Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with acting governor of the Rostov region Yuri Slyusar at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025.

A former Russian prime minister has insisted Vladimir Putin is “absolutely not” interested in ending the war in Ukraine.

Mikhail Kasyanov’s comments are a rebuke for Donald Trump, who was caught on a hot mic telling Emmanuel Macron that the Russian president “wants to make a deal for me”.

Since Putin’s “Pursuing Peace” summit with Trump in Alaska last Friday, however,

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