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What latest Ukraine talks reveal about Putin’s state of mind

What latest Ukraine talks reveal about Putin's state of mind10 hours agoShareSaveSteve RosenbergBBC Russia editorShareSaveWatch: 'Putin showing no signs of compromise', says BBC's Steve RosenbergWhat does the latest round of diplomacy on Ukraine tell us about Russian President Vladimir Putin's mood and intentions?
For starters, that he's not ready to sign a peace deal. At least, not right now.
And certainly not the deal (or deals) on the table.
“No compromise version has yet been found,” commented Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov after five hours of talks in Moscow involving Putin, US envoy Steve Witkoff, and Donald Trump's adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner.
No compromise is no real surprise, considering the Kremlin leader's uncompromising comments in recent days.
In various statements he has condemned the Ukrainian leadership as a “thieving junta”, accused European leaders of trying to sabotage peace efforts, and insisted that Russia..

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Kremlin signals no breakthrough after Ukraine talks with US

Kremlin signals no breakthrough after Ukraine talks with USJust nowShareSaveMaia DaviesandLaura GozziShareSaveGetty ImagesPresident Putin and his foreign policy aide Yury UshakovFive hours of talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump's senior negotiator appear to have failed to produce a breakthrough on securing a Ukraine peace deal.
A Kremlin spokesman said the Moscow meeting was “constructive”, but parts of the plan remained unacceptable to Russia.
Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner attended the talks after weeks of intensive diplomacy aimed at ending the war. The US team has not commented since leaving Moscow.
Earlier on Tuesday, Putin said changes proposed by Kyiv and Europe to a US-backed draft peace plan were unacceptable, adding if Europe “wants to go to war and starts one, we are ready right now”.
Ukraine and its allies have been lobbying the US to amend its draft peace deal, which the White House has so..

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Vanity Fair’s Olivia Nuzzi trashes scorned ex Ryan Lizza for publishing what she calls harmful ‘revenge porn’

Vanity Fair editor Olivia Nuzzi has trashed her scorned ex-fiancé Ryan Lizza for publishing what she calls harmful “revenge porn.”
The pair of high-profile journalists has recently made headlines as they unraveled their messy personal lives.
Ahead of the publication of Nuzzi’s new book, American Canto, Lizza released a series of Substack posts for his independent publication Telos News, claiming his former partner cheated on him with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford.
In the first part of the series, Lizza detailed a “love letter” Nuzzi, now 32, had supposedly sent to Sanford in March 2020. Nuzzi had covered the 2020 presidential election cycle in which Sanford was a candidate.
“If I swallowed every drop of water from the tower above your house,” Lizza quoted the letter. “I would still thirst for you.”
open image in galleryVanity Fair editor Olivia Nuzzi has trashed her scorned ex-fiancé Ryan Lizza for publishin..

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Ukrainians in war-ravaged Donbas weigh prospects of peace deal

Ukrainians in war-ravaged Donbas weigh prospects of peace deal9 hours agoShareSaveJonathan BealeDefence correspondent, KyivShareSaveWatch: Escaping Ukraine's war-ravaged Donbas region.Trains no longer run to Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region – part of the Donbas claimed in its entirety by Russia's President Vladimir Putin. It's another sign of the steady Russian advance.
Instead, the last station is now on the western side of the Donetsk border. This is where civilians and soldiers wait for a ride towards relative safety – their train to get out of Dodge.
Putin has been sounding more bullish since the leak of US proposals to end the war, widely seen as being in tune with his maximalist demands. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky says territory remains the most difficult issue facing US-led peace talks.
At the last station on the line, soldier Andrii and his girlfriend Polina are parting after an all-too-brief time together. Andrii has to return to the front ..

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Putin says Russia is ready for war if Europe wants it

Leer en EspañolPresident Vladimir Putin has said Russia is ready to fight a war with Europe if it is provoked, as he accused leaders of sabotaging US-led efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
“We are not planning to go to war with Europe, but if Europe wants to and starts, we are ready right now,” he said on Tuesday. “They are on the side of war.”
He said Europe had made demands on a possible peace settlement for Ukraine, which he said Russia found “absolutely unacceptable”.
Putin suggested European powers were hindering President Donald Trump’s efforts to broker a peace deal in order to accuse Russia of not wanting peace.
The Russian leader was speaking at a plenary session of the VTB Russia Calling Investment forum in Moscow, ahead of talks with Mr Trump’s special envoy and son-in-law – Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
Last month, Russia and the US agreed to a 28-point plan – widely condemned by European governments – that would force Ukraine to give up land, cut its army and cease it..

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MAGA conspiracy theorist and Trump influencer Laura Loomer receives credentials and desk at Pentagon after media purge

Far-right influencer and outside Trump adviser Laura Loomer officially has a desk and credential at the Pentagon, after virtually all mainstream news organizations covering the Defense Department handed in their badges in October rather than agree to a new set of rules restricting their coverage to pre-approved information.
“The Washington Post and Dan Lamothe used to occupy this desk inside the Pentagon Press room,” Loomer wrote on X on Monday. “Now it’s mine!”
Reporters from other newly welcomed outlets including RedState and Fearless Media soon were also claiming to be using Lamothe’s old desk, sharing photos of what appeared to be different spaces inside the Pentagon press offices.
The mix-up prompted mockery and corrections from the recently exiled Defense Department press corps.
On X, Lamothe said he actually gave up the desk in March, well before the new crop of reporters came in, and joked that he had now “lost count” of how many alleged desks he had at the military HQ.
open..

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Costco joins growing list of companies suing Trump for refunds if Supreme Court strikes down tariffs

Costco has sued the Trump administration over its flagship tariffs policy, joining a growing list of companies vying in court to ensure they are refunded if the Supreme Court strikes those tariffs down.
In a complaint filed last week before the U.S. Court of International Trade, lawyers for Costco asked the Supreme Court to rule Trump's 'emergency' tariffs illegal and to order the full refund of all such tariffs it has already paid.
Other companies which have brought such lawsuits include the American cosmetics titan Revlon and the Japanese motorbike and motor maker Kawasaki Motors.
Three lower courts have already ruled against President Donald Trump's use of emergency powers to impose tariffs on imports from across the world, and now the Supreme Court is hearing arguments for a final decision.
But if the nation's highest court also rejects the tariffs, lawyers for Costco — the nation's biggest warehouse club retailer and the third biggest retailer in the ..

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Zelensky says Ukraine territory ‘most difficult’ issue, as US envoy prepares to meet Putin

Zelensky says Ukraine territory 'most difficult' issue, as US envoy prepares to meet Putin5 hours agoShareSaveLaura GozziShareSaveEPA/ShutterstockPresident Zelensky has said Kyiv's priorities in peace talks to end the war with Russia are maintaining Ukraine's sovereignty and securing strong security guarantees.
Zelensky said “the territorial issue is the most difficult”, as Russia continues to demand that Ukraine give up areas of the eastern Donbas region that it still holds – which Kyiv maintains it will never do.
He was speaking after meeting French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, where he joined a call with European leaders including those of the UK, Germany, Poland, and Italy.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian and US negotiators finished two days of meetings in Florida as they worked to revise a peace plan viewed as favouring Russia.
The White House struck a positive tone on the talks on Monday, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt saying the administration “feels very ..

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Appeals court disqualifies ex-Trump lawyer Alina Habba as New Jersey prosecutor

Appeals court disqualifies ex-Trump lawyer Alina Habba as New Jersey prosecutor6 hours agoShareSaveGrace Eliza GoodwinShareSaveGetty ImagesAlina Habba, seen here with President Trump in 2024, has been serving as US Attorney for New JerseyA US appeals court has ruled that President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, Alina Habba, has been unlawfully serving as top federal prosecutor for New Jersey – a ruling likely to affect scores of criminal cases in the state.
The president handpicked Habba for the role of US attorney this year, but a district court rejected her nomination, so the Trump administration installed her in a role that allowed her to fill in on an acting basis.
The appellate judges found on Monday that this tactic, which bypassed confirmation by the US Senate, violated the Federal Vacancies Reform Act.
Habba is the second Trump-appointed prosecutor to be disqualified in recent weeks.
“It is apparent that the current administration has been frustrated by some of th..

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Trump frees New York private equity executive who defrauded victims of $1.6B

President Donald Trump has commuted the prison sentence of David Gentile, a private equity executive who was convicted of defrauding thousands of investors in a $1.6 billion scheme.
The former CEO and co-founder of GPB Capital Holdings served less than two weeks of his seven-year sentence when he was released from prison Wednesday, according to The New York Times.
Gentile, 59, and a co-defendant, Jeffry Schneider, were convicted of securities and wire fraud charges in August 2024 and sentenced in May. Schneider, who was sentenced to six years, does not appear to have received clemency from Trump.
In a social media post on Thanksgiving, Trump’s “pardon czar” Alice Marie Johnson said she was “deeply grateful” to see Gentile going home to his young children.
In court filings, prosecutors said that Gentile and Schneider used investor funds to take stakes in companies in the automotive and retail industries. It paid out regular annual distributions to investors from returns on these hold..