The Latest Breaking News from Vladimir Putin

The £2.5 billion proceeds from the sale of Chelsea FC has been frozen in a UK bank account since 2022.

In today’s newsletter: The problems and proposed solutions of a major new strategic defence review pitched as a blueprint to modernise the military

Delegations from Ukraine and Russia met for a second time in Istanbul in a month on June 2, 2025. Missing, again, were the country’s two leaders.

The second round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine lasted just over an hour

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned regional allies Monday that a NATO target to boost defence spending by 2032 would come "too late", as countries arm in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. She was speaking at a summit in Vilnius, attended by Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky.

Greenpeace activists on Monday afternoon stole a wax figure of French President Emmanuel Macron from the Grévin wax museum in Paris museum and placed it in front of the Russian embassy as part of a pro-Ukraine protest.

COMMENT: In the face of Russian aggression, Keir Starmer says he must ready the country for war by increasing military spending and building a platoon of nuclear submarines – but, as Mark Almond cautions, perhaps the only thing the Ministry of Defence can be guaranteed to produce on time are…

Ukraine and Russia concluded the second round of talks in Istanbul. The sides agreed on a new POW exchange of under 25 years old and severely ill soldiers. Kyiv says it handed over to Moscow the list of Ukrainian children illegally deported by Russia.

Microsoft’s Russian subsidiary is reportedly filing for bankruptcy just days after President Putin called for Western tech to be “throttled” and “choked.”