Speaking on condition of anonymity, sources told journalists that just hours before his phone call with US President Donald Trump on March 18, Putin held a closed-door meeting attended by influential government figures and oligarchs.

U.S. President Donald Trump said that he has not discussed Moscow's purchase of weapons from North Korea during his recent phone talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, amid continuing concerns about a deepening military alignment between Pyongyang and Moscow.

President Vladimir Putin has said that Moscow won't interfere in Donald Trump's plan to buy Greenland as he visited Murmansk, the largest city north of the Arctic Circle, where he pledged to "strengthen Russia's global leadership in the Arctic".

Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested that Ukraine should be temporarily governed by the United Nations while it holds new elections. Speaking from a Russian nuclear submarine in Murmansk, Putin claimed that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s leadership is not legitimate.

The White House on Thursday dismissed Russia's Putin's suggestion that peace talks in Ukraine depend on it being governed by the UN while elections are held.

The article notes Trump’s contrasting treatment of both sides — placing immediate pressure on the more vulnerable Ukraine, while showing more patience and gentle persuasion toward Moscow — reflects his personal view of the “glaring imbalance of power.