The 56-year-old was close to the former defense minister Sergei Shoigu, who now serves as secretary of the Kremlin's security council.

By Ben Aris in Berlin Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy plans to meet US President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on December 28 in what he is billing as a possible breakthrough meeting to end the war in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says that Moscow’s troops are advancing across the battlefield in Ukraine, voicing confidence that the Kremlin’s military goals will be achieved

As the war between Russia and Ukraine persists, Russian President Vladimir Putin said his nation's "troops are advancing," The Associated Press reported.

U.S. intelligence reports continue to warn that Russian President Vladimir Putin has not abandoned his aims of capturing all of Ukraine and reclaiming parts of Europe that belonged to the former Soviet empire.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s annual marathon press conference is perhaps best summarized as a mashup of a municipal board meeting and geopolitical talkfest.

Follow live updates from NBC News as Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at his annual year-end news conference on Ukraine, peace, war and Trump.

Dmitri N. Kozak had worked with President Vladimir V. Putin for three decades before quitting in September. His associates described his break with the Russian leader.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday boasted of Russian military advances in Ukraine and ruled out any compromises with Kyiv ahead of meetings with U.S. officials in Miami this weekend aimed

The Kremlin fueled the rise of Trump’s friend Steve Witkoff with a prisoner release, sidelining career diplomats.

But President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, speaking at an annual news conference, showed little sign of backing down from his goals in the war on Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin has used a new year‑end speech to cast 2026 as a turning point for Russia’s internal “unity” and economic modernisation, tying a patriotic decree to sweeping warnings about the disruptive power of artificial intelligence on jobs and education.