Trump-Putin call to tackle ‘normalisation’ of ties

The widely anticipated phone call between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump ends with a Russian envoy calling it “historic, epic”, adding the “world has become a much safer place today”.
Ukraine tells Russia to agree to an “unconditional” ceasefire as Trump and Putin discuss a 30-day truce to pause the three-year war.No ‘cryotherapy chamber’ for Russia’s economy, says Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin urged his economic officials not to freeze the Russian economy as if it were in a “cryotherapy chamber” with their tight monetary policy ahead of an interest rate decision on Friday.

All 29 economists in a Reuters poll predict the central bank board will keep its key interest rate on hold at 21 percent – the highest level in more than 20 years – to tame inflation.

“It is clear this [cooling] is inevitable. Both the government and the central bank have generally talked about it. Overall, there seems to be agreement,” Putin told the congress of a Russian business lobby.

“It’s essential everything proceeds as planned in practice, avoiding excessive cooling like in a cryotherapy chamber,” Putin added, referring to the wellness treatment in which people are exposed to temperatures as low as -140 Celsius.

‘We in Finland understand exactly what you’re going through’
Finland – which shares a 1,340-km (830-mile) border with Russia – fought two wars with the Soviet Union during World War II after it attacked Finland.

The Nordic country ended up ceding 10 percent of its territory – including the area where Finnish President Alexander Stubb’s father and grandparents were born – as part of a peace deal with Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in 1940.

“We in Finland understand exactly what you’re going through,” Stubb told Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a speech marking the third anniversary of the war in Ukraine on February 24.

“I’m sure we’re going to have to accept a peace with Putin. The support you will see from the Finnish public … is the support of identity and historical experience.”

Zelenskyy’s official visit begins on Wednesday.Putin-appointed ex-Crimea governor on trial in UK for sanctions breach
A former Russian official appointed by Vladimir Putin as governor of Sevastopol is on trial in London for allegedly violating British sanctions – the first case of its kind.

Dmitrii Ovsiannikov is accused of using his wife and brother to move $98,600 into a UK bank account, some of which was used to buy a Mercedes-Benz SUV and pay for his children’s private school fees.

Ovsiannikov, sanctioned by Britain in 2020, faces seven charges of circumventing sanctions. His wife and brother also face charges, all of which they deny. The trial at Southwark Crown Court is expected to conclude next week.No details yet on Trump-Putin call, but Putin’s envoy hints at ‘safer world’
There’s still no word on what US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed during their 90-minute call, but some early remarks are trickling in from Moscow.

Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s business envoy, offered a cryptic comment: “Under the leadership of President Putin and President Trump, the world has become a much safer place today.”

What exactly that means remains to be seen.