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Putin’s Minister Sends Blunt Message To Trump Over US-Russia Relations

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Vladimir Putin’s minister has called for Donald Trump’s administration to make the first move to improve relations between their countries.

It comes as the US president looks to end the bloody Ukraine war which started in February 2022, when the Russian president invaded in a land grab.

Trump and Putin are yet to directly discuss how to resolve the conflict, though both have signalled that they are willing.

That is a significant development considering the US-Russia relationship completely fractured over the Ukraine war.

Even so, deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov wrote on the Foreign Ministry website that the US “must take the first step” to fix the relationship.

According to Reuters news agency, he said the Kremlin has tried to be a partner with the west, but “no one was listening or, in theory, wanted to listen.”

He added: “And that is because the underlying aim was to weaken the geopolitical rival to the maximum.”

He said Moscow has regained “its lawful place in world geopolitics by frustrating the plans of Joe Biden’s administration”, alleging the last White House wanted to push a “strategic defeat” on Russia in a “hybrid war” via its support for Ukraine.

Ryabkov continued: “Against the background of this failed policy and with the change of administration, it is the United States that must take the first step in normalising relations on the basis of mutual respect and equal rights.”

Despite this warning, he said Russia is “open to dialogue and ready to reach agreement through hard bargaining while taking account of realities on the ground … So it is up to D Trump and his team to make a decision.”

Putin has heaped praise on Trump since his return to office, describing him as “a clever and pragmatic man”.

The US president has expressed his sympathy over Russia’s frustration the idea that Ukraine could one day join Nato, and once described Putin’s invasion as “savvy” and “genius”.

But Trump has also adopted a harsher tone in recent weeks, saying he thinks Putin is “destroying Russia by not making a deal” and threatened to put more sanctions on the country if it did not stop the “ridiculous war”.

Although Trump officially returned to the office on January 21, only preliminary contact has been established between the US and Russia so far, according to Russia’s ambassador to Britain Andrei Kelin.

Asked if Trump was seen as a friend of Russia by ITV News, the ambassador said: “No.”

“That is clearly no, because what we have heard about peace through force, about [the] necessity to impose more sanctions on Russia,” he said, adding: “We are hearing different things and a lot of speculation all around so it is too early to say what will be the outcome of that.”

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Elon Musk Has A ‘Special’ New Job Title

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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the tech billionaire’s official title to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Monday.

“A special government employee is anyone who works, or is expected to work, for the government for 130 days or less in a 365-day period.”

“Special government employees are subject to most rules, although sometimes in a less restrictive way.”

Musk is “not a volunteer but also not a full-time federal employee,” CNN explained his position on Monday.

The richest person in the world spent more than $290 million backing President Donald Trump and Republicans in the 2024 elections. He is now running the non-official Department of Government Efficiency, which is looking to significantly slash public spending.

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Marjorie Taylor Greene’s ‘Disturbing’ Post About Reporter’s Foreign Accent Is Slammed

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Conspiracy theory-peddling Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (Republican, Georgia) drew criticism this weekend for a social media post about the foreign accent of a journalist ― who asked a question during a White House press briefing ― and her subsequent suggestion to “throw out all the foreign press.”

“How about that accent from that reporter? I think we need to throw out all the foreign press! American media first!”

Dridi shared Greene’s post on social media and noted: “Marjorie Taylor Greene thinks I should be thrown out of the press room because of my accent.”

While some commenters lapped up Greene’s comment, critics expressed solidarity with Dridi and accused the Georgia congresswoman of using divisive language.

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Trump Has Some Surprising Words Of Praise For Starmer Despite Musk Row

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Donald Trump has offered some surprising praise up to Keir Starmer despite not calling the UK PM during his first five days back in office.

The US president, who was inaugurated on Monday, is yet to follow tradition and speak to the UK prime minister since his second term.

But Trump seemed to defy concerns that he might be holding a grudge against the Labour leader when speaking to the BBC on board Air Force One on Saturday.

“I get along with him well. I like him a lot,” the president said.

“He’s liberal, which is a bit different from me, but I think he’s a very good person and I think he’s done a very good job thus far.

“He’s represented his country in terms of philosophy.

“I may not agree with his philosophy, but I have a very good relationship with him.”

And when asked where he might go for his first international trip since returning to the White House, Trump said: “It could be Saudi Arabia, it could be UK. Traditionally it could be UK.

“Last time I went to Saudi Arabia because they agreed to buy $450 billion of American United States merchandise.”

Trump also promised he would be talking to Starmer “over the next 24 hours”.

He has met the UK leader on multiple occasions, including when the Labour leader flew to Trump Tower in New York before the presidential election.

However, the delicate friendship they struck up at the time was quickly overshadowed by tech billionaire Elon Musk.

Now Trump’s informal adviser, Musk has initiated a war of words against Starmer ever since the PM was elected, calling the Labour leader “evil” and questioning his record as the director of public prosecutions over grooming gangs.

Even so, foreign secretary David Lammy said Starmer would be going to visit Trump in the US “within the next few weeks” last Sunday.

There are fears they could clash, as Trump wants to impose tariffs – which could weigh down an already embattled UK economy – and reduce the amount of military aid the US sends to the UK.

Labour’s plan to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius is expected to cause further friction, because there is a UK-US military base on the archipelago, and Starmer’s pick for Washington ambassador – Peter Mandelson – has raised some eyebrows among Trump’s inner circle.

There’s also the Labour cabinet’s own very public criticisms of Trump over the years when they were in opposition which ministers have been trying to overlook.

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Trump Wants Canada As ’51st State,’ But Canadians Say No Thanks

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Donald Trump once again suggested Canada give up being a sovereign nation and become America’s 51st state, and, once again, Canadians are saying no thanks — or in some cases, “eff off, eh.”

Although Canadian politicians have repeatedly called Trump’s suggestion “a joke,” the president insisted on Friday that Canadians would actually love to be part of the US because, he claims, the taxes would be lower.

He added that Canadians “wouldn’t have to worry about military, you wouldn’t have to worry about many of the things, you’d have better health coverage, you would have much better health coverage.”

You can watch Trump make his case to Canada below.

But based on the social media reactions, it doesn’t appear as if Trump is winning the hearts and minds of Canadian citizens.

Many people especially laughed at the notion that Canadians would want to give up socialised medicine for the US model of health care.

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Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Verbal Spin On Donald Trump Leaves Critics Dizzy

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Conspiracy theory-peddling Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (Republican, Georgia) on Wednesday raised eyebrows with her attempted spin on Donald Trump’s reported walking back of one of his campaign vows.

The president-elect had promised to immediately “fix” and settle the Russia-Ukraine war (which Russia began with its invasion in February 2022) on his return to the White House.

“I would fix that within 24 hours, and if I win, before I get into the office, I will have that war settled,” Trump at one point even boasted to Fox News’ Sean Hannity.

But, this week, days before Trump’s return to the Oval Office, his advisers admitted it would take months to stop the fighting because the situation was more complex than Trump had talked about on the trail.

Greene defended the walk-back by claiming Trump hadn’t actually promised what he had actually promised.

“I think you need to understand language,” Greene told the non-profit news organisation NOTUS. “And everyone else in America understands that language.”

“I don’t think the media pressing Day One is specifically ‘Day One,’” Greene continued. “But he’s talking about that as one of his first roles as president, and there are many. He’s going to be writing hundreds of executive orders but, yes, ending that war is important.”

Trump will “be the one that ends that war,” she added.

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‘Very Unsatisfied’: Michael Cohen Reacts To Trump Sentencing In Hush Money Trial

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Michael Cohen, an ex-personal attorney and former fixer for Donald Trump who pled guilty and served time in prison for charges tied to a hush money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels, said he feels “very unsatisfied” after the president-elect was sentenced without penalty in a historic New York trial.

Cohen told MSNBC’s The Weekend on Saturday that there should’ve been “accountability” or the case should’ve been dismissed.

“I believe that if there’s no accountability, there’s no deterrence. And if there’s no deterrence, no accountability, what’s the point to have the case anyway? So that we can all just turn around and refer to him now as the felon president?” said Cohen.

Friday’s sentencing arrived after a jury convicted Trump last year of 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection to the payment made in the final days of his 2016 campaign.

The president-elect would took to his Truth Social platform Friday to vow that he’ll “appeal this Hoax” after he was sentenced to an unconditional discharge, or effectively no punishment.

Cohen declared on MSNBC that “nobody in this country” — whether they’re a Republican, Democrat or independent — should take “solace” in the fact that Trump is a convicted felon when he takes office in just over a week.

Cohen, who was disbarred from practicing law in New York State and has been a fierce Trump critic since being sentenced in 2018, said he’s “never heard” of an unconditional discharge in his “entire life” before adding that he couldn’t find a single case with such a sentence when he searched for one on ChatGPT.

He declared that Trump should’ve been sentenced to a “conditional discharge” and suggested that the president-elect be asked to work in a soup kitchen or to pick up garbage on the side of the West Side Highway in New York City.

“I did six years, three years of incarceration and three years of supervised release without a single second, not a second, not a minute, not an hour off of my sentence and he doesn’t even get a slap on the wrist. So I feel unsatisfied,” Cohen said.

Cohen later declared that Trump, who has complained about being the victim of a two-tiered justice system, has “taught us all” that there are people above the law.

“When you hear, ‘We’re a country of laws without justice’ — yeah, that’s an accurate statement. And worse than that is that the law is not applied equally to all citizens,” he said.

“There are three sets of laws — there’s for you and for me and for the average Joe and Jane, there’s for those that are powerful whether it’s politically powerful or financially super powerful and then, of course, there’s Donald Trump. He stands unique and alone.”

He went on to acknowledge that Trump’s election win was the one way he could’ve avoided incarceration, probation or responsibility despite “everything that was thrown against him.”

“All of this somehow managed to become inconsequential to a plurality of Americans who voted for him based upon three words: gasoline and groceries. That’s an amazing trick,” Cohen said.

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