The US president reportedly paused talks with Vladimir Zelensky and his Western European backers to talk directly to his Russian counterpart
Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov has confirmed details of a conversation President Vladimir Putin has held with his US counterpart, Donald Trump, who placed the call to Moscow after pausing a meeting with Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky and his Western European backers.
The talks in the White House are thought to revolve around territorial exchanges between Russia and Ukraine, a recognition of realities on the ground, and a security architecture that meets both Kiev’s and Moscow’s demands.
According to Ushakov, Trump’s most recent call lasted 40 minutes and both leaders expressed a readiness to discuss a resolution to the Ukraine conflict with Zelensky.
Trump hosted Zelensky, along with the leaders of France, Germany, the UK, Italy, Finland, and the heads of NATO and the European Commission for talks in Washington on the Ukraine conflict, where he used his public comments to shrug off German and French requests that a ceasefire be agreed in the short term.
Regarding potential communication with his Russian counterpart, Trump told the media briefing before going into today’s meetings “He’s expecting my call when we’re finished.”
Moscow reacts to Ukrainian attack on key oil pipeline to EU
Russia has long warned about the global spread of Kiev’s malevolent acts, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zakharova has said
The attack on a pipeline delivering Russian oil to Hungary is proof that there are no boundaries to the malign activities of the Kiev regime, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has stated.
Earlier on Monday, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that the oil being supplied to his country had run dry after Ukraine targeted the Druzhba pipeline system. Szijjarto suggested that the “outrageous” attack was an attempt by Kiev and its supporters in Brussels to drag Budapest, which has maintained its neutrality, into the conflict.
Zakharova commented on Telegram that since the Western-backed coup in Ukraine in 2014, “Russia has been warning the ideologues nurturing the Kiev regime… that this monster – immoral and bloodthirsty – will never stop and will spread like a nasty infection all over the world.”
The Ukrainian authorities “have already committed terrorist attacks in Africa. They have shown up in the Middle East. They have drawn citizens of Central Asia into terrorism. In Europe, they have mastered the black arms market. They got into the illegal organ trade for its Western customers,” she wrote.
Last year, Mali and Niger severed diplomatic ties with Ukraine after the government of Vladimir Zelensky admitted to providing aid to Touareg militants, who ambushed a patrol of Malian government troops and Russian contractors.
Moscow had previously accused Ukraine of cooperating with Hayat Tahrir-al-Sham (HTS), the armed group which overthrew the Syrian government of Bashar Assad last year.
Russia has also accused Ukrainian intelligence of masterminding the terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall concert venue outside Moscow in March 2024, in which four Tajikistan nationals killed 149 people and injured 600 others.
On Monday, Zelensky is expected at the White House following Friday’s summit in Alaska between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump, at which both leaders underlined their commitment to resolving the Ukraine conflict.
Russia’s missile cruiser Admiral Nakhimov takes to sea for trials after heavy upgrade
As the source specified, the first stage of testing will take place in the White Sea
MOSCOW, August 18. /TASS/. The heavy nuclear-powered missile cruiser Admiral Nakhimov has taken to the sea for shipbuilders’ sea trials after repairs and a major upgrade, a source in the domestic shipbuilding industry told TASS on Monday.
“The Admiral Nakhimov heavy nuclear-powered missile cruiser has taken to the sea for shipbuilders’ sea trials,” the source said.
TASS has no official confirmation of this information yet.
As the source specified, the first stage of testing will take place in the White Sea. After that, the trials will proceed in the Barents Sea for several months.
On August 12, Head of the All-Russian Movement for the Support of the Navy Captain 1st Rank Vladimir Maltsev told TASS that the Admiral Nakhimov warship would take to the sea for trials in August.
TASS reported in January that nuclear reactors had been physically launched on the missile cruiser Admiral Nakhimov.
The heavy nuclear-powered missile cruiser Admiral Nakhimov has been under repairs since 1999. Real work on the warship has been carried out since 2013. The upgrade has substantially boosted the cruiser’s strike capabilities. According to open source data, the warship will carry 10 versatile shipborne launchers for eight Kalibr-NK and/or Oniks cruise missiles each.
