Sergei Lavrov has been sidelined by Vladimir Putin after his failure to organise a summit with Donald Trump in Budapest, according to reports.

Under Putin, however, loyalty and continuity are still prized. Last year, for instance, the Kremlin announced the replacement of Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s long-serving minister of defense. But instead of being fired outright for a lack of battlefield success, Shoigu was moved sideways to a post as the secretary of Russia’s Security Council.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is traveling to the United States on Friday to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House.

Facing President Trump’s call for a quick ceasefire and bruising, new U.S. sanctions on Russia’s oil industry, Putin is again reminding the U.S. and other Western allies of Kyiv about his nuclear arsenal to back his longstanding,

These sanctions, imposed after President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine in early 2022, have reshaped consumer habits, driving up foreign wine prices and narrowing brand availability of imports. Consequently, Russian wine sales have surged, now comprising around 60 per cent of the market, up from 25 per cent ten years ago.

As relations between Washington and Moscow grow increasingly strained, Russian officials are signalling a new challenge to the United States.

President Vladimir Putin said at talks on Monday with embattled Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko that Russia had agreed a $1.5 billion loan with Minsk but the Belarusian people should resolve the crisis without foreign interference.