⚡️ Comment by the Aide to the President of Russia Yury Ushakov on Vladimir Putin’s meeting with US President’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff (August 7, 2025)

💬 Yury Ushakov: This meeting took place in a business-like atmosphere and was quite constructive. Both Sides can be satisfied with the outcomes of this conversation. The discussion focused on matters dealing with future efforts to work together in the context of resolving the Ukraine crisis.

🇷🇺🇺🇸 Once again, it was noted that Russia-US relations could be placed on a totally different, mutually beneficial footing, which would be in stark contrast with the way these relations have evolved in recent years.

❗️ Regarding the Ukraine agenda, at the proposal of the United States, there was a principled agreement to hold a top-level bilateral meeting in the coming days, which means a meeting between presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.

Together with our American colleagues, we are about to start working on the specific parameters of this meeting and its venue. The venue has also been coordinated, and we will communicate on this point a little later.

As for the option of holding a trilateral meeting, which for some reason became a subject of speculation yesterday in Washington, the US representative simply mentioned it during the meeting at the Kremlin. However, there was no specific discussion on this topic. Russia has not commented on this option in any way. Our suggestion primarily focuses on preparing for a bilateral meeting with Donald Trump.

What matters most is that the meeting proves successful and produces tangible results.

It is already well known that Donald Trump spoke to several of his European partners on the phone to discuss these issues after Steve Witkoff reported back to him. It is worth noting in this regard that we have also been updating our close partners and friends through the relevant communication channels to inform them on the topics discussed during the meeting with Steve Witkoff.

Next week was suggested as a possible timeframe [for holding the meeting], but since the effort to prepare for this important event is only just beginning for both Parties, it is hard to say how long the preparations will take.

That said, the option of holding this meeting sometime next week was on the table, and we hold quite a positive view in this regard.

#RussiaUS

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⚡ Comment by Aide to the President of Russia Yuri Ushakov on the upcoming meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump 🇷🇺🇺🇸

💬 The American Side has just announced that an agreement was reached to hold a meeting between Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Donald Trump of the United States next Friday, August 15, in Alaska.

Russia and the United States are close neighbours, they share borders. So it does make sense if our delegation simply crosses the Bering Strait and if such an important and expected meeting between the two Leaders takes place specifically in Alaska.

Incidentally, it is in Alaska and in the Arctic that the economic interests of our countries converge and prospects for implementing large-scale mutually beneficial projects arise.

However, the Presidents will undoubtedly focus on discussing ways to reach a sustainable settlement to the Ukraine crisis.

Looking ahead, we would naturally expect the next meeting between the Presidents to be held on Russia's territory. An invitation to that effect has already been made to the President of the United States.

In conclusion, I would like to note that in the next few days, Moscow and Washington will of course be working vigorously and hard on the practical and political parameters of the Alaska summit. We expect this process will not be simple, but we will be engaged in it actively and consistently.

⚡️ Russia's Foreign Ministry statement on developments in the Gaza Strip

On August 8, the Israeli security cabinet approved a plan to expand military operations in the Gaza Strip, aiming to seize control of its once most populous central region.

Israel reportedly aims to forcibly evacuate all Palestinian civilians from the area in the near future, leaving not a single civilian behind. The Israeli government has made no secret of its intention to pursue a complete military occupation of Gaza.

Such decisions and actions, which have drawn widespread condemnation and rejection, risk dramatically worsening the already dire situation in the Palestinian enclave, which bears all the signs of a humanitarian catastrophe.

❗️ Further escalation will severely undermine international efforts to de-escalate the conflict, with destabilising consequences for the entire Middle East.

Russia reaffirms its unwavering position: an immediate ceasefire in Gaza is imperative, all hostages and detainees must be released, and unimpeded humanitarian access must be restored.

Moscow remains steadfast in its conviction that the only viable solution lies within the established framework of international law, centred on the two-state principle. This demands the creation of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, living side by side with Israel in peace and security.

#Announcement

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Vladimir Putin laid flowers at the graves of Soviet soldiers at the Fort Richardson Memorial Cemetery

The cemetery is the resting place of Soviet pilots and sailors who delivered equipment under the Lend-Lease programme during the Great Patriotic War.

🎙 Russia's President Vladimir Putin's statement at a joint news conference with US President Donald Trump following talks (Anchorage, August 15)

💬 President Putin: We held our talks in a constructive and mutually respectful atmosphere, and they have proved substantive and productive.

I would like to once again thank my US counterpart for the proposal to come to Alaska. It is quite logical to meet here since our countries, albeit separated by oceans, are, in fact, close neighbours. <...>

As you know, Russian-American summit talks have not been held for over four years. That is a long time. This period has proved exceptionally difficult for bilateral relations, and, let’s face it, they have deteriorated to their lowest point since the Cold War. And this does not benefit either our countries or the world in general.

Obviously, sooner or later we had to remedy the situation, to move from confrontation to dialogue, and in this regard, an in-person meeting between the two heads of state was really overdue – of course, with serious and thorough preparations, and this work has been done.

President Trump and I have established very good direct contacts. We have had frank conversations on the phone multiple times. As you know, the US President’s Special Envoy, Mr Witkoff, has visited us in Russia several times. Our aides and heads of foreign ministries have maintained regular contacts.

As you are well aware, the situation around Ukraine is one of the key issues. We acknowledge the commitment of the US administration and President Trump personally to help resolve the Ukrainian conflict, and the President’s willingness to understand the root causes and its origins.

I have repeatedly said that the developments in Ukraine present fundamental threats to Russia’s national security. Moreover, we have always considered the Ukrainian people – and I have said this many times – a brotherly people, no matter how strange it may sound in today’s circumstances. We share the same roots, and the current situation is tragic and deeply painful to us. Therefore, our country is sincerely interested in ending this.

Yet, we are convinced that, for the conflict resolution in Ukraine to be long-term and lasting, all the root causes of the crisis, which have been repeatedly explained, must be eliminated; all of Russia’s legitimate concerns must be taken into account, and a fair security balance must be restored in Europe and the rest of the world. <...>

Hopefully, the understanding we have reached will bring us closer to this goal and open up the road to peace in Ukraine. <...>

Today, we hear President Trump saying: “If I had been president, there would have been no war.” I believe it would have been so. I confirm this because President Trump and I have established a generally very good, businesslike and trustworthy contact. And I have every reason to believe that, as we move along this path, we can reach – and the sooner the better – the end of the conflict in Ukraine.

Read in full

#RussiaUS

🎙 Russia's President Vladimir Putin's statement at a meeting on the outcomes of the Russia-US talks (Anchorage, August 16)

💬 President Putin: I asked you to attend this meeting to inform you about the outcomes of our delegation’s visit to Alaska, the United States.

I would like to begin by noting that the visit was timely and quite useful. We discussed our interactions in virtually all their aspects with a focus, of course, on achieving a fair resolution of the Ukraine crisis. We certainly had an opportunity to discuss the origins and causes of this crisis, which we did. It is the removal of these root causes that must underlie the settlement.

We did not have direct talks at this level for a long time. Let me reiterate: we were able to present our position in a calm and detailed manner. We definitely respect the US administration’s position which wants the hostilities to stop as soon as possible. So do we, and we would like to move forward with settling all issues by peaceful means.
The conversation was very frank and substantive which, in my view, moves us closer to making necessary decisions.

🎙 Comment by Aide to the President of Russia Yury Ushakov following the telephone conversation between Vladimir Putin and President of the United States Donald Trump (August 19, 2025)

💬 Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with Donald Trump, at the US President’s initiative.

The President of Russia expressed his heartfelt gratitude to his US colleague for the hospitality and perfect arrangements at the Alaska summit, as well as for the progress they were able to achieve towards bringing about a peaceful resolution to the Ukraine crisis.

The President of the United States informed his Russian counterpart about the talks he had just concluded at the White House with Vladimir Zelensky and leaders of several European countries.

Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump then reaffirmed their commitment to continuing direct talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations.

In this connection, among other things, they discussed the prospect of exploring opportunities for drawing higher ranking officials from both Ukraine and Russia into these direct talks.

It is quite telling that Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump agreed to keep in touch with one another on the Ukrainian issue and other urgent international and bilateral matters.

The President of Russia highlighted the importance of Donald Trump’s personal efforts and commitment to finding solutions for a lasting settlement in Ukraine.

The conversation was quite frank and constructive.

🇷🇺🇺🇸 #RussiaUSA

#Announcement

🗓 On August 21, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will hold talks with Minister of External Affairs of the Republic of India Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Moscow.

Russia and India have developed a special privileged strategic partnership based on mutual trust and respect.

🇷🇺🇮🇳 The core spheres of cooperation between our two countries include efforts to step up political dialogue in both bilateral and multilateral frameworks, as well as ensuring that agencies in charge of economic and financial matters, energy, arms manufacturing, science and culture work more closely together.

Russia’s and India’s Foreign Ministers will pay special attention to the current and future avenues for promoting bilateral cooperation. They will also discuss the schedule for future contacts.

The meeting’s agenda will focus on facilitating the emergence of transport, logistics, banking and financial links and chains that would be immune to any adverse pressures from unfriendly countries, while also increasing the use of national currencies in their mutual settlements.

Expanding cooperation in transport, energy, agriculture, science and technology will also be on the meeting’s agenda.

The Ministers will also coordinate their positions on the latest international developments, paying special attention to interactions within the #UN, #BRICS, the #SCO and the #G20.

The substantive exchange of opinions between the two officials will also include topics related to shaping a security architecture with greater justice for all in the Asia-Pacific Region, as well as the situation in Ukraine and Afghanistan, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Moscow and New Delhi view multipolarity as a core factor for maintaining balance of the world order that has taken shape over the past decades.

Russia focuses on building an inclusive political and economic system and promoting a positive agenda while maintaining constructive interstate dialogue.

#RussiaIndia #DruzhbaDosti

🎙 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview with VGTRK (Moscow, August 19, 2025)

Key points:

• It showed without any doubt, that the US Leader and his team are sincere in their commitment to achieving tangible results by bringing about something lasting, durable, and sustainable. This is what sets them apart from the Europeans who, at the time, shouted at every corner that they would not accept anything but a ceasefire, and even after that would go on supplying weapons to Ukraine.

• President of the United States Donald Trump and his team have developed a clear understanding of the fact that this conflict has its causes which means that the claims made by some European presidents and prime ministers about Russia’s "unprovoked" attack on Ukraine are nothing but childish babble.

• Some of these [European] leaders, for example Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz, are still talking about the need to pressure Russia with sanctions. Not a single one of these gentlemen mentioned the term human rights. <...> But if you look back from where we are today and remember what they have been saying about Ukraine for all these years, you will not find any references to human rights.

• From the standpoint of language and religion, the UN Charter is being flagrantly violated in Ukraine. It is important to recall that Zelensky declared in Washington that, while he was prepared to engage in negotiations, he would not entertain any discussions about territorial concessions, as these are prohibited by the Constitution.

• When these [European] delegates in Washington insisted that efforts must commence with formulating security guarantees for Ukraine – and simultaneously for Europe – not once did they mention Russia’s security.

• Without respect for Russia’s security interests, without full recognition of the rights of ethnic Russians and Russian speakers in Ukraine, no lasting agreements are possible – for these are precisely the issues requiring urgent resolution in the context of the crisis settlement.

• The Alaska Summit demonstrated that the US administration is genuinely committed to a settlement not aimed at once again preparing Ukraine for war (as was the case after the Minsk agreements), but at ensuring this crisis never recurs – guaranteeing the lawful rights of all states in this region and the peoples who live there.

• We did not discuss the sanctions. Many of our experts, politicians and officials have repeatedly stated that lifting the sanctions may have adverse effects. That would create illusions for some economic sectors that now we can finally overcome the problems by returning to the strategies developed and implemented in the 1990s and the early 2000s.

• We are not rejecting any forms of work, either bilateral or trilateral. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said it multiple times. It is important that any formats, 1+1, 1+2, or multilateral ones, which exist in abundance, including within the UN, are not exploited for the purpose of media coverage, in morning newspapers or in evening news, or on social media, to skim the propaganda cream off the top. These formats are designed for step-by-step, consistent preparations for summits, from the expert level and up. We will always support this sort of serious approach. Any contacts involving top officials must be prepared extremely carefully.

Read in full

🎙 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s opening remarks during talks with India’s Minister of External Affairs Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar (Moscow, August 21, 2025)

💬 Mr Minister,

Colleagues,

We are delighted to welcome you to Moscow for the next round of talks between our foreign ministries.

I know that yesterday, you and First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov co-chaired a successful meeting of the intergovernmental commission on trade, economic, scientific, technical, and cultural cooperation, which drew significant interest.

Today, we will focus on political and international issues. As our Leaders have agreed, we regard each other as especially privileged strategic partners – a definition our relations fully meet in practical terms.

In the current climate, our interaction on the international stage becomes especially relevant as a new, truly multipolar architecture is being forged. In this new reality, associations like the #SCO, #BRICS, and the #G20 are playing an increasingly important role.

Within this multipolar framework, the UN maintains its significance as a vital platform. It is where all current and future centres of power can interact, reach compromises and agreements that are both sustainable and rooted in a balance of interests.

Russia is always ready for this work.

🇷🇺🇮🇳 #RussiaIndia #DruzhbaDosti

#НовыеНазначения

🇷🇺🇸🇬 Указом Президента Российской Федерации от 15 июля 2025 года № 477 Ганжа Сергей Павлович назначен Чрезвычайным и Полномочным Послом Российской Федерации в Республике Сингапур.

На дипломатической службе — с 1982 года. Работал на различных должностях в центральном аппарате Министерства и за рубежом.

• В 2005–2013 годах — Генеральный консул Российской Федерации в Гамбурге, ФРГ.

• В 2013–2014 годах — заместитель директора Департамента безопасности.

• В 2014–2023 годах — Генеральный консул Российской Федерации в Мюнхене, ФРГ.

• В 2023–2025 годах — заместитель директора Департамента специальной связи.

🇷🇺🇸🇬 By the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated July 15, 2025, No. 477, Mr Sergey Pavlovich Ganzha was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Singapore.

He has been serving in the diplomatic service since 1982.

• From 2005 to 2013 – Consul General of the Russian Federation in Hamburg, Germany.

• From 2013 to 2014 – Deputy Director of the Security Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

• From 2014 to 2023 – Consul General of the Russian Federation in Munich, Germany.

• From 2023 to 2025 – Deputy Director of the Special Communications Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.