Russia is treading carefully when it comes to the ousting of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro at the weekend. Maduro was an ally of Russia but his departure, or the geopolitical stance underpinning it,

That was the feverish message from Moscow on Tuesday, as it doubled down on accusing Ukraine of targeting a presidential palace with drones in a bid to disrupt peace talks. Kyiv has dismissed the allegation as a baseless lie aimed at building a pretext for the Kremlin to push ahead with its war.

Russia’s Defence Ministry had published a video of a downed drone it said Ukraine had launched at Putin’s residence.

The Kremlin is in talks with French authorities about French scholar Laurent Vinatier, who is serving a three-year sentence in Russia and reportedly faces new espionage charges.

President Emmanuel Macron has previously denied that Laurent Vinatier worked for the French state and has described his arrest as part of a misinformation campaign by Moscow.

The Kremlin said on Thursday that Russia was preparing for contacts with the United States to get details about U.S. talks with European powers and Ukraine on a possible

The Kremlin said on Monday that U.S. intelligence was wrong if it believed Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted to seize all of all Ukraine and parts of Europe that were once part of the former Soviet empire.

Kremlin circles are on edge after a senior Russian military commander was killed in a vehicle collision in eastern Ukraine, sparking intense speculation and concern among analysts and political commentators about instability within Russia’s leadership.