Europe is facing a natural-gas shortage just as Russia is completing a controversial pipeline to Germany, increasing President Vladimir Putin’s leverage over the continent’s energy flows. Europe’s gas stores are at their lowest levels for years after demand rebounded from a pandemic-induced low that had led producers to slash output. …

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping have agreed their countries will step up efforts to counter “threats” emerging from Afghanistan following the Taliban’s takeover, the Kremlin said Wednesday. In a phone call, the two leaders “expressed their readiness to step up efforts to combat threats of …

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia said the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan showed that it was time for the West to end its “policy of imposing someone’s outside values from abroad.” President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia said on Friday that the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan showed that it was …