Putin Visits Kursk Region for First Time Since Ejecting Ukrainian Forces 

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Talent and Success Foundation as he visits the Sirius educational center near Sochi in the Krasnodar region, Russia, May 19, 2025. (Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Talent and Success Foundation as he visits the Sirius educational center near Sochi in the Krasnodar region, Russia, May 19, 2025. (Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via Reuters)
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Putin Visits Kursk Region for First Time Since Ejecting Ukrainian Forces 

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Talent and Success Foundation as he visits the Sirius educational center near Sochi in the Krasnodar region, Russia, May 19, 2025. (Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Talent and Success Foundation as he visits the Sirius educational center near Sochi in the Krasnodar region, Russia, May 19, 2025. (Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via Reuters)

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the western Kursk region for the first time since Russian forces ejected Ukrainian troops from the area last month.

The Kremlin said that during the visit on Tuesday Putin met volunteer organizations in the region and visited the Kursk-II nuclear power plant.

State television showed Putin meeting volunteers and local officials in the region including acting governor Alexander Khinshtein. Putin was accompanied by Sergei Kiriyenko, Kremlin first deputy chief of staff.

Russia said in late April that it had ejected Ukrainian troops from Kursk region, ending the biggest incursion into Russian territory since World War Two.

Just over two years after Russia's 2022 invasion, Ukraine on Aug. 6 launched its boldest attack, smashing through the Russian border into the Kursk region, supported by swarms of drones and heavy Western weaponry.

At its height, Ukrainian forces claimed nearly 1,400 square kilometers of Kursk.



Europeans Warn Iran of UN Sanctions Unless Concrete Progress on Nuclear Talks

Traffic flows past a huge billboard bearing a painting of a missile falling on Israel with the slogan in Farsi: "The missile has fallen amidst the demons", on a main road in central Tehran on July 16, 2025. (AFP)
Traffic flows past a huge billboard bearing a painting of a missile falling on Israel with the slogan in Farsi: "The missile has fallen amidst the demons", on a main road in central Tehran on July 16, 2025. (AFP)
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Europeans Warn Iran of UN Sanctions Unless Concrete Progress on Nuclear Talks

Traffic flows past a huge billboard bearing a painting of a missile falling on Israel with the slogan in Farsi: "The missile has fallen amidst the demons", on a main road in central Tehran on July 16, 2025. (AFP)
Traffic flows past a huge billboard bearing a painting of a missile falling on Israel with the slogan in Farsi: "The missile has fallen amidst the demons", on a main road in central Tehran on July 16, 2025. (AFP)

France, Britain and Germany told Iran on Thursday that they wanted Tehran to resume diplomacy immediately over its nuclear program and warned if there were no concrete steps by the end of the summer they would restore UN sanctions. 

The foreign ministers of the so-called E3, along with the European Union's foreign policy chief, held their first call with Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi since Israel and the United States carried out air strikes in mid-June on Iran's nuclear program. 

Speaking after the call, a French diplomatic source said the ministers had called on Iran to resume diplomatic efforts immediately to reach a "verifiable and lasting" nuclear deal. 

The three countries, along with China and Russia, are the remaining parties to a 2015 deal with Iran that lifted sanctions on the country in return for restrictions on its nuclear program. 

A UN Security Council resolution which enshrines the deal expires on October 18 and under its terms UN sanctions can be re-imposed beforehand. The process would take about 30 days. 

The Europeans have repeatedly warned that unless there is a new nuclear accord they will launch the "snapback mechanism", which would restore all previous UN sanctions on Iran if it is found to be in violation of the agreement's terms. 

"The ministers also reiterated their determination to use the so-called 'snapback' mechanism in the absence of concrete progress toward such an agreement by the end of the summer," the diplomatic source said. 

The source did not elaborate what concrete progress would entail. 

Since the air strikes, inspectors from the UN atomic watchdog have left Iran. While Iran has suggested it is open to diplomacy, there are no indications a sixth round of nuclear talks between Washington and Tehran will resume imminently. 

Diplomats say that even if they were to resume talks, reaching a comprehensive accord before the end of August - the final deadline the Europeans have given - seems unrealistic, especially without inspectors on the ground to assess Iran's remaining nuclear program. 

Two European diplomats said they hoped to coordinate strategy with the United States in the coming days with a view to possibly holding talks with Iran soon.