SSK 🔥 The Same Day He Quietly Met Team Trump, Putin Dropped a Chilling Message to Europe — “We’re Ready”
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Vladimir Putin is risking a fresh row with Donald Trump at a crucial time in diplomacy after saying Russia is ready to provide “uninterrupted shipments” of fuel to India.
His provocative comments came during a visit to Delhi, where he signed cooperation agreements with prime minister Narendra Modi on Friday.
A joint statement from the two leaders after the meeting said their ties were “resilient to external pressure”.
Modi is positioning India closer to Russia despite growing pressure from Trump to stop buying Moscow’s oil.
The US hit India with a 25 per cent tariff over purchases of Russian energy as it tries to put pressure on Moscow to end its war in Ukraine.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov nonetheless assured on Friday that Russia and the United States were making progress in peace talks, adding that Moscow was ready to continue working with the current US team.
Key Points
- Trump may betray Ukraine, warns Macron in leaked call with European leaders
- Drones were spotted near Zelensky flight path to Dublin
- Putin in Delhi, to hold summit talks with India’s Modi
- Putin doubles down on threat to take Donbas by force
EU leaders insist they will decide on future of frozen Russian assets not US, according to reports
European leaders have reasserted their right to determine the future of frozen Russian assets after US representatives reportedly lobbied to block the plans, according to the Kyiv Independent.
A transcript of a call reportedly between Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, German chancellor Friedrich Merz, French president Emmanuel Macron, and European Commission leader Ursula von der Leyen, saw the leaders say that plans to repurpose the assets as reparations for Ukraine would go ahead.
Macron is said to have commented: “Anything on frozen assets should be at our hands.”
Maira Butt5 December 2025 16:00
Maira Butt5 December 2025 15:30
Zelensky’s plane ‘followed by military drones’ before Dublin visit in ‘hybrid attack’
James C Reynolds reports:
Volodymyr Zelensky’s plane was followed by four military-style drones before it landed at Dublin airport on Monday, according to a report.
Sources told The Journal that the drones took off from a location in the northeast of the Irish capital and flew towards the flight path of the Ukrainian president in breach of a no-fly zone.
Gardaí are investigating the incident but have not yet been able to confirm where the drones came from or who may have been controlling them.
They are trying to establish whether the drones took off from land or an undetected ship, slipping past radars.
Maira Butt5 December 2025 14:54
Taoiseach brushes off criticism of Zelensky’s visit
The Taoiseach told the Russian ambassador to “stop this war”, after the diplomat criticised the official visit of the Ukrainian president to Ireland.
Volodymyr Zelensky gave a historic address earlier this week to a joint sitting of the Oireachtas and also met with Government figures and President Catherine Connolly.
Russian ambassador to Ireland Yuriy Filatov said on Friday that it was “hard to make sense of the visit” beyond it representing “the ever-present desire of the Irish government to show loyalty to the EU anti-Russian policy line on Ukraine”.
James Reynolds5 December 2025 14:21
Sweden to cut global aid ‘to increase support for Ukraine’
Sweden will phase out development aid to five countries in coming years and use the money to increase support for Ukraine, the government said on Friday.
The Nordic country plans to phase out aid to Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Mozambique, Liberia and Bolivia, Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Benjamin Dousa said.
Sweden has already cut aid to more than 10 countries since the current government took power in 2022, including Burkina Faso and Mali.
James Reynolds5 December 2025 13:50
ICYMI: Vladimir Putin ordered Skripal novichok poisonings in show of ‘Russian power’, inquiry finds
The inquiry laid the blame for the attack on the Russian president, saying he was “morally responsible” for the death of Dawn Sturgess, an innocent bystander who died after being exposed to the chemical weapon after it was left in a discarded perfume bottle in Amesbury, Wiltshire, in July 2018.
Read the full story:
James Reynolds5 December 2025 12:45
James Reynolds5 December 2025 12:15
Vladimir Putin is risking a fresh row with Donald Trump at a crucial time in diplomacy after saying Russia is ready to provide “uninterrupted shipments” of fuel to India.
A joint statement from the two leaders after the meeting said their ties were “resilient to external pressure”.
After the talks, Putin and Modi announced that India and Russia have finalised an economic cooperation program until 2030, which will help diversify mutual businesses to boost annual trade to $100 billion by 2030.
They also emphasised strong energy ties.
Energy has been in focus for Donald Trump, who has warned India and other countries not to buy Moscow’s oil to better pressure Russia into ending the war in Ukraine.
James Reynolds5 December 2025 11:45
Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia was “ready to continue uninterrupted fuel shipments” to India despite Trump’s insistence against buying Moscow’s oil.
On energy, Putin also spoke of a “flagship” nuclear plant being built in India that he said Russia would help with.
James Reynolds5 December 2025 11:31
US to pass defence responsibilities onto Europe by 2027, sources say
The United States wants Europe to take over the majority of NATO’s conventional defence capabilities, from intelligence to missiles, by 2027, Pentagon officials told diplomats in Washington this week.
The message, recounted by five sources familiar with the discussion, including a US official, was conveyed this week in a meeting of Pentagon staff overseeing NATO policy and several European delegations.
In the meeting, Pentagon officials indicated that Washington was not yet satisfied with the strides Europe has made to boost its defence capabilities since Russia’s expanded invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The US officials told their counterparts that if Europe does not meet the 2027 deadline, the US may stop participating in some NATO defence coordination mechanisms, said the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss private conversations.
Some officials on Capitol Hill are aware of and concerned about the Pentagon’s message to the Europeans, one US official said.
James Reynolds5 December 2025 11:15
