Inside Russia-Outside Russia is a news insight by the Federation of Russian Embassy in Bangladesh on 13.2.25
Dhaka February 13 2025 :
INSIDE RUSSIA
IN BRIEF: Putin, Trump agree to work together as they speak by phone
Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump also agreed to continue communication and hold a face-to-face meeting
MOSCOW, February 12. /TASS/. The presidents of Russia and the US, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, have held their first official phone talks since the US leader was sworn into office on January 20.
The heads of state discussed stopping hostilities in Ukraine, bilateral relations and some other issues. They also agreed to continue communication and hold a face-to-face meeting.
According to the Kremlin, Putin had previously spoken by phone with a US leader on February 12, 2022. The Russian president then talked with Joe Biden for more than an hour, focusing on such issues as security guarantees for Russia and the situation around Ukraine. They also discussed relations between Moscow and Washington.
TASS has put together the highlights of the latest conversation between the Russian and US leaders.
Working together
Putin supported one of Trump’s main ideas that it is time for our countries to “work together,” Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Putin and Trump agreed to set up a face-to-face meeting. The Russian president invited his American counterpart to visit Moscow.
Putin said Russia is ready to receive US officials specializing in areas of mutual interest, including the Ukrainian settlement.
Trump posted a statement to the Truth Social platform, declaring that the leaders agreed they need to end the Ukrainian crisis and arrange further communication.
“We agreed to work together, very closely, including visiting each other’s nations,” he said.
Ukraine conflict
Trump called for a swift end to the hostilities and solving the problem through “peaceful means,” Peskov said. Putin insisted on the need to remove the root causes of the conflict and agreed with Trump that a lasting settlement could be reached through “peace talks.”
Trump said, “We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately, and we will begin by calling <…> Zelensky of Ukraine to inform him of the conversation, something which I will be doing right now.”
The US president asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to lead the talks “which, I feel strongly, will be successful,” he wrote.
Trump and Zelensky have already held their talks, according to the Ukrainian news outlet Novosti.Live, which cited Zelensky’s office.
Russia-US ties
Also discussed were the Middle East settlement, the Iranian nuclear program and Russian-US economic relations, Peskov said.
Trump wrote on Truth Social, “We discussed Ukraine, the Middle East, energy, artificial intelligence, the power of the dollar, and various other subjects.”
According to the US president, the leaders brought up cooperation between the countries during World War II.
“We both reflected on the great history of our nations, and the fact that we fought so successfully together in World War II, remembering, that Russia lost tens of millions of people, and we, likewise, lost so many!” he said.
Prisoner swaps
The presidents discussed issues related to exchanging US and Russian nationals. Trump assured Putin that the US will make good on all the agreements, Peskov said.
Phone talks
These were the first official phone talks between the leaders since Trump was sworn into office on January 20. The New York Post earlier reported that there was another conversation between Putin and Trump, but the Kremlin neither denied nor confirmed the report.
Putin and Trump had previously spoken with each other on July 23, 2020, according to the Kremlin. No other communication between them had been officially reported since then until Wednesday.
Russian, Syrian leaders agree on further cooperation
The current conversation is the first official high-level contact between Russia and Syria after the change of power in Damascus
MOSCOW, February 12. /TASS/. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and transitional Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa agreed in a telephone conversation to continue contacts to develop bilateral cooperation, the Kremlin press service said.
It is noted that the leaders touched upon a number of topical issues of practical cooperation in trade, economic, educational and other areas, in particular, taking into account the recent talks by the Russian interdepartmental delegation in Damascus.
“It was agreed to continue this kind of useful contacts to work out a wide agenda for the development of bilateral cooperation. The leaders’ telephone conversation was constructive, businesslike and meaningful,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
The current conversation is the first official high-level contact between Russia and Syria after the change of power in Damascus.
Armed opposition units in Syria launched a large-scale offensive on government troops in the Aleppo and Idlib governorates in late November 2024. On December 8, they entered Damascus, while President Bashar Assad stepped down and fled the country. On December 10, Mohammed al-Bashir, who had led the so-called Syrian Salvation Government in the Idlib governorate, announced his appointment as head of Syria’s interim government, saying that the transitional period would last until March 1, 2025. The leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group (outlawed in Russia), Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, has become Syria’s de facto new leader.
Russian stocks up during evening session amid Putin-Trump phone call
Among top losers were PhosAgro securities (-2.53%), Pharmsynthez shares (-1.3%), and En+ Group prices (-0.38%)
MOSCOW, February 12. /TASS/. Russia’s stock market extended gains during the evening trading session following a telephone conversation between Russian and US presidents, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, according to trading data.
Among top gainers were SPB Exchange prices (+8.39%), Gazprom securities (+8.13%), prices of Unipro (+5.45%), Raspadskaya (+5.27%), securities of TGK-1 (+4.75%), Novatek (+4.26%), and Sber (+3.84%).
Among top losers were PhosAgro securities (-2.53%), Pharmsynthez shares (-1.3%), and En+ Group prices (-0.38%).
Earlier, the MOEX Index with additional IMOEX2 ticker surpassed 3,100 points during the evening trading session for the first time since July 9, 2024 amid the phone call between Russian and US presidents.
OUTSIDE RUSSIA
US President Trump says he is likely to hold meeting with Putin in Saudi Arabia
Trump also said he expected that the ongoing military activities in Ukraine will be over in half a year
WASHINGTON, February 13. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump told journalists in the White House that Saudi Arabia may serve as the venue for his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Reuters reported.
According to the American president, the meeting is organized with the participation of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud.
Trump also said he expected that the ongoing military activities in Ukraine will be over in half a year.
UN welcomes Putin-Trump talks, says it is ‘positive’ development — spokesman
Earlier on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump have held a telephone conversation
UNITED NATIONS, February 12. /TASS/. The UN welcomes the telephone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump and views it as a positive event, UN Secretary-General’s deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said in response to a question from a TASS correspondent.
“Given the importance of the United States and the Russian Federation, the UN welcomes any efforts to resolve issues through regular contact. And so, of course, that is, that is a positive”, Haq said.
Earlier on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump have held a telephone conversation. According to Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, “it was a very long phone conversation that lasted almost an hour and a half.”
SPECIAL MILITARY OPERATION IN UKRAINE
Kremlin rules out territory trade with Kiev
Moscow will never consider giving up territory and will remove Kiev’s troops from all its land, spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said
Russia will never consider giving up any of its territory, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said, in response to a proposal by Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky earlier this week.
Zelensky told the Guardian newspaper this week that he intends to use territory captured by Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk Region last August as leverage in possible negotiations with Moscow. He admitted, however, that he is unsure which former Ukrainian territories he would seek in exchange.
Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, Peskov dismissed the possibility of a land exchange with Kiev, insisting that such a scenario is “impossible.”
“Russia has never discussed and will never discuss the issue of exchanging its territory,” the spokesman said, adding that Russia will instead work to remove Kiev’s forces from its land. “Of course, Ukrainian units will be expelled from [Russian] territory. All those who are not destroyed will be expelled,” Peskov stated.
Zelensky’s proposal has also been ridiculed by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, who stated in a social media post that the only land that “Neonazis rampaging in Kursk Region” will receive is a grave plot.
She also suggested that the Ukrainian leader’s remarks were merely an attempt to distract from the failures his forces continue to suffer on the battlefield
According to the latest estimates by Russia’s Defense Ministry, the Ukrainian military has suffered nearly 60,000 casualties in Kursk and has reportedly lost more than half of the territory it gained during its initial advance into the region in August.
Moscow has accused Kiev’s forces of trying to destroy evidence of the alleged war crimes they committed in captured Kursk settlements. Investigators have claimed that Ukrainian troops raped, tortured, and murdered Russian civilians in the recently liberated village of Russkoye Porechnoye. Similar atrocities may have been committed by enemy forces in other villages in Kursk Region, according to senior Russian diplomat Rodion Miroshnik, who has been tasked by the Foreign Ministry with collecting evidence of alleged Ukrainian war crimes.
Ukraine’s incursion into Kursk Region has also repeatedly been condemned by Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has stated that the move significantly diminished the likelihood of negotiations, suggesting there is nothing to discuss with people who deliberately target civilians.
Western media ignores Kiev’s war crimes in Kursk Region
Western outlets are silent on the alleged atrocities of Ukraine in Russia’s Kursk Region, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said
Western media outlets have been deliberately ignoring reported atrocities by Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk Region, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said.
Accusing the Western media of biased reporting, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday condemned what he called a lack of balanced coverage of alleged atrocities by Ukrainian forces. Responding to a TASS inquiry about the purported massacre in the recently liberated village of Nikolayevo-Daryino, he criticized the media for ignoring these incidents.
Almost all of the male residents of the village near the Russian-Ukrainian border have been killed since Ukrainian forces took control during a cross-border offensive in August 2024, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. People were held hostage for more than six months until Russia recaptured the settlement on January 27, the ministry reported.
Despite the severity of these allegations, Peskov said the Western media has largely remained silent.
“They are not willing to provide balanced, truthful information even on such monstrous atrocities,” he stated, adding that this reflects a broader trend of selective reporting on the conflict.
Russian officials claim similar crimes may have occurred in other villages in Kursk Region. Senior diplomat Rodion Miroshnik, who is tasked with investigating alleged Ukrainian war crimes, told RIA Novosti last week that Ukrainian forces were attempting to destroy evidence in occupied settlements.
Local residents in liberated areas reported “whole streets being burned, homes deliberately set on fire” by retreating Ukrainian troops, according to Miroshnik.
Last month, Russian investigators alleged that Ukrainian troops raped, tortured, and murdered Russian civilians in Russkoye Porechnoye, another recently reclaimed village. They published gruesome videos of bodies piled in cellars in some of the homes inside the settlement. Several captured Ukrainian servicemen admitted under interrogation that they committed the crimes, saying they were acting on the orders of their commanders.
Ukraine launched the incursion into Kursk Region last August, marking the largest attack on internationally recognized Russian territory since the escalation of hostilities between Moscow and Kiev in February 2022. The area under Ukrainian control, however, has been steadily shrinking, with the Russian military retaking the settlements of Nikolayevo-Daryino, Russkoe Porechnoye, Aleksandria, Leonidovo, and Kruglenkoye in January.
According to the latest data from the Russian Defense Ministry, Ukraine’s total losses since the launch of the incursion have reached 59,940 servicemen, 361 tanks, 262 infantry fighting vehicles, 211 armored personnel carriers, and hundreds of other pieces of equipment, including US-supplied HIMARS multiple rocket launchers.
Russian officials have repeatedly accused the Western media of ignoring or downplaying alleged atrocities committed by Ukrainian forces. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has also criticized the UN for ignoring Ukrainian attacks in Kursk Region.
Russian POWs Reveal Torture During Ukrainian Captivity
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russian soldiers recently released from Ukrainian captivity have said that they faced torture when they were prisoners of war, the Russian Investigative Committee told Sputnik.
“The investigative committee is interviewing every Russian serviceman who has returned from Ukrainian captivity. The evidence gathered indicates a systematic violation of the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War by Ukrainian forces. Russian soldiers told investigators that representatives of Ukrainian armed forces employed physical violence against prisoners,” the committee said in a statement.
Investigators added that a captured Russian soldier held in Kharkov’s pre-trial detention center was tortured to force him to join Ukraine’s Territorial Defense, as well as to make him sign documents aimed at discrediting the Russian Armed Forces.
All materials collected during the investigation will be incorporated into a criminal case already opened against Ukrainian servicemen under Part 1 Article 356 of the Russian Criminal Code, which prohibits the use of banned methods in armed conflict.
INSIGHTS
Bigger Than USAID Scandal? Clinton Probe to Expose Gates, Soros and Epstein Links
The fall of the House of Clinton would trigger a domino effect, upending globalist entities like Bilderberg, billionaires such as Bill Gates & George Soros, and their bought politicians worldwide, says Wall Street analyst Charles Ortel.
How Could the Clinton Foundation Probe Expose Globalists?
Ortel calls CF the largest unprosecuted fraud. If true, its trustees, executives and donors – both US and foreign – could face IRS and legal probes at home and abroad.
Hundreds of billions in grants could be returned to US and foreign governments if fraud is proven, according to the analyst.
What Countries, Entities, and Private Funds Have Donated to the Clintons?
Australia, France, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea, Sweden, the UK, Ukraine and others funded CF, public records show.
The largest known donor is UNITAID (WHO), which has sent hundreds of millions more than CF has reported to the IRS since 2006.
Other suspicious donors: DFID, AusAID, NORAD and aid agencies from Canada, Ireland and Sweden, Ortel says.
Private foundations also funded Clinton frauds. The Gates Foundation has donated since 2005 – while convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein collaborated with Bill Clinton. George Soros is another key donor.
Who Promoted the Clintons’ Globalist Web?
Harvard, Yale and Columbia University gave credibility to Clinton charity frauds, Ortel says.
Legacy media & publishers boosted Clinton Global Initiative events, ignoring that none were legally registered charities.
Investigation Into the Clinton Charitable Work
A full probe into CF and its offshoots is needed ASAP, Ortel says.
A 2018 hearing revealed CF owes $2.5 billion to the US government for acting as a foreign agent instead of a nonprofit.
But the scandal exceeds $2.5 billion – Bill Clinton used charity as a front, with no honest accounting for AIDS, climate, or Haiti’s missing $10 billion, Ortel concludes.
