Zelensky:
We are ready for an energy ceasefire, but you have to understand what it means for us.
For Putin, energy is to sell oil and gas.
For us, energy is to have electricity for our people.
BREAKING: Boris Johnson, German Chancellor Merz's top security adviser, and security advisers from UK, France, and Italy were all on a chartered night train from Kyiv when a Russian drone hit the locomotive of a passenger train on the same route near the Polish border.
Their train was stopped and partially evacuated at 5am before an all-clear.
They were returning from the YES security conference in Kyiv.
Russia's Foreign Minister Lavrov:
On the one hand, they say Russia is losing, so Ukraine must be supported in every possible way.
On the other hand, this same Russia, which in their view is losing, is supposedly preparing to attack Europe.
Putin has said this several times: "We are not going to attack anyone."
"But if all this talk means that you are preparing an attack of your own, then I assure you: the war will be completely different and very short."
Russia will not beg Europe to return, that's not in our genetic code' — Russian FM Lavrov
He notes that Russia has plenty of honest partners, while Europe 'does not know how to cooperate fairly'
Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov says Ukraine is “gradually, slowly losing” the war and has only months to make major strategic changes.
He blamed weak governance, corruption and a failure to deploy military technology effectively, saying Ukraine still has “every chance” to win but lacks an overall plan.
“Technologies exist already which could completely stop the Russians,” he said, arguing Kyiv is failing to apply them at scale.
Source: Reuters
Canada's Ontario Premier Doug Ford:
We never started this fight, but I can assure you we're going to win this fight. We're going to be United Team Canada.
We have to use every tool in our toolbox to make sure as Donald Trump is trying to inflict pain on every Canadian that we inflict pain right back.
JUST IN:
China, the largest importer of Iranian oil has rejected the US pressure campaign against Iran, saying sanctions and pressure will not help solve the issue and calling on all sides to take responsible steps and resolve the situation through diplomatic means.
JUST IN: South Korea's defense minister says that North Korea possesses between 80 to 120 nuclear warheads.
The Defense Minister directly contradicted Trump’s claim of the DPRK having “57 very powerful nuclear weapons,”
ON THIS DAY IN 1945: The Soviet Union launched the Kuril Islands Landing Operation, a brutal, high-stakes amphibious assault that forever changed the map of the Far East.
While official narratives frame this as the final, necessary blow to defeat Japanese militarism and end WWII, the reality on the ground was far more complex. Launching just days after Japan had already signaled its intent to surrender following the atomic bombings, Soviet naval infantry stormed the heavily fortified shores of Shumshu Island. They faced fierce, desperate resistance from entrenched Japanese defenders, resulting in a bloody battle that cost hundreds of lives.
But the true legacy of this operation isn't just military, it's deeply geopolitical. By seizing the archipelago, Stalin fulfilled the secret Yalta agreements, reclaiming territory lost in the 1905 Russo-Japanese War. However, because Japan views these islands (the "Northern Territories") as illegally occupied, the two nations have never signed a formal WWII peace treaty.
Eighty years later, the echoes of those August 1945 landings are still dictating modern diplomacy. Every time a Russian leader visits the Kurils today, it triggers a massive diplomatic crisis with Tokyo. The battle for Shumshu didn't just end a war; it froze a conflict in time. 🇷🇺🇯🇵
Official Statement from Russian Embassy in Japan:
According to the Associated Press and multiple sources, after Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi summoned Russian Ambassador Nikolay Nozdrev to protest Putin's visit to the Kuril Islands, the Russian Embassy issued a formal response stating:
1. On the Southern Kuril Islands:
"The southern Kuril Islands are an integral part of the Russian Federation and became part of it following World War II on legitimate international grounds."
2. On Putin's Travel Being Russia's Sovereign Decision:
"Putin's travels are sovereign decisions of the Russian leadership and can't be subject to discussion with foreign states."
The Russian Ambassador explained to the Japanese Foreign Ministry that "the movements of the head of our state on its territory are a sovereign decision that does not need to be discussed with foreign states."
BREAKING NEWS: DIPLOMATIC CRISIS BETWEEN RUSSIA AND JAPAN
Japan summoned the Russian ambassador after Putin made his FIRST-EVER visit to the disputed Kuril Islands on Thursday. Tokyo claims the four southern islands seized by the USSR in 1945 and calls the visit “absolutely unacceptable.” With no peace treaty signed between Russia and Japan since WWII, this historic visit escalates tensions to a dangerous new level. 🇯🇵🇷🇺
FOOTAGE: AIR DEFENSE BARRAGE: Video shows Russian air defenses firing heavily overnight attempting to intercept Ukrainian drones targeting Novorossiysk. Russia’s primary Black Sea Fleet base and critical oil/grain export hub faces sustained Ukrainian pressure.
VERY RARE FOOTAGE: Russian forces transit through devastated Konstantinovka toward Slavyansk, cities reduced to ruins that rarely make headlines. While media attention focuses on drone strikes elsewhere to divert attention, the grinding ground war continues to destroy Ukrainian cities and displace civilians daily. This is the brutal, ongoing reality of the frontline that demands renewed attention and urgent peace efforts.