VLADIMIR Putin 'does not look well' according to an expert as he is seen gripping table so hard – his veins start to bulge.
Speculation surrounding the tyrant's condition has been a topic of hot discussion for a while now – with claims that he has Parkinson's.
However, there is once again speculation over the Russian president's health after a televised meeting with RusNano State Corporation’s CEO Sergey Kulikov in Moscow earlier this week.
Footage shows the veins on the president’s hand bulging – appearing like they are about to explode – as he furiously grips a table for support.
John Hardy, a neurogeneticist at the UK Dementia Research Institute, said: "Real neurologists are unlikely to comment because they are taught never to comment on people who are not their patients.
"No sign of parkinsonism in my view. He did not look well…but not Parkinson's disease."
Ray Chadhuri, a neurologist at the University of London, added: "Looking at the short clip, I can find no evidence that I can tell of parkinsonism in Putin."
Read our Ukraine war live blog below for the latest news & updates…
- Milica Cosic
Eurovision may not be held in Ukraine
Despite Ukraine winning the Eurovision song contest this year, next year’s contest will not be hosted in there.
This is due to the ongoing war in the country posing a safety risk, organisers said.
Instead, the event will be offered to this year’s runner-up – the UK.
Number 10 welcomed the possibility, saying it would: “overwhelmingly reflect Ukraine’s rich culture, heritage and creativity.”
“Ukraine’s victory in the Eurovision song contest was richly deserved and as the rightful winner the government’s firm wish has been to see next year’s contest hosted there,” their spokesperson said.
- Milica Cosic
Zelensky hails EU backing as 'historic' step on path to join bloc
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky today praised a decision from the European Commission to give its backing for Ukraine to be granted EU candidacy status.
"It's the first step on the EU membership path that'll certainly bring our victory closer," Zelensky wrote on Twitter.
He added that he was "grateful" to EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and "each EC member for a historic decision".
- Milica Cosic
Zelensky: EU candidate status will help Ukraine defeat Russia
The European Commission's decision to recommend granting Ukraine European Union candidate status will help Kyiv in defeating Russia's invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said today.
"It's the first step on the EU membership path that'll certainly bring our victory closer. Grateful to @vonderleyen & each (EU) member for a historic decision," Zelensky said on Twitter.
He added that he expected EU government leaders to approve the proposal next week.
- Milica Cosic
Kremlin: Ukraine's EU candidacy 'requires our attention'
Moscow says it is closely following Ukraine's bid to join the EU.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the issue "requires our heightened attention, because we are all aware of the intensification of discussions in Europe on the subject of strengthening the defence component of the EU.
"There are various transformations that we are observing in the most careful way."
- Milica Cosic
Lavrov: Russia not squeaky clean but not ashamed of it
Ukraine's foreign minister claims that Russia has not been “squeaky clean” in the war – and is “not ashamed of it”.
Sergei Lavrov was asked by the BBC about a UN report in the Ukrainian village of Yahidne where 360 residents were forced to stay in a school basement by Russian forces for 28 days and 10 people died.
He replied: “It’s a great pity but international diplomats, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Secretary-General and other UN representatives, are being put under pressure by the West.
"And very often they’re being used to amplify fake news spread by the West.”
- Milica Cosic
UK: Russia will never take control of Ukraine
The head of the UK's armed forces yesterday said that Moscow will never be able to take over all of Ukraine.
"This is a dreadful mistake by Russia. Russia will never take control of Ukraine.
"Russia has strategically lost already. NATO is stronger, Finland and Sweden are looking to join."
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said President Vladimir Putin has lost 25% of Russia's land power for only "tiny" gains.
- Milica Cosic
Total ceasefire needed for civilians to exit Azot plant
Ukraine said today that only a "complete ceasefire" would make it possible for hundreds of civilians to be evacuated from the Azot chemical plant in the embattled eastern city of Severodonetsk.
"It is now impossible and physically dangerous to get out of the plant due to constant shelling and fighting. There are 568 people in the shelter, including 38 children," Lugansk governor Sergiy Gaiday said on social media.
"Exit from the plant is possible only with a complete ceasefire."
Severodonetsk is the largest city in the Lugansk region that is still in Ukrainian hands and it has been under heavy Russian shelling for weeks.
- Milica Cosic
France 'no longer receiving any Russian gas via pipelines'
France has not received any natural gas from Russia via pipeline since June 15, network operator GRTgaz said today, after Russian energy giant Gazprom warned this week it would sharply cut deliveries to Europe.
Gazprom said the supply reductions via the Nord Stream pipeline are the result of repair work, but EU officials believe Moscow is punishing allies of Ukraine, where Russian forces launched an invasion in February.
France gets around 17 percent of its gas from Russia through network connections with Germany, which relies heavily on Russian supplies and has criticised Gazprom's move as "political".
Supplies had already been reduced by 60 percent since the beginning of this year, sending prices soaring.
- Louis Allwood
UK sets out new Russia sanctions for “barbaric treatment of children in Ukraine”
Britain has today said it had sanctioned Russian Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova for the “forced transfer and adoption of Ukrainian children”, as part of a new wave of sanctions against Russia over the Ukrainian crisis.
“We are targeting the enablers and perpetrators of (Russian President Vladimir) Putins war who have brought untold suffering to Ukraine, including the forced transfer and adoption of children,” Britain’s Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said in a statement.
Britain said the latest sanctions round of sanctions also included Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, targeted for his support and endorsement of the war in Ukraine.
- Louis Allwood
Putin's minister claims country is 'NOT squeaky clean' & 'NOT ashamed'
VLADIMIR Putin's Russian Foreign Minister has revealed that Russia is 'not squeaky clean' and that they 'are not ashamed' of showing who they are.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine nearly four months ago, thousands of civilians have been killed and whole towns reduced to rubble causing devastation to many lives.
In an interview with the BBC, Russia's Sergei Lavrov said: "We didn't invade Ukraine.
"We declared a special military operation because we had absolutely no other way of explaining to the West that dragging Ukraine into Nato was a criminal act."
Mr Lavrov added, "International diplomats, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Secretary-General and other UN representatives, are being put under pressure by the West. And very often they're being used to amplify fake news spread by the West."
"Russia is not squeaky clean. Russia is what it is. And we are not ashamed of showing who we are."
- Louis Allwood
President Xi of China has declared support of Putin's cruel invasion
President Xi of China has declared support of Putin's cruel invasion of Ukraine, saying the country backs Russia's "sovereignty" and "security".
Reportedly Mr Xi said: “China is willing to push for the steady and long-term development of bilateral pragmatic cooperation.
"China is willing to mutually support Russia on core interests and matters of paramount concern, such as sovereignty and security, as well as [achieve] closer strategic cooperation,” Xi was quoted as saying by the state broadcaster CCTV.
Ukraine's President Zelenskiy gave a grave warning to fellow European leaders today in Kyiv, telling them Russia aims to: "break Ukraine and to break the whole of Europe through Ukraine."
- Louis Allwood
More than 500 holed up in Azot chemical plant
More than 500 people including children and babies are holed up in Azot chemical plant with dangerously low supplies of food and water as Putin's troops continue their bombardment.
Russian forces wrecked three bridges leading out of the city of Sievierodonetsk, Donbas region, giving Ukrainians an ultimatum to leave by Wednesday morning.
Ukrainian forces refused Moscow's exit corridor, and remain in the plant under constant artillery fire from Russian soldiers.
Their food and water supplies are dipping dangerously low.
Governor Haidia of Luhansk has said evacuation is now "simply not possible".
- Lauren Lomas
Russia won’t stop at Ukraine, says Zelenskiy
President Zelenskiy said today that Russia aims “to break Ukraine and to break the whole of Europe through Ukraine”.
President Zelenskiy has given a very grave warning that Putin aims to destroy the whole of Europe.
Ukraine is desperate to join the EU as soon as possible, Zelenskiy said membership “can amplify freedom in Europe historically and become one of the key European decisions of the first third of the 21st century.”
He was joined with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis for the Press Conference today in Kyiv.
- Lauren Lomas
NATO pledged to deploy military to eastern Europe
There are already 40,000 troops mobilised in response to Russia’s aggressive invasion of Ukraine.
Germany has previously announced that it will strengthen engagement with Lithuania.
France aims to increase its presence in Romania, where it plans to have deployed 1,000 troops by the end of 2022.
- Lauren Lomas
‘China is watching’ and the fate of Russia’s war with Ukraine
UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said “the West lacks resolve.”
Speaking with a group of defence ministers from European countries, he said: “Ukraine matters because China is watching.
“You see the issues around Taiwan…. This [the war in Ukraine] is ultimately about the West’s resolve to defend its values, that’s it.
“Therefore all sorts of people who have a different view of the world – or indeed who are our adversaries or our competitors – will look and test that resolve and see and be able to engage how far they can push it.”
It seems the consensus is China may take a similar stance on Taiwan, which has been a controversial subject since Taiwan broke away from China after World War 2.
- Lauren Lomas
Russia ‘strategically’ lost war in Ukraine
The head of the UK’s armed forces says Russia has already “strategically lost” the war in Ukraine and is now a “more diminished power”.
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said Vladimir Putin had lost 25% of Russia’s land power for only “tiny” gains.
While Russia may achieve “tactical successes” in the coming weeks, he said any notion that the war had been a success was “nonsense”.
Admiral Radakin, who is the UK’s chief of defence staff, said Russia was running out of troops and advanced missiles and would never be able to take over all of Ukraine.
Admiral Radakin spoke to the PA news agency as he visited Scotland on Wednesday, where he met soldiers at Edinburgh Castle.
He said: “This is a dreadful mistake by Russia. Russia will never take control of Ukraine.
“Russia has strategically lost already. NATO is stronger, Finland and Sweden are looking to join.”
- Lauren Lomas
Putin holding Europe to ransom by cutting gas supplies in response to sanctions
RUSSIA has blamed Western sanctions for its decision to curb gas supplies to Europe.
On Tuesday, Gazprom – Moscow’s state-backed energy giant – announced it would slash gas deliveries through a key European pipeline by 40 per cent, report The Guardian.
In a statement, the firm said it had been forced to partially suspend operations at the Portovaya compressor station on the Russian Baltic Sea coast.
“Due to the sanctions imposed by Canada, it is currently impossible for Siemens Energy to deliver overhauled gas turbines to the customer,” it said.
“Against this background we have informed the Canadian and German governments and are working on a viable solution.”
The move, Germany says, is politically motivated, and has appealed to Canada to review its sanctions on Moscow.
Robert Habeck, Germany’s economic minister, said: “I also have the impression that what happened yesterday (Tuesday) is a political decision, and not a decision that is technically justifiable.”
He added: “What effect it has on the European and German gas market, we will have to wait and see.
“The Russian side’s argument is simply a pretext. It is obviously a strategy to unsettle and drive up prices.”
- Lauren Lomas
UK sets out new Russia sanctions for “barbaric treatment of children in Ukraine”
Britain has today said it had sanctioned Russian Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova for the “forced transfer and adoption of Ukrainian children”, as part of a new wave of sanctions against Russia over the Ukrainian crisis.
“We are targeting the enablers and perpetrators of (Russian President Vladimir) Putins war who have brought untold suffering to Ukraine, including the forced transfer and adoption of children,” Britain’s Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said in a statement.
Britain said the latest sanctions round of sanctions also included Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, targeted for his support and endorsement of the war in Ukraine.
- Lauren Lomas
Germany’s chancellor: war of ‘unimaginable cruelty’ HAS to end
The chancellor has condemned Putin’s actions and the invasion of Ukraine.
Olaf Scholz, said Russia’s war of “unimaginable cruelty” and “senseless violence” must end.
He Tweeted: “Irpin, like Bucha, has long since become a symbol of the unimaginable cruelty of the Russian war, of senseless violence.
“The brutal destruction in this city is a memorial – this war must come to an end.”
- Lauren Lomas
Russia & U.S. must discuss nuclear treaty extension
Russia and the United States must discuss the extension of the START nuclear arms reduction treaty, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the RIA news agency in an interview today.
“The matter was important for global security and Russia’s military operation in Ukraine was no reason to avoid its discussion,” Peskov added.
- Lauren Lomas
Sanctions on Russia could be ‘crippling’ for its economy
Russia’s economy will never be the same again according to Russian experts.
The head of the Russian Central Bank warned Thursday that the country’s economy has “changed for a long time, if not forever” after crippling sanctions.
“It seems to me that it’s obvious to everyone that it won’t be as it was before,” Elvira Nabiullina said at a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
- Lauren Lomas
Russia-backed forces to reopen humanitarian corridor at Azot plant
Russia-backed forces will reopen a humanitarian corridor for civilians to leave the Azot chemical plant in Sievierdonetsk, the Interfax news agency reported today, citing a separatist leader.
Leonid Pasechnik, head of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic, said separatist forces had entered the plant – where Ukraine says hundreds of civilians are taking shelter – but had been unable to dislodge Ukrainian fighters from the factory, the Tass news agency reported.
- Lauren Lomas
Macron, Scholz, Draghi visit war-scarred Kyiv suburb Irpin
French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi visited Irpin today.
It is a battle-damaged suburb of Ukraine’s capital, and they visited in a show of support for the country at war with Russia.
AFP journalists on the scene said the European leaders had arrived to the town north of Kyiv, where residential buildings and civilian infrastructure remain damaged following Russian troops’ attempts early in the invasion to capture the capital.
- Lauren Lomas
Russia won't stop at Ukraine, says Zelenskiy
President Zelenskiy said today that Russia aims "to break Ukraine and to break the whole of Europe through Ukraine".
President Zelenskiy has given a very grave warning that Putin aims to destroy the whole of Europe.
Ukraine is desperate to join the EU as soon as possible, Zelenskiy said membership "can amplify freedom in Europe historically and become one of the key European decisions of the first third of the 21st century."
He was joined with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis for the Press Conference today in Kyiv.
- Lauren Lomas
NATO pledged to deploy military to eastern Europe
There are already 40,000 troops mobilised in response to Russia's aggressive invasion of Ukraine.
Germany has previously announced that it will strengthen engagement with Lithuania.
France aims to increase its presence in Romania, where it plans to have deployed 1,000 troops by the end of 2022.
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