❗️Key takeaways from statements of Russian President Vladimir Putin at the meeting on economic matters:

▪️The global economic situation is becoming objectively more challenging

▪️Russia needs to explore opportunities opening in the world economy

▪️National GDP growth will be slightly lower this year, totaling 1.9% over the first two months of 2025

▪️Inflation in the country still remains above 10%

▪️The credit portfolio of Russian banks is declining from the year start

▪️The budget deficit stood at 2.2 trillion rubles ($26.5 bln) in January - March 2025

▪️Russian developers less frequently launch new projects

Indian intelligence agencies have determined that the Pakistani spy agency ISI may have had a hand in a recent terror attack by members of the Pakistan-based radical group Lashkar-e-Taiba (banned in Russia) in Jammu and Kashmir, The Hindustan Times reported, citing sources.

According to them, the digital traces of the Pahalgam attackers lead to ISI’s safehouses in Muzaffarabad and Karachi. “Our intelligence intercepts suggest a direct link with operatives based in Pakistan,” one of the sources told the newspaper.

🗣 Key takeaways from statements by Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov, April 24:

▪️US President Donald Trump’s remark that Crimea is not a point of discussion is fully in line with Russia’s position on the issue

▪️Russian President Vladimir Putin favors reaching peace in the Ukraine conflict with the imperative to ensure Russia’s interests

▪️The Kremlin will inform about a new meeting between the Russian leader and US Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff

▪️Russia is focused on more efforts toward resolving the Ukraine conflict and appreciates the US mediatory role in the process

▪️The Kremlin cannot and will not comment on any leaks related to Trump’s purported peace plan

▪️The Kremlin sees that the participants of the meeting on Ukraine in London are struggling to converge their positions

▪️Russia considers the idea to deploy peacekeepers in Ukraine as an  unacceptable and critical threat

▪️The Russian army continues to perform the combat missions following the expiration of the Easter truce, repeatedly violated by Ukrainian troops

▪️Putin’s annual address to the Federal Assembly has not yet been scheduled

🇵🇰🇮🇳Pakistan suspends all bilateral agreements with India, the National Security Council said.

According to it, Islamabad also declares Indian defense, navy and aviation advisers personae non gratae.

In addition, Pakistan will consider any attempt by India to divert the waters of the Indus River as an act of war.

▶️ The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) launched the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft with three taikonauts on board from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

The Changzheng-2F/G carrier rocket brought the taikonauts to the Tiangong space station. The current crew replaces the previous Shenzhou-19 mission.

Video: TASS/Reuters/Xinhua News Agency

✈️ Pakistan closes its airspace to India, the National Security Council said

❗️Key takeaways from statements by the Russian Defense Ministry, April 24:

▪️Russian troops liberated the community of Bogdanovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic

▪️Russian air defenses destroyed 230 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones in the past 24 hours

▪️Russian forces delivered a strike on Ukraine’s aviation and aerospace industry enterprises and production sites of propellant and gunpowder

▪️Russian forces destroyed infrastructure facilities at Ukraine’s military airfields and hit Ukrainian troops and foreign mercenaries' temporary deployment sites

▪️Ukraine lost up to 255 military personnel and a tank in Russia’s Battlegroup West’s responsibility area in the past day

▪️Russian forces inflicted over 45 casualties on Ukraine and destroyed four combat vehicles and three field artillery weapons of the enemy over the past day

▪️Russia’s Battlegroup South inflicted up to 405 casualties on the Ukrainian army in the past 24 hours

▪️Russia’s Battlegroup East inflicted up to 155 casualties on Ukraine over the past day

▪️Ukraine lost over 70 military personnel and two electronic warfare stations in Russia’s Battlegroup Dnepr’s responsibility area in the past day

▶️ The United States should celebrate the meeting with Russia on the Elbe River again, American World War II veteran Frank Cohn said in an interview with TASS.

Video: Ivan Pilshchikov/TASS

Russian Press Review, April 24

Europe and Ukraine undermine the US peace plan; Washington seeks a return to Libya; and Donald Trump begins to ease off in the tariff war with China. These stories have topped Thursday’s newspaper headlines across Russia. 

▪️Media: Europe, Ukraine undermine US peace plan

▪️Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Washington seeks comeback in Libya

▪️Vedomosti: Trump begins to ease off in tariff war with China

▪️Rossiyskaya Gazeta: US, EU shift away from climate agenda in energy sector

▪️Kommersant: Russia set to boost production, export of fertilizers

▶️ A group of the Russian Pacific Fleet’s corvettes Rezky and Hero of the Russian Federation Aldar Tsydenzhapov and the support vessel Pechenga have begun their business call at Thailand.
The Russian naval ships were welcomed on the coast by a military band of the Sattahip Royal Thai Navy Main Base and high-placed Thai officers. The business call by the Russian naval ships at Thailand will run until April 27.

“Any military contacts in peacetime are an important factor of maintaining stability and security in the region. We know well together with you that we view the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as a central element of the entire security framework in that region. And we always support ASEAN’s central role in this regard,” Russia’s Ambassador to Thailand Yevgeny Tomikhin told Russian reporters.

The officials at the International Criminal Court (ICC) who issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin fully realized that it would never be enforced, Russian Security Council Deputy Secretary Dmitry Medvedev said.

“The ICC reached the real heights of ridiculousness and futility when it issued arrest warrants for the heads of sovereign states, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, in whose case the situation in Ukraine was cited. When making such decisions, the court’s officials understood perfectly well that those would not be enforced but would only have propaganda-driven consequences, certainly aimed at benefiting the interests of the Anglo-Saxon world,” he pointed out in an op-ed published in this year’s first issue of St. Petersburg State University’s Legal Science journal.

Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergey Naryshkin has announced a potential meeting with CIA Director John Ratcliffe.

“I had a telephone conversation with my colleague, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency. It was a very constructive conversation. So I do not rule out the possibility of a meeting in the near future,” Naryshkin told TASS.

A retired French army general believes Russia will force Ukraine into an unconditional peace by securing a decisive victory on the battlefield by next Christmas.

“I think we will have peace by Christmas, but that peace will be achieved through the use of military force on the battlefield and by compelling Ukraine to unconditionally accept” a post-conflict peace agreement, the terms of which would be dictated by Russia, Dominique Delawarde told TASS.

Swiss trader Glencore has completely withdrawn from the shareholding structure of Russneft, according to data on the share capital of the Russian oil company posted on its website.

In particular, as of March 31, 2025, Rambero Holding, a structure through which Glencore held 23.46% of shares in Russneft, is no longer on the list of shareholders owning at least 5% of the company’s share capital, Russneft reported.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has slammed the publication by Politico on an alleged debate in the White House whether to lift sanctions on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline as fiction.

“This is unequivocally false. Neither Steve Witkoff nor I have had any conversations about lifting sanctions against Russia as part of a deal with Ukraine. This is journalistic malpractice. If Politico has an ounce of integrity they will fully retract this piece of fiction,” Rubio wrote on the X social network.

Earlier, the newspaper wrote citing sources that the US was debating whether to lift sanctions on Nord Stream 2 and potentially other Russian assets in Europe. Lifting the sanctions on gas pipeline would be “a sharp reversal” in the US policy and amount to “a major concession” from the administration of US President Donald Trump, Politico said, adding that sanctions against companies participating in the construction of the gas pipeline were put in place during Trump’s first term.

▶️ A state of high alert has been declared in the Milkovsky municipal district in Kamchatka in the Russian Far East after the Bezymyanny volcano began spewing ash. Residents are urged to stay indoors unless absolutely necessary, the regional Emergencies Ministry told TASS

Video: Telegram channel of the Kamchatka branch of the Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Moscow reserves the right to use nuclear weapons in the event of the West’s aggression, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu said in an interview with TASS.

“In November 2024, changes were introduced to the Basic Principles of State Policy of the Russian Federation on Nuclear Deterrence, according to which Russia reserves the right to use nuclear arms in the event of aggression against it or the Republic of Belarus, including with the use of conventional weapons,” he noted.

Russian forces are currently establishing new footholds near Grigorovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic after advancing to a distance of almost 1 km of the village, military expert Andrey Marochko told TASS.

“Our troops are currently consolidating their positions and building on their successes in this sector of the line of engagement,” he explained.

Russian forces also managed to expand the zone of control west of Belogorovka in the neighboring Lugansk People’s Republic, Marochko added.

❗️Key takeaways from Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu’s interview with TASS:

▪️Russian forces will soon liberate the entire territory of Russia’s borderline Kursk Region from Ukrainian troops

▪️Ukraine violated the Easter truce 4,900 times in 30 hours

▪️Having failed in Ukraine, the West will seek to destabilize the situation in Russia, Moldova, and the South Caucasus

▪️European countries are openly preparing for a war with Russia they anticipate in 2030

▪️Threats to Belarus continue to exist, so, the deployment of Russia’s Oreshnik systems in its territory is quite justified

▪️Russia may resume nuclear tests if the United States does the same

▪️The United States’ first steps on a path toward detente in relations with Russia deserve attention

▪️Moscow is ready for dialogue with Washington but will not rely only on words

▪️Delegates from more than 150 countries will take part in the security conference in Moscow on May 27-29

#tass_photo_archive

Passengers waiting to board a bus. Moscow, April 1961

The International Space Station’s orbit has been raised by 2.1 kilometers, the Russian state space corporation Roscosmos said.

“Today, at 3:08 a.m. Moscow time (00:08 a.m. GMT), engines of the Progress MS-30 cargo spaceship, which is docked to the International Space Station, were switched on for 639.7 seconds and generated an 1.22 m/s impulse. As a result, the station’s average orbit altitude was raised by 2.1 kilometers, to 419 kilometers above Earth surface,” it said.

Eighty-seven Ukrainian drones were intercepted and downed over Russian regions during the past night, the Russian defense ministry said.

“During the night, Russian air defense systems destroyed and intercepted 87 Ukrainian fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles, including 45 over the Republic of Crimea, ten over the Belgorod Region, ten over the Kursk Region, eight over the Voronezh Region, four over the Bryansk Region, four over the Lipetsk Region, four over the Nizhny Novgorod Region, and two over the Moscow Region,” it said.

▶️ Security services of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) found a large weapons cache in a school in the settlement of Kurakhovka after it was liberated from Ukrainian troops, Russian Federal Security Service’s regional department said.

Video: Federal Security Service’s DPR department

▶️ A Russian S-34 fighter jet hit a Ukrainian drone control and launch center, the Russian defense ministry said.

Video: Russian defense ministry/TASS

Taiwan’s armed forces have registered the approach of 19 aircraft of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and seven warships of the PLA Navy near the island, the Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense reported.

“19 PLA aircraft, 7 PLAN vessels and 2 official ships operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 14 out of 19 sorties crossed the median line and entered Taiwan’s southwestern and eastern ADIZ (Air Defense Identification Zone – TASS). We have monitored the situation and responded accordingly,” it said.

It is much more difficult for the United States to deal with Kiev than with Moscow on settling the Ukrainian conflict, US President Donald Trump said.

“I think Russia is ready. I think we have a deal with Russia. We have to get a deal with Zelensky. I thought it might be easier to deal with Zelensky. So far, it's been harder, but that's okay,” he told reporters when asked about efforts to settle the Ukrainian conflict.

“But I think we have a deal with both. I hope they do it,” he added.

Cuba is against attempts to isolate Russia and unilateral sanctions against it, Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Josefina Vidal Ferreiro said.

“Cuba stands against unilateral sanctions against Russia and attempts to isolate it,” she said at an event on the 65th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Cuba calls for “a diplomatic, constructive and realistic solution to the ongoing conflict in Europe that would guarantee the independence and sovereignty of all countries, as well as peace and stability,” she emphasized.

US President Donald Trump has said that he may meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin shortly after his visit to the Middle East in May.

“I will be meeting with him [Putin],” he told reporters when asked whether he plans to meet with the Russian president. When asked whether such a meeting could take place in Saudi Arabia, he replied, “It's possible, but most likely not.” “I think we'll meet with him shortly thereafter,” he added.

Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu has not ruled out that Russia may resume nuclear tests if the United States does the same.

“Our position on this matter depends on the United States’ actions in this area,” he said in an interview with TASS when asked whether Russia could resume nuclear tests. “Now, warranty periods for some types of their nuclear munitions are expiring and the development of new types of weapons is underway. This may push Washington toward resuming nuclear tests.”

“In such an event, Russia may follow their lead as a response step,” he stated, adding that Russia’s defense ministry and the state corporation Rosatom “are ready for such works.”

Kiev has not yet responded positively to Russia’s inquiry about the return of Kursk Region residents who were taken to Ukraine during the period of the temporary occupation by Ukrainian troops, Russian human rights ombudswoman Tatiana Moskalkova told TASS.

“We have not yet received a final positive response. We maintain dialogue with the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Ukrainian side and hope that reason will have the upper hand and international norms on the return of resident of our Kursk Region to their families in the homeland from another country’s territory, from Sumy will be observed,” she said.

Kiev officials are concerned that the administration of US President Donald Trump will stop providing military aid to Ukraine due to the failure of talks on a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, The Wall Street Journal reported.

According to the newspaper, Ukrainian officials “are worried that Trump, who has said he doesn't like Zelensky, might blame Kiev for a breakdown in talks and refuse to provide further military aid.”

Suites in St. Petersburg hotels may have the price hike of 15-20% before the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, deputy department director at Nikoliers Evgenia Kulesh shared with TASS.

The average accommodation price is now 11,700 rubles ($140) per night for the period of the Forum, she said. Depending on the hotel category, prices may skyrocket by two or three times, the expert added.

▶️ Global car brands showcase some innovative tech at Auto Shanghai 2025.

Video: Andrey Popov/TASS

Bosnia and Herzegovina's State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) tried to detain Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik in Istocno Sarajevo, the klix. ba news outlet reported.

According to its information, representatives of the Interior Ministry of Republika Srpska (an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina) prevented SIPA from doing so.

About 1,000 pipes for Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines are stored in a warehouse in Germany.

Such quantity may be enough to repair damaged pipeline strings, the Ostsee Zeitung newspaper said.

📷 The future burial place of Pope Francis in the Basilica of St. Mary Major in the Vatican. The pontiff himself chose the site of his burial.

Photos: Vera Shcherbakova/TASS

❗️TASS News Roundup, April 23:

▪️Thousands of believers bid farewell to Pope Francis at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican

▪️Russian Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova will represent Moscow at the late pontiff's funeral, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said

▪️The use of FPV drones is a key factor of success on the battlefield, that is why Russia will increase its production to meet the needs, President Vladimir Putin emphasized

▪️Vladimir Zelensky's statements that Ukraine will not recognize Crimea as Russian are harmful for peace talks, US President Donald Trump said

▪️The United States has developed “a very explicit proposal” to resolve the Ukrainian conflict, and will withdraw from the negotiations, if Moscow and Kiev do not agree to the plan, Vice President JD Vance said

▪️The US understands Russia’s position on the settlement in Ukraine better after consultations, State Secretary Marco Rubio pointed out

▪️Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced that another round of talks between Russia and the United States will be held soon

▪️US special presidential envoy Steve Witkoff may meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on April 25; a Gulfstream G650 airplane with the envoy on board is believed to have departed toward Russia from Paris

▪️Russia wants negotiations, while Europe wants war, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with France’s Le Point

▪️Gornal has become the only village in the Kursk Region where Ukrainian troops remain, a Russian military commander said

▪️A 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck Turkey’s Istanbul; at least three strong tremors were felt in the city within half an hour

A Mongolian woman told TASS she hopes to present Russian President Vladimir Putin with symbolic stirrups at this year’s commemorative parade in Moscow.

“Just like hundreds of Mongolians during the Great Patriotic War, my granny gave her horses to help the USSR. To continue this family tradition, I would like to give the finest Mongolian breed of horse to the Russian president as a gift for the 80th anniversary of our common victory in the war against fascism,” said Choijinkhuugiin Enkhjargal.

Under Mongolian tradition, the mare called Yalalt (Victory) must stay in Mongolia, but Enkhjargal hopes to hand over its stirrups to Putin.

Photo from Choijinkhuugiin Enkhjargal's personal archive.

More than 190 civilians have died in the Kursk Region since Ukraine invaded it in August 2024, Russia’s Investigative Committee said in a statement.

"Since the illegal invasion of Ukrainian militants into the territory of the Russian Federation in August 2024, 191 civilians have been killed in the Kursk Region, 372 people have been injured, including 17 minors. Civilian infrastructure facilities were destroyed and partially damaged: residential buildings, schools, kindergartens and vehicles," the statement read.

The US administration believes that Vladimir Zelensky is not moving towards peace in Ukraine, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

“President Trump is frustrated. His patience is running very thin. He wants to see peace,” Leavitt noted.

“But you need both sides of the war willing to do that, and President Zelensky seems to be moving in the wrong direction,” she emphasized.

▶️ Russia's Mi-28NM helicopter has destroyed a Ukrainian temporary deployment site in the Kursk border area, the Defense Ministry reported.

Video: Russian Defense Ministry/TASS

Russian sappers have found and destroyed 261,899 mines and explosives in the border areas of the Kursk Region, the regional authorities emphasized.

“More than 29,000 hectares of territory, 708 kilometers of roads, over 10,000 buildings have been demined,” the statement said.

Almost 240 Turks were injured in the earthquake in and around Istanbul on Wednesday, said Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu.

"A total of 236 our citizens were injured after the earthquake, mainly because they fled their houses in panic. Of these, 173 are in Istanbul itself," the minister said, adding that the bulk of the wounded did not require hospitalization. "They received assistance on the spot," he said.

Vodka exports from Russia to China in the first quarter of 2025 increased in kind by three times and amounted to more than 318 tons, in monetary terms the supplies increased by 2.7 time to $751,000, the Agroexport federal center reported.

"According to the data of the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China, in the first 3 months of 2025, China purchased more than 318 tons of vodka from Russia for $751,000. Compared to the same period last year, imports from Russia increased 3 times in kind and 2.7 times in value," the report says.

US President Donald Trump said Vladimir Zelensky's statements that Ukraine will not recognize Crimea as Russian are harmful for peace talks.

“Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky is boasting on the front page of The Wall Street Journal that, ‘Ukraine will not legally recognize the occupation of Crimea. There’s nothing to talk about here.’ This statement is very harmful to the peace negotiations with Russia in that Crimea was lost years ago under the auspices of President Barack Obama, and is not even a point of discussion,” he said on Truth Social.

❗️Key takeaways from Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov's statements in an interview to the France-based Le Point edition:

▪️Russia wants negotiations, while Europe wants war

▪️Russia has no territorial claims to the Baltic states

▪️Europeans try to teach Russia democracy, but they often violate these principles themselves

▪️Russia is not going to attack anyone

▪️Russia aims to achieve its goals either peacefully or militarily

▪️The presidents of Russia and the US are united by the understanding that refusal to engage in dialogue is absurd

▪️The meeting between Russian and US presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump is expected to be productive; preparations are underway

▪️Russia has learnt to live under sanctions, while for the EU they create huge problems

▪️Putin respects Trump because he is a strong politician and a strong personality

▪️Relations between Russia and the West are now in a deadlock; in the meantime, Moscow is trying to restore relations with Washington

The American administration believes that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization should be a truly defensive alliance, not an alliance between the United States and a "handful of junior partners," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview with The Free Press.

"NATO is good as long as NATO is a real defense alliance, not the United States and a bunch of junior partners that aren’t doing their fair share" he said.

US special presidential envoy Steve Witkoff may meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on April 25, Axios reported

More than 190 civilians have died in the Kursk Region since Ukraine invaded it in August 2024, Russia’s Investigative Committee said in a statement.

"Since the illegal invasion of Ukrainian militants into the territory of the Russian Federation in August 2024, 191 civilians have been killed in the Kursk Region, 372 people have been injured, including 17 minors. Civilian infrastructure facilities were destroyed and partially damaged: residential buildings, schools, kindergartens and vehicles," the statement read.

A Gulfstream G650 airplane with the US president’s special envoy Steven Witkoff on board is believed to have departed toward Russia from Paris, the Flightradar tracker service indicates.

On Tuesday, the White House confirmed that Witkoff would go to Russia this week.

The meeting of representatives of Ukraine, the United Kingdom, France and Germany in London ended with statements and agreement on further consultations, Ukrainian presidential office head Andrey Yermak reported.

According to him, the Ukrainian delegation to the meeting included him, Foreign Minister Andrie Sibiga and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov. The UK was represented by national security adviser Jonathan Powell, France by presidential diplomatic adviser Emmanuel Bonne, Germany by foreign policy and security adviser Jens Plotner, the official pointed out.

Yermak also said that the participants in the consultations emphasized their commitment to US President Donald Trump's efforts to peacefully resolve the conflict in Ukraine.

Russian Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova will represent Moscow at the funeral of Pope Francis according to President Vladimir Putin's decision, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

The United States will shift its focus to other priority issues if finds that progress in resolving the crisis in Ukraine is insufficient, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview with The Free Press.

“We’ve done our best. We’ve put a lot of time and energy at the highest levels of our government. We’ll continue to be willing to do so as long as there’s a realistic path forward,” Rubio noted. “If at some point we determine that we’re just too far apart and not enough movement is happening, we may need to move on to other priorities because there are a lot of important things happening in the world,” the politician added.

The United States will not conduct "land wars" in Yemen or engage in regime change in that country, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pointed out.

“This is not nation-building. This is not land wars. This is not endless wars. This is not regime change,” he said, commenting on US operations in Yemen.

Washington is outraged by Kiev's refusal to accept the proposal to recognize Crimea as part of Russia, The Washington Post reported, citing an official.

According to the newspaper, US diplomats refused to take part in the talks in London because of US anger over Ukraine's unwillingness to accept the proposal to officially recognize Crimea as part of Russia.

The US is also unhappy that Ukraine prefers “to discuss a complete ceasefire first and everything else later,” the official pointed out.

The United States can no longer be a guarantor of Europe's security, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said.

"The time of the United States, the sole guarantor of European security, has passed,” he said, speaking at the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

▶️ The aftermath of the earthquake in Istanbul

Video: TASS/Reuters/Anadolu Agency/Newsflare

Moscow will never support any initiatives that stipulate deploying European troops to Ukraine, Russian upper house chairperson Valentina Matviyenko said.

According to her, the idea was doomed from the start. “We will never support it because this concerns our country’s security and sovereignty. It doesn’t matter under what flag they do that, NATO's or otherwise, because it’s about troops from the unfriendly countries that are confronting Russia, still nursing plans to inflict a strategic defeat on us,” Matviyenko added.

Russia banned entry to 21 UK lawmakers over London’s anti-Russian policies, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“In response to London's ongoing confrontational policies, which include efforts to demonize our country, fabricate many anti-Russian narratives with the aim to reduce Moscow's influence on the international stage, and continue funneling weapons to the neo-Nazi regime in Kiev, a decision has been made to include a number of members of the UK Parliament in the Russian stop list,” the statement said.

US Vice President JD Vance believes that Russia and Ukraine need to take a decisive step toward ending the conflict and freeze the border somewhere close to the present contact line.

“The current lines, somewhere close to them is where you’re ultimately, I think, going to draw the new lines in the conflict,” he told reporters after a visit to the Taj Mahal, as quoted by AFP. In Vance’s view, both Russia and Ukraine would need to make certain concessions under such a scenario.

🕔 Developments in Russia’s Kursk Region:

▪️ The Ukrainian army lost over 170 troops in the Kursk Region in the past day

▪️ Russian forces destroyed a US-made Bradley infantry fighting vehicle, an armored combat vehicle, six artillery systems, two mortars, six motor vehicles, and an armored repair and recovery vehicle, as well as 11 drone control centers and two ammo depots

▪️ Kiev’s total losses have exceeded 75,710 troops since fighting began in the Kursk Region

▪️ Since the start of fighting in the Kursk Region, Ukraine has lost 412 tanks, 337 infantry fighting vehicles, 311 armored personnel carriers, 2,284 armored combat vehicles, 2,765 motor vehicles, 642 self-propelled and field artillery systems, 62 multiple launch rocket systems, including 15 US-made HIMARS launchers and seven MLRS launchers

US understands Russia’s position on the settlement in Ukraine better after consultations, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said

Jordan moved to prohibit the Muslim Brotherhood Islamist organization (banned in Russia), seize its property, and shut down all its offices in the kingdom, Interior Minister Mazin Al-Farrayeh said at a news conference.

“The government of Jordan has taken action to disband the Muslim Brotherhood and outlaw this group after special services discovered that it had been plotting a criminal scheme against the state,” Al Mamlaka television quoted the minister as saying.

Gornal has become the only village in Russia's Kursk Region where Ukrainian troops remain, a Russian military commander said.

"We are working together as a brigade, moving towards the only settlement where the enemy remains: it's Gornal. We are busy completely clearing our territory up to the border," the commander said.

Earlier, a source in Russia’s defense circles told TASS that Russian forces were engaged in intense battles near Gornal, pushing Ukrainian troops out of the settlement.

❗️Russia barred entry to 21 UK lawmakers over London’s anti-Russian policies, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement

▶️ Construction materials and gas cylinders were burning in the parking lot of Moscow's Afimall City shopping center, emergency services told TASS.

Video: Vadim Belozertsev/Elena Tsybulina/TASS

❗️Highlights from the Russian Defense Ministry Press Briefing, April 23:

▪️Russian troops liberated the village of Tarasovka in the Donetsk People's Republic

▪️The Russian Armed Forces hit a military airfield, UAV production sites and a Vampire MLRS parking lot

▪️Russia's Battlegroup West made Ukraine lose up to 250 troops

▪️Air defenses shot down nine JDAM bombs, three HIMARS rockets and 166 drones

▪️Ukraine lost up to 85 troops in the responsibility zone of the Battlegroup Dnepr

▪️Kiev lost up to 50 servicemen in the Belgorod and Kharkov areas

▪️Ukraine lost 370 troops and a tank in the responsibility zone of the Battlegroup Dnepr

▪️The Battlegroup East made Kiev lose up to 175 troops

🗣 Key takeaways from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s statements at a press conference following his visit to Uzbekistan:

▪️Another round of talks between Russia and the United States will take place “soon”

▪️A range of new infrastructural projects will make it possible to boost twofold Russian gas supplies to Uzbekistan

▪️Moscow strongly opposes the West’s attempts to establish dominance in Central Asia

▪️Western countries are making active efforts to return to the “Afghan gamble” which they quit after the Taliban came to power

▪️Lavrov has called for reckoning with the Taliban government that has become a reality in Afghanistan and unfreeze the country’s state reserves in the United States

▪️Lavrov warned about the danger of the North Atlantic Alliance’s military infrastructure returning to Afghanistan, noting that this could become a “time bomb”

▪️President Vladimir Putin will decide who will make up the Russian delegation that goes to the late Pope Francis’s funeral, and an announcement about its members will be made very soon

❗️ Russian forces have wiped out the group of Ukrainian troops that were holding the St. Nicholas Belogorsky Monastery in the village of Gornal in the Kursk Region, a regiment commander told TASS

▶️ An explosion preceded the car fire in the Afimall City parking lot in downtown Moscow, the emergencies services reported.

Crews put out the fire that started at a car parking lot near a shopping mall in downtown Moscow, emergency management officials said.

Video: Vadim Belozertsev/Elena Tsybulina/TASS

▶️ Thousands of believers bid farewell to Pope Francis at St. Peter's Basilica, with wait times to enter reaching up to 4 hours.

Video: Vera Shcherbakova/TASS

❗️A total of 151 people were affected by the Istanbul earthquake, with no casualties reported so far, according to city officials

India is eyeing Russia as an alternative market for seafood supplies amid new US tariffs, Director General and CEO of the Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO) Ajay Sahai told TASS.

Discussions with the Russian side on this issue were "very positive," he noted. "Given Russia's trade surplus with India, the Russian Federation supports the expansion of the list of goods supplied from our country,” the expert stressed.

According to Sahai, Indian frozen shrimps exports to Russia have the growth potential of 10-20%.

The Afghan government, formed by the Taliban movement, will soon send its ambassador to Russia, said Taliban Foreign Ministry spokesman Hafiz Zia Ahmad following a meeting between the head of the ministry, Amir Khan Muttaqi, and Russian Presidential Special Envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov.

“The foreign minister expressed his appreciation for Russia's recent move to remove the Taliban movement… from the list of organizations banned in Russia,” the foreign ministry spokesman wrote on social media network X.

Muttaqi also thanked Kabulov for the opportunity to send an ambassador from the Taliban government and promised that this would be done soon, Zia Ahmad added.

▶️ Footage of the earthquake in Istanbul. The tremors lasted 10-15 seconds, TRT Haber reports.

Ten aftershocks of magnitude 3.1 to 4.9 struck Istanbul following the major magnitude 6.2 quake, the emergencies department said.

Video: TASS/Reuters/ViralPress/Anadolu Agency

🗣 Russian President Vladimir Putin has delivered a speech at a meeting of the Military-Industrial Commission. Key takeaways from his statements:

▪️Russia more than doubled its production of armaments and electronic warfare systems last year

▪️Russia is moving fast to upgrade the most popular weapons based on its experience in the special military operation

▪️The 2025 tasks of the Russian military-industrial complex are even more ambitious than before

▪️All armies worldwide are currently studying Russia’s approach to special operations, however, Moscow must stay one step ahead

▪️Putin has ordered to speed up the production of unmanned boats, robotic systems and combat lasers

▪️Russia needs to adapt its weapons to new challenges and revise its training programs

▪️The Russian army is still lacking FPV drones, which are very much awaited, so their production will increase

▪️Putin ordered efforts to build a satellites system for military reconnaissance and communications in the Armed Forces on time

▪️Artificial intelligence provides for greater advantage on the battlefield and Russia must make use of it

▪️Putin has called on members of the Military-Industrial Commission to forecast what global conflicts of the future will be like when developing armaments

▪️The use of FPV drones is a key factor of success on the battlefield

▪️Putin suggested discussing the supply of the most in-demand weapons to the army

▪️The Russian Armed Forces received over 1.5 million drones and more than 4,000 armored vehicles last year

Russia ranked second in February after the US in total gas imports of the European Union, according to Eurostat and TASS estimates.

The European Union purchased natural gas from Russia totaling 1.4 bln euro in February 2025, up 23.5% annually but 26% less than in January of this year.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced that another round of talks between Russia and the United States will be held soon.

He did not specify exactly what the meeting will discuss or who will take part in it.

🗣 Key takeaways from statements by Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov, April 23:

▪️Russia has not yet decided who will represent the country at the funeral of Pope Francis

▪️Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready for communication with Europe and Ukraine toward resolving the Ukraine conflict

▪️Russia continues contacts with the United States, but no dialogue with the Europeans and Ukrainians is in place

▪️Officials from the US, Europe and Ukraine turned out to be unable to hold a meeting in London to discuss the Ukraine issue because they had failed to bring their positions closer together

▪️The settlement options for Ukraine cannot be made public and must be discussed in confidentiality

▪️The Kremlin will notify the public about the upcoming visit of US Presidential Special Envoy Steven Witkoff to Russia once it occurs

▪️UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is not planning to visit Moscow for May 9 celebrations, and he is not on the guest list

▪️The US continues its mediation efforts on the Ukraine issue and Russia welcomes them

▪️Russia maintains its stance against the presence of European peacekeepers on the territory of Ukraine

🚨An earthquake of magnitude 6.2 occurred around 12:50 local time in Istanbul, a TASS correspondent reports.

According to the TRT TV channel, it was felt throughout the Marmara Sea region.

❗️Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered to speed up the production of unmanned boats, robotic systems and combat lasers

The United States has developed “a very explicit proposal” to resolve the Ukrainian conflict, and will withdraw from the negotiations, if Moscow and Kiev do not agree to the plan, Vice President JD Vance said.

“It’s time for them to either say yes or for the United States to walk away from this process,” Bloomberg quoted him as telling reporters after finishing a tour of the Taj Mahal.

“There’s going to have to be some territorial swaps,” he said, adding that while the border may not wind up as the exact front lines as they stand now, to get the killing to stop both sides need to “put down their weapons, to freeze this thing and to get on with the business of actually building a better Russia and a better Ukraine.” Vance said he was “optimistic” about the talks, adding he sees all sides as having negotiated in good faith so far.

Russian Press Review, April 23, 2025

The Sultan of Oman has visited Moscow, US President Donald Trump is expected to unveil his peace plan for Ukraine soon, and Russia may involve Washington in investigations of Ukrainian war crimes. These stories topped the headlines in Wednesday’s newspapers across Russia.

▪️ Vedomosti: What Russia's president, Oman’s sultan discussed during Moscow talks

▪️ Vedomosti: Are Moscow, Kiev ready to accept Trump’s peace plan?

▪️ Izvestia: Russia poised to engage US in probes into Ukrainian war crimes

▪️ Izvestia: Japan changes approach to peace treaty with Russia

▪️ Rossiyskaya Gazeta: Price of gold ounce tops record-breaking $3,500

❗️Russian forces lack the sufficient number of FPV drones, their production will be increased in order to satisfy the needs, President Vladimir Putin said.

The president called FPV drones the most serious factor of combat success.

▶️ The Russian Defense Ministry has shown the footage of hoisting a flag in the liberated Sukhaya Balka in the Donetsk People’s Republic

Video: Russian Defense Ministry/TASS

🇷🇺🇯🇵The Russian Foreign Ministry has formally lodged a strong protest with Japan’s ambassador, Akira Muto, over Tokyo’s proposal to utilize proceeds from frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine. The protest was conveyed following a meeting between Lyudmila Vorobyova, the director of the ministry’s third department, and the Japanese diplomat.

The Foreign Ministry emphasized that during discussions on bilateral relations, they firmly expressed their opposition to Japan's intention to redirect funds from what they described as “illegally frozen” Russian assets to provide loans as part of the Group of Seven’s financial aid package to Ukraine.

The ministry further condemned Tokyo’s initiative, asserting that it amounts to complicity in the Kiev regime’s crimes and warned that such actions will entail severe retaliatory measures. These responses, they stated, could include targeted measures against Japan’s most sensitive interests.

More than 92 countries and territories have confirmed their participation in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2025 (SPIEF) to date, the Roscongress Foundation said.

"This clearly demonstrates growing global importance of the Forum as a leading platform to establish new economic ties in conditions of the multi-polar world,” said advisor to the Russian President and Executive Secretary of the Forum's Steering Committee Anton Kobyakov.

Asian, African and Latin American nations showed particular interest in the forum's agenda this year. The Kingdom of Bahrain will be the guest country of the SPIEF 2025, Kobyakov added. The forum will be held this year from June 18 to 21, 2025.

🇷🇺🇲🇲 Flight connection between Russia and Myanmar has been suspended.

The reasons for such a decision are low occupancy rates and the recent earthquake in Myanmar, Stanislav Taravkov, Commercial Director of Novosibirsk Tolmachevo Airport, told TASS.

▶️ Pope Francis's coffin arrives in St. Peter's Basilica for public mourning

Video and photo: Vera Scherbakova/TASS/Ruptly

The foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Ukraine have postponed a meeting scheduled for Wednesday after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio decided not to travel to London, Sky News reported.

According to the broadcaster, discussions will instead take place among senior officials from the five nations. Sky News notes that Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga, who is still due to be in London, will presumably hold a bilateral meeting with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy.

📹 Believers gather in St. Peter's Square to bid farewell to Pope Francis.

Video: Vera Shcherbakova/TASS

▶️ Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov honored the memory of heroes of the Great Patriotic War at the Eternal Flame in Samarkand, southeastern Uzbekistan.

The top diplomat laid a wreath of flowers at the memorial, a TASS correspondent reports.

Video: Pavel Tsukanov/TASS

Tariff wars undermine the multilateral trade system and the global economy, Chinese leader Xi Jinping said at a meeting in Beijing with Azerbaijanian President Ilham Aliyev.

"Tariff and trade wars harm the legal rights and interests of all countries by undermining the multilateral trade system and destabilizing the global economic order,” Xinhua news agency quoted Xi as saying.

▶️ The 21st International Automobile Exhibition has kicked off in Shanghai.

Video: Andrey Popov/TASS

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is already holding meetings in Uzbekistan, and a press conference following full-format talks is expected to take place later today, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

According to her, the two countries’ foreign ministers are already holding a meeting, “and full-format negotiations will begin on Wednesday morning.” “There will be meetings, and a news conference,” the diplomat told Sputnik Radio.

#tass_photo_archive

Soviet builders. Krasnoyarsk Region, April 1965

A total of 11 drones were taken down over various Russian regions overnight, the Russian Defense Ministry said.