Russian President Vladimir Putin's remarks yesterday, at the congress of the ruling United Russia party and in an interview, are attracting the attention of the world media, writes BTA.
Great Britain
"Putin: Russia faces problems in the war in Ukraine", writes the British newspaper "Telegraph". The president made a rare admission of Moscow's difficulties at a time when the shelling of energy-related targets by Kiev is increasing pressure on it.
It was part of a commentary on the latest series of retaliatory strikes by Ukraine against Russian energy infrastructure. The airstrikes have intensified as fighting on the front lines has largely reached a stalemate, with Russia reportedly suffering around 30,000 casualties a month.
"Yes, we see the problems, we are aware of them and are taking measures to address them, but we will certainly guarantee the security of both the country and our citizens, as well as the inviolability of Russia's borders," Putin said. "We will undoubtedly overcome all the challenges we face today, including terrorist attacks on our territory and infrastructure".
Putin made the speech just hours after a Ukrainian drone strike set off a fire at an oil refinery and killed one person in the southern Krasnodar region.
This is another of the long-range strikes that have reached as far as Moscow despite Russian defenses and are raising serious questions for Putin.
The strikes have been so successful that, according to information from the "Telegraph" newspaper, some senior NATO officials believe that they are weakening Putin's power. Recent losses on the front also contribute to this assessment.
Yesterday, Ukraine struck the Slavyansk oil refinery in the Kuban - one of the largest in southern Russia, located near the occupied Crimean peninsula. With a capacity of about 100,000 barrels per day, the plant supplies fuel for both domestic consumption and export.
The Ukrainians also struck an oil refinery in the Yaroslavl region, east of Moscow. The region's governor said that the drone attack had temporarily restricted traffic on some roads leading to Moscow.
In his remarks, Putin acknowledged that fuel supply problems had led to shortages in Russian regions and said a special working group was working to ensure sufficient supplies across the country. He called for a meeting of senior officials on the fuel distribution situation, measures to ensure sufficient supplies for the agricultural sector, and said a ban on diesel fuel exports was being considered.
On Friday evening, Ukraine used "Flamingo" missiles - its own production, to strike a Russian military facility located more than 480 km behind the front line - the research and production center "Titan-Barricade" in the city of Volgograd.
The "Flamingo" missile has a range of about 3,200 km, which allows Kiev to strike deep into Russian territory, the British edition recalls.
The British newspaper "The Guardian" notes that Kiev defines the strikes on Russian energy infrastructure as a fair response to the almost daily Russian strikes on Ukrainian civilians and energy infrastructure since the beginning of the offensive in 2022.
However, Putin said in an interview that "we are currently observing some shortages, but they are not critical".
According to him, the main task at the moment is to increase the capacity of Russian air defense and ensure the supply of fuel, especially to Crimea.
At the same time, the British newspaper "Independent" quoted a statement by former US President Joe Biden that current President Donald Trump "is destroying NATO" and "chooses (Vladimir) Putin over American allies".
He made the statement in his speech at a Democratic Party charity gala in Maryland.
"It's not just about his deliberate distortion and destruction of NATO, about choosing Putin over American allies, or the fact that he has undermined our authority in the eyes of the world more than any other president in history," Biden said.
President Trump has been sharply critical of NATO and threatened to withdraw from the alliance over the lack of support from European members in the war with Iran, recalls "The Independent".
Portugal
The Russian president said that the authorities' first task is to increase air defense capacity and ensure fuel supplies, especially in Crimea. The Ukrainian peninsula, annexed by Moscow in 2014, was declared a state of emergency on Friday after a series of attacks by Kiev that forced authorities to cut off fuel sales to private individuals and impose restrictions on electricity supplies, the Portuguese newspaper "Espresso" wrote.
Diplomatic efforts, mediated by the United States, to end this conflict, which has been going on for more than four years, have so far stalled, the Portuguese newspaper "Globo" wrote.
France
Putin said he expected American negotiators "when Washington is less preoccupied with Iran," the French newspaper "Depeche" wrote.
At the same time, the question remains whether Tehran will continue to supply drones to Moscow, the publication notes, recalling that the two isolated of sanctions, the parties concluded a strategic agreement lasting twenty years.
As recent US-Israeli strikes have slowed down the production of drones in Tehran, the alliance is looking to the future: Russia will use Iranian networks to export crude oil, writes the "Depeche".
"We expect, after all the events are over and the critical phase on the Iranian issue is overcome, the arrival of those representatives of the US administration with whom we have already met in Moscow," reads the statement of Vladimir Putin in an interview with Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin, quoted by the French newspaper "Le Monde".
The Russian president was answering a question about the state of Russian-American relations after the G-7 summit in France, during which Donald Trump, who is usually restrained in his support for Kiev, said that "Russia must conclude an agreement" with Ukraine to end the conflict. The American president even added that Washington could re-impose sanctions on Moscow that it had lifted. This position was interpreted as an unexpected change in favor of Ukraine.
"We are ready to continue negotiations and discussion of all details", Putin added during the interview. In early June, the Russian president had expressed the opinion that the US attention had shifted away from the war in Ukraine after the start of the conflict, which Washington had started against Iran.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told foreign diplomats in Moscow on Tuesday that the US "seems to be abandoning any claims to the role of a neutral mediator and is, on the contrary, following a path consisting in intensifying the pressure of sanctions against Russia," the French publication recalls.