Shoigu, who leads the Kremlin's security council, told Tass, "Amid increased conflict behavior and intensified geopolitical rivalry, global risks of a military confrontation between large players, including nuclear powers, are heightening," specifically identifying Western countries as major players.

Zelenskyy made these comments during an interview with Italian journalist Cecilia Sala for the newspaper Il Foglio. “I'm still very curious about what [Russian dictator Vladimir] Putin and [former U.S.

Russia is waiting for signals from Washington to commence highly anticipated peace negotiations to end the war with Ukraine.

Oil prices fell over 1% on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump urged OPEC to reduce oil prices to pressure Russia amid the ongoing Ukraine war. Brent crude dropped 1.11% to $77.63 a barrel, while U.

"I think from what I hear, Putin would like to see me. We'll meet as soon as we can," Trump said at the White House on Thursday. The Kremlin said that Putin was ready to hold a ca

President Trump is urging Saudi Arabia and OPEC to increase oil output to pressure Russia into ending the war in Ukraine, while also threatening additional sanctions against Russia.

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday warned that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin wanted to "manipulate" Donald Trump, after the Kremlin chief praised the US leader and said he was ready for talks with him.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to hold a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump and Moscow is waiting for word from Washington that it is ready too, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

Oil prices slipped on Monday after U.S. President Trump called on OPEC to reduce prices following the announcement of wide-ranging measures to boost U.S. oil and gas output in his first week in office.

Trump has urged OPEC to lower oil prices, intensifying pressure on the organisation amid global concerns over rising costs.

Opec and its allies including Russia have yet to react to Trump's call, with Opec+ delegates pointing to a plan already in place to start raising oil output from April