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Hours Before Putin Meeting, Trump Calls Belarusian Leader, Kremlin’s Closest Ally

President Trump referred to the authoritarian ruler of Belarus, who has been isolated by the West for years, “the highly respected President.”

© Alexander Zemlianichenko/Associated Press

President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of Belarus during a news conference in Minsk in 2023. President Trump said he spoke on Friday with Mr. Lukashenko, who has long been shunned by Western leaders.
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Who’s Attending the Trump-Putin Meeting in Alaska

The delegations include top diplomatic, military and economic officials, a sign that the U.S. and Russia will discuss more than the war in Ukraine.

© Florion Goga/Reuters, Eric Lee/The New York Times

Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, right, will lead the entourages of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and President Trump during their bilateral meeting in Anchorage on Friday.
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Russia Seeks to Add Trade and Arms Control Into Trump-Putin Talks

Over recent months, the Kremlin has been trying to move the diplomatic focus away from Ukraine to bilateral issues, such as trade and strategic stability.

© Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Sputnik, via Reuters

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia in a photo released by Russian state media on Thursday. He told officials that he hoped to discuss “strategic offensive arms control.”
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Trump to Host Leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan for ‘Peace Signing’

President Trump appeared eager to project confidence that an agreement could be reached in a long-intractable conflict.

© Nanna Heitmann for The New York Times

A border crossing in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region in 2023. It has been at the center of decades of conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
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Powerful Earthquake Rattles Russia’s Far East But Causes Little Damage

A 8.8-magnitude earthquake shook the remote, sparsely populated Kamchatka region and set off tsunami waves. No serious injuries were reported, officials said.

© Geophysical Survey of the Russian Academy of Sciences, via Reuters

In this handout photo, tsunami waves flood an area after an earthquake struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on Wednesday.
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Russia’s Far East Suffers Some Damage From Earthquake and Tsunami

Regional authorities in one region declared an emergency after a tsunami hit the Kuril Islands, and the Kamchatka Peninsula was watching for volcanic activity.

© Governor of Kamchatka, via Reuters

A major earthquake damaged a building housing a kindergarten in the Russian city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
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Pro-Ukrainian Hackers Claim Cyberattack as Aeroflot Grounds Flights

The hack may have been part of a campaign to disrupt the sense of normalcy Russians have mostly enjoyed since the start of the war.

© Tatyana Makeyeva/Agence France-Press — Getty Images

People waiting for flights at the Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow on Monday.
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