Russia’s Lavrov says Trump understands Ukraine war better than others in West

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov praised US President Donald Trump on Saturday for what he said was a better understanding of the Ukraine conflict than any other Western leader.

“When we speak about eliminating root causes of any conflict, including the Ukrainian conflict, this is the only way to resolve the problem and to establish long-lasting peace. Remove root causes,” Lavrov said at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkiye.

“President Trump was the first and so far, I think, almost the only one among the Western leaders who repeatedly, with conviction, several times stated that it was a huge mistake to pull Ukraine into NATO. And this is one of the root causes which we quoted so many times.”

Russia and Ukraine’s top diplomats used a high-level conference in Turkiye to once again trade accusations of violating a tentative US-brokered deal to pause strikes on energy infrastructure, underscoring the challenges of negotiating an end to the three-year-old war.

The two foreign ministers spoke at separate events at the forum, a day after US envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss peace prospects.

Russian missile hits Indian pharma warehouse

A Russian missile struck a warehouse of an Indian pharma company in Ukraine on Saturday, the Ukrainian embassy in India said.

In a social media post, the mission alleged Moscow was deliberately targeting Indian businesses, destroying medicines meant for children and the elderly.

“Today, a Russian missile struck the warehouse of Indian pharmaceutical company Kusum in Ukraine,” the Ukrainian embassy said.

“While claiming “special friendship” with India, Moscow deliberately targets Indian businesses — destroying medicines meant for children and the elderly,” it posted on X.