The White House has said president Donald Trump “believes” Vladimir Putin is winning the war with Ukraine.The statement follows a Wall Street Journal that Mr Trump told European leaders after a phone call with Mr Putin that the Russian president is not ready to end the war.

The 1998 crisis worsened the situation, as a global recession and falling commodity prices led to fiscal imbalances and doubts about Russia’s ability to service its debt and uphold the fixed exchange rate. The central bank raised interest rates to 150% to try and stabilise the rouble, but this failed.

Vladimir Putin has visited Kursk for the first time since claiming to have completely retaken the Russian region from Ukrainian forces, state media reported on Wednesday, as the Russian president attempts to repel international pressure to agree to a 30-day ceasefire on the other side of the border.

Ukrainian forces made a surprise incursion into Kursk in August 2024, before being pushed out by Russian troops nine months later.

The Russian leader traveled to the region in the west of the country where a surprise incursion last year embarrassed Moscow.

The U.S. president has made concession after concession to Russia's president without requiring any reciprocity, sending a glaring message of weakness.

The President of the United States shared his position on the cessation of hostilities and the prospects for a ceasefire. For my part, I noted that Russia also supports a peaceful settlement of the Ukraine crisis as well.

Despite an invitation from President Volodymyr Zelensky to meet face to face in Istanbul, President Vladimir Putin was a no-show in Turkey, sending instead an aide, Vladimir Medinsky, to head the Russian delegation in peace talks.

Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump discussed what the U.S. leader called "impressive" prospects for ties between their two countries in a phone call on Monday, the Kremlin said, adding that Russia and the United States are working on a new prisoner swap.

Moscow’s proposal for peace talks backfired as Ukraine’s European allies persuaded Zelensky to accept U.S. cease-fire plan.

The Russian dictator is reportedly in a state of panic and is scrambling for defence after Ukraine carried out major strikes on a key military base 220 miles from the Kremlin