Latest news with #Minsk
Bloomberg
8 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Putin Says Russia to Seek Defense Cuts; How Much Depends on War
President Vladimir Putin said Russia plans to cut defense spending, acknowledging growing strains on the budget even as he insisted that reductions would depend on winning his war in Ukraine. Russia is spending 6.3% of gross domestic product on defense this year and 'that's a lot,' Putin told reporters in Minsk, Belarus, on Friday. 'It's one of the problems, including for the budget, that we have to resolve,' and Russia paid a price in inflation from the increased expenditure, he said.
CNN
12 hours ago
- Politics
- CNN
‘They didn't break me': Belarusian opposition figure speaks out after time in prison
Sergey Tikhanovsky, a Belarusian dissident who was freed after five years in detention and the husband of exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, joins CNN's Jim Sciutto to discuss and share details about his time in prison.
CNN
12 hours ago
- Politics
- CNN
‘They didn't break me': Belarusian opposition figure speaks out after time in prison
Sergey Tikhanovsky, a Belarusian dissident who was freed after five years in detention and the husband of exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, joins CNN's Jim Sciutto to discuss and share details about his time in prison.
Telegraph
16 hours ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Putin: I'm ready to scale back military spending
Vladimir Putin has announced plans to scale back military spending after Kremlin officials warned that Russia is 'on the brink of recession'. The Russian leader said he would reduce defence spending 'next year and the year after, over the next three-year period' at an economic summit of five post-Soviet states in Minsk on Friday. Responding to Nato's plans to raise defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP, Putin said the alliance's members would spend on 'purchases from the USA and on supporting their military-industrial complex'. 'So who is preparing for some kind of aggressive actions? Us or them?' he added. The comments came after Maxim Reshetnikov, the Russian minister of economic development, last week announced that the country is 'on the brink of going into a recession'. Elvira Nabiullina, the Russian Central Bank governor, also warned that the country's wartime economic momentum – driven by massive state defence sector spending – was grinding to a halt. 'We grew for two years at a fairly high pace because free resources were activated,' she said. 'We need to understand that many of those resources have truly been exhausted.' Russia's economy grew by 4.3 per cent in 2024, however, in an effort to kerb rampant inflation, interest rates were held at a staggering 21 per cent since October, before being cut marginally to 20 per cent this month as pressure eased slightly. Inflation has largely been driven by sanctions creating higher import costs. Wage growth has also soared to a 16-year high due to labour shortages caused by syphoning off workers into the defence sectors and the military. Moscow's Higher School of Economics estimated that there was a deficit of 2.6 million employees at the end of 2024. The Kremlin has also offered high wages and generous signing-on bonuses to soldiers in an effort to fill the ranks on the front line. Although the military-industrial complex has benefitted from increased state spending, private-sector industries have been impacted by lower demand, rising costs and large debt exposure due to sky-high interest rates. Russian banking officials have privately warned of a risk of a crisis over the coming year due to a growing number of businesses unable to make loan payments, Bloomberg News reported. Future costs could include that of reintegrating veterans of the war in Ukraine. Of the almost 140,000 Russian soldiers who have returned to civilian life, half reportedly remain unemployed. Putin, however, brushed off claims that the Russian economy was faltering at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum last week. He said: 'As far as the 'murder' of the Russian economy is concerned, as a famous writer once said – 'rumours of my death are greatly exaggerated'.'
Russia Today
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
Putin speaks of ‘great respect' for Trump
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he has 'great respect' for US President Donald Trump and praised his counterpart's efforts to resolve the Ukraine conflict. Speaking to reporters in Minsk on Friday after a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, Putin described Trump as 'a courageous man,' who had overcome serious challenges to return to the White House, including surviving multiple assassination attempts. 'I have great respect for the current US president. He went through a very difficult, complicated, and even dangerous path to return to power and to the White House – we all know that well… He's a courageous man – that's clear,' Putin said. He also commended Trump's diplomacy in the Middle East, as well as his efforts to resolve the Ukraine crisis. 'We, of course, value all of that… I believe President Trump is sincerely striving to resolve' the conflict. He expressed appreciation for Trump's domestic and foreign policy initiatives, particularly highlighting his steps in the Middle East and 'sincere commitment' to resolving the Ukrainian conflict. Putin said Trump's recent admission that dealing with the situation was tougher than he had expected came as no surprise. 'It's one thing to observe from the sidelines and quite another to dive into the problem.' Asked whether it was time for a face-to-face meeting, Putin said, 'I am always open to contact, to meetings… and we would be happy to work on making that happen.' He observed that Trump had also expressed interest, while noting that both leaders believed such meetings should be properly prepared and lead to tangible progress in cooperation. 'Thanks to President Trump, relations between Russia and the US are beginning to level out, at least to some extent. Not everything has been resolved in terms of diplomatic relations, but the first steps have been taken, and we are moving forward,' he added. Since returning to office in January, Trump has worked to rebuild ties with Moscow, which were largely severed under his predecessor, Joe Biden. Trump and Putin have had multiple phone conversations concerning the Ukraine conflict and broader bilateral issues. The diplomatic push helped reboot direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, which Kiev had abandoned back in 2022, reportedly at the behest of its Western backers. The latest round in Istanbul earlier this month resulted in the largest prisoner exchange to date, as well as a pledge to continue dialogue. Trump said this week that he would like to see an agreement with Russia that ends the hostilities. Moscow has consistently reaffirmed its commitment to achieving a diplomatic resolution. Putin has said that Russia is ready to work with Kiev on drafting the document and emphasized that 'eliminating the root causes' of the conflict 'is what matters most to us.'
