Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on taking office hours before Trump's inauguration in Washington and said he was open to dialogue with the new U.S. administration on Ukraine and nuclear arms.

Vladimir Putin is still struggling to re-assert himself in the Middle East after the fall of his ally Bashar al-Assad’s regime, according to the UK. The Russian president helped to prop up the dictator’s regime in Syria since 2015 amid years of civil war,

A retired US general has claimed that Russia is in the process of "collapsing" and that the world needs to prepare for potential nuclear chaos inside the country

The Russian president stressed he was open to dialogue with the new US administration on Ukraine and nuclear arms

Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country was open to dialogue with the new Trump administration on the conflict in Ukraine, as he welcomed what he said was the president-elect's attitude toward preventing a third world war.

U.S. President Donald Trump declared on Saturday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “destroying” Russia by refusing to reach a peace agreement in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday that Moscow and Beijing's foreign policy ties played a stabilising role in international affairs. Chinese President Xi Jinping talked with Russian President Vladimir Putin via video meeting on Tuesday.

Trump said on Sunday: "I will end the war in Ukraine, stop the chaos in the Middle East and prevent World War III from happening."

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a video call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday in which he proposed further developing their strategic partnership just hours after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th U.

The new US president made the comments as Russia was hit by a huge Ukranian drone strike - with reports of a 250-kilogram bomb exploding on a military factory with 4,300 employees

Ben Hodges is a retired general who once served as the commander of the United States Army in Europe. He has been a prolific commentator on Russia 's war in Ukraine, which has seen Vladimir Putin 's forces sustain catastrophic casualties during almost three years of fighting.