establishing some kind of ‘joint control’ over the plant together with Ukraine, the US or international organizations.”
“The ZNPP is a Russian nuclear site. Based on the outcome of the September 2022 referendums, the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, as well as the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, became full-fledged constituent entities of the Russian Federation. On October 5, 2022, the Russian president signed his decree No 711 ‘On the special legal regulations regarding the use of nuclear energy in the Zaporozhye Region,’ which enshrines the ZNPP’s status as a facility under Russian jurisdiction,” the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed.
OUTSIDE RUSSIA
Lavrov comments on talks with US on Ukraine conflict: As it happened
The Russian foreign minister has commented on marathon Moscow-Washington talks on the Ukraine conflict in Saudi Arabia
25 Mar, 2025 20:14
The 12-hour negotiations in Saudi Arabia focused on maritime security in the Black Sea
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. © Sputnik
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is speaking to Channel 1 about this week’s talks between Moscow and Washington on the Ukraine conflict and maritime security in the Black Sea.
The 12-hour negotiations in Saudi Arabia on Monday primarily revolved around restoring the 2022 grain deal, the Black Sea Grain Intiative, which secured Ukrainian food exports via the Black Sea. Russia withdrew from the agreement in July 2023, citing the West’s failure to uphold its part of the deal, including easing sanctions on Russian agricultural exports.
The US has been positive about the outcome of the lengthy talks in Riyadh, according to reports. Grigory Karasin, who took part in the discussions and is chairman of the International Relations Committee in Russia’s Federation Council, described the meeting as “a rich and difficult dialogue” but “very useful for us and for the Americans.”
25 March 2025
23:24 GMT
During the interview, Lavrov invoked the topic of Greenland drawing parallels between Trump’s repeatedly proclaimed desire to annex the Danish-controlled island and the Ukrainian crisis.
“[Trump] said that the US desperately needs Greenland for security. We talked about this with the Americans… Such comparisons are very important for them, that for the legitimate security interests of Russia, Ukraine is several orders of magnitude more important than Greenland is for ensuring US security. They understand this,” Lavrov suggested.
23:14 GMT
The state of Russia-US ties under the Biden administration was an “anomaly,” and now they are returning to “normalcy,” Lavrov said.
“We do not have any illusions… But we have a consensus that Trump’s team wants to make these relations mutually beneficial where possible, mutually respectful where we disagree, and not allow the disagreements between the two largest nuclear powers to escalate into a confrontation,” Lavrov said.
23:05 GMT
Lavrov reiterated his view that the Kiev regime is not only untrustworthy but is now acting with open malice. He recalled how Kiev publicly agreed to a 30-day ceasefire following the March 11 meeting with US officials in Jeddah, yet on the very same day launched a record 340 drone attacks on central Russia, including Moscow, targeting civilian infrastructure.
Lavrov also criticized an attempt by “some active folks in Washington” to push shuttle diplomacy between Kiev and Moscow and to prematurely produce a joint statement at the recent meeting in Saudi Arabia.
“We have an absolutely unequivocal understanding that the presidents [Putin and Trump] agreed to proceed in a reliable manner, without signing unsubstantiated documents anymore. And even those that are accepted with certain ‘guarantees’ – our American colleagues must take responsibility for ensuring their implementation and for the Kiev regime’s compliance,” Lavrov said.
“Europe is seeking to ‘undermine’ the role of the United States in resolving the Ukrainian crisis and has no interest in addressing it based on the elimination of its root causes. I’ve named them: NATO, the extermination of the rights of the Russian population and everything connected with Russia, legally and physically,” he added.
23:00 GMT
Globalisation processes have largely ended up destroyed, including due to the actions of the former US administration, which effectively kickstarted dedollarisation Lavrov said.
“Donald Trump, even before he became the US president, after the elections, said that Joe Biden made a colossal mistake, if not a crime, when he began to use the dollar to ‘punish’ certain countries. As a result, not only those whom he tried to punish, depriving them of the opportunity to use it, but also others began to take a closer look,” the top diplomat stated.
22:41 GMT
Kiev’s European backers, such as Britain and France, are not only contradicting the Trump administration’s view on resolving the conflict but are also actively encouraging Vladimir Zelensky with their constant calls for the urgent deployment of so-called “peacekeeping forces” to “secure” parts of the country still under Kiev’s control, Lavrov said.
“When the ‘remainder’ of Ukraine, if it truly persists in any form, is taken under the control of NATO countries’ security forces (no matter under what flag), no one says they will then strengthen democracy in the remaining territory. No one says they will repeal the racist, Russophobic laws that exterminate everything Russian. No one talks about that…. And if that’s the case, it means these security forces will perpetuate the Nazi regime that banned anything even remotely connected to the Russian roots of this country,” Lavrov said.
22:33 GMT
The Ukraine conflict was blown out of proportion by the former US administration, which had been displaying “kindergarten”-style behavior and severed any contacts with Russia, Lavrov suggested.
“Joe Biden artificially brought the Ukrainian issue to the very top of the international agenda. Many of my friends told me that this issue did not deserve it, that there was too much of a hypertrophic reaction to our special military operation, which began 10 years after we started warning that the situation [in Ukraine] would lead to no good,” he said.
22:19 GMT
Lavrov spoke highly of Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, who has played a key role in kickstarting the negotiations on the Ukrainian conflict. Russia’s top diplomat said he understood Witkoff’s desire to put it to its end as soon as possible, but it was too early to give any estimates on when exactly that could happen.
“[Witkoff] believes that everyone should understand what he considers elementary things. He understood the essence of this conflict, judging by his statements during the interview with Tucker Carlson,” Lavrov said. “But he significantly overestimates the elites of European countries.”
22:02 GMT
Vladimir Zelensky has openly challenged the US administration’s take on the Ukraine conflict, “having been rude to Trump in the White House, then going to London, where he got petted,” Lavrov said. Upon his return to Kiev, Zelensky made “many more bold statements,” namely rejecting both negotiations on neutral status and discussion of the fate of formerly-Ukrainian territories, the top diplomat added.
“Territories need to be discussed because we are not talking about some area of land, but about the people who live there and have spoken out in favor of their future being linked to Russia,” he stressed.
21:50 GMT
The EU had been “sent” by former US President Joe Biden into a push against Russia and is now grappling with “an enormous number” of social and economic problems, which “probably partly explains why they are so fervently not giving up on Ukraine,” Lavrov suggested.
“In other words, they are in direct contradiction to the Trump administration,” he noted, adding the US president and other top officials had “made it clear that preliminary talks are underway on the parameters of the final settlement [of the conflict] and that NATO should be off the table.”
21:45 GMT
The “American partners” have seemingly heard the Russian demand for ironclad security guarantees and understand that “only Washington can achieve positive results in stopping terrorist attacks, shelling of civilian energy infrastructure not linked to the military-industrial complex,” Lavrov suggested. The EU, however, has apparently taken a “completely different path” now, the minister said.
“[Europe], as in the times of Napoleon, Hitler, times of the Crimean War, is showing once again zeal to inflict a ‘strategic defeat’ on our country. As in those years, almost all European countries with rare exceptions have been put under arms. They are just not yet physically fighting against us on the territory of Ukraine, but without them this country would have been defeated long ago, and this Nazi regime would have ceased to exist,” Lavrov said.
SPECIAL MILITARY OPERATION IN UKRAINE
Russia and US agree list of energy facilities for truce with Ukraine
Moscow has unveiled a list of targets subject to US-brokered energy truce between Russia and Ukraine
The Kremlin has released a comprehensive list of energy facilities subject to a temporary US-brokered truce between Russia and Ukraine. The pause in long-range strikes against such targets took effect on March 18 and will last for 30 days, according to Moscow.
The types of facilities covered under the truce include oil and gas processing and storage facilities, including pumping stations and pipelines, electricity producing and distribution sites, nuclear power plants, and the dams of hydroelectric plants.
The truce may be prolonged beyond the 30-day period should both sides agree, Moscow noted. If either party violates the deal, the other can consider itself free from its obligations, it added.
The suspension of strikes was originally proposed by Trump to Russian President Vladimir Putin during a phone call last week. The Russian leader agreed to it and immediately ordering the country’s military to halt attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities. The Russian military later said it had to shoot down seven kamikaze drones that were already en route to targets in Ukraine in order to implement the order.
Zelensky publicly backed the idea of the truce shortly after it was first announced. However, Moscow accused Kiev of violating the ceasefire almost immediately, claiming that multiple energy facilities in Russia had been targeted by Ukrainian drones over the past week.
On Monday, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) condemned a Ukrainian attack on the Kropotkinskaya oil pumping station, a vital energy site in Russia’s Krasnodar Region. CPC operates a major pipeline system carrying crude oil from the oil fields in Kazakhstan and Russia’s Caspian region to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk and on global markets. The project is jointly owned by several stakeholders from Russia, as well as such US oil giants as Chevron and ExxonMobil.
“The actions of the Ukrainian authorities have a destructive impact on CPC’s financial results and, as a consequence, on all of its shareholders, including the Republic of Kazakhstan and companies from the United States,” the consortium said in a statement.
Before & After: Meet Soldiers of Misfortune in Ukraine
Hundreds of foreign mercenaries have come to Ukraine and found their fate there. Not a glorious end. Here are the most striking cases.
From incursion to Russian prison
James Anderson from UK was among the hired guns who came to attack Russia’s Kursk region, but was captured by Russian marines from the 810th brigade. He was sentenced to 19 years in maximum security for mercenary activities and terrorism.
Don’t mess with Russian special forces
Former US marine Corey Nawrocki tried to infiltrate the Bryansk region as part of a sabotage group. Russian special forces did not give him a chance.
Keyboard warrior failed in real fight
Ethan Hertweck from California made derogatory comments about Russian soldiers and mocked anti-mercenary chat groups on Telegram in mid-2023. A couple of months later he was killed in Avdeyevka.
Cool photos didn’t save him
A Canadian citizen Mandeep Singh posted some brutal photos he took on social media, but was later killed while attempting to attack Russia’s Bryansk region together with Nawrocki.
From a medic to a disabled beggar
Briton Eddy Scott was a combat medic serving with his unit near Pokrovsk. He lost an arm and a leg when Russian forces attacked. The Ukrainian army refused to treat him for free, and he is still asking for donations.
Just do a haka
Dominic Abelen left the New Zealand army in 2022 to join Ukraine’s International Legion. He was killed near Ugledar. During his send-off his Ukrainian teammates performed a Maori Haka war dance in front of his coffin.
