Putin says Russia will bolster its air defenses in response to Ukrainian drone attacks

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Russia will strengthen its air defenses to counter recent Ukrainian drone attacks, which have reached deep inside his country and cast a cloud over his showcase economic forum in his hometown of St. Petersburg.

Speaking in response to a question from The Associated Press during a meeting with heads of international news agencies, Putin acknowledged the damage from Ukrainian drone attacks.

“To our regret, some of them break through,” Putin said of the drone strikes. “Russia has an air defense system, we need to improve it, strengthen it, and we will do that.”

The wide-ranging media session came on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, his annual showcase for investment. Hours before the forum opened Wednesday, a Ukrainian drone attack set ablaze an oil terminal in the city and also hit a nearby naval base.

Putin also said Russia is open for a compromise on Ukraine in line with understandings reached at his summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Anchorage, Alaska, adding that Ukraine needs to accept them to make a deal to end the conflict, now in its fifth year.

Also on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed face-to-face negotiations in a public letter addressed directly to Putin. Zelenskyy acknowledged shifting U.S. priorities, saying it would be wrong to wait for the U.S. to return its attention to Ukraine while it is remains heavily focused on the Iran war.

In Washington, Trump said it “would be great” if Putin and Zelenskyy meet.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin hadn’t seen the letter yet and repeated his statement that Zelenskyy could come to Moscow if he wants talks. Putin said last month he doesn’t exclude a meeting in s third country, but only when there is a deal to sign.

Putin dismissed the idea that European Union countries could mediate Russia-Ukraine peace talks because “mediation assumes neutrality. Where is the neutrality here?”

Any potential third-party mediators needed to be trusted by both sides, Putin said.

“How can Russia trust people who have been harping about the need to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia for years?” he said.

Commenting on Russia's use of its Oreshnik intermediate range ballistic missile, Putin said it was fired at targets that allowed it to test its capability and precision before using it against objectives closer to residential areas.

“We hit the area where it was convenient to see the results,” he said. “It was important for making a decision on the future on the full-format use of the Oreshnik on designated targets, including those in populated areas.”

Putin emphasized his push for control of the entire Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, noting that Ukraine controls about 15% of its territory.

Putin declared that “patriotism and will of the Russian people” will ensure the achievement of goals that Moscow set in Ukraine.

“Russian troops are advancing along the entire line of contact,” he said.

Putin said he has accepted Trump’s compromise proposals from the Alaska summit, saying they could “serve as a basis of agreements between Russia and Ukraine and put an end to the conflict."

Moscow wants a comprehensive settlement, not a temporary truce, he said.

“There is no need to suspend the hostilities to start negotiations,” he said. “Naturally, the Ukrainian side would like us to suspend the advances made by Russian troops. But it would be better to end the war by agreeing to the compromises that were discussed in Anchorage.”

Asked about an AP investigation tracking 191 incidents across Europe, including sabotage, cyberattacks, attempted assassination and other activity that Western officials say are part of a Russian-masterminded campaign, Putin replied there was no detailed proof of Moscow's involvement.

“What are the specific facts? What has been proven?” he said, adding that the accusations showed that Europe was not ready to talk to Russia as an equal partner.

“This only shows that certain political figures in the West are trying to carry out aggressive plans against the Russian Federation,” he said.

Asked whether Russia could contribute to a settlement of the war in Iran, Putin responded that Moscow’s proposal to take enriched uranium from Iran for storage remains on the table. He noted Russia did so as part of the 2015 deal between Iran and world powers, "and we are ready to do it now.”

Putin, 73, who has held power in Russia for over a quarter-century, was asked if he planned to run for another term that would keep him in office until 2036, when he'll be 83. He laughed and said he’s “not even thinking about it.”

“Only God knows if any of us will be healthy enough ... to survive until tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, much less solve the problems we face and achieve the goals we set for ourselves,” he said.

In 2020, Putin ordered amendments to the Russian Constitution that essentially reset his term limits, keeping him in power.

Wednesday's drone attack hit the nearby Kronstadt naval base and an oil terminal, sending a plume of black smoke above Russia’s second-largest city — an embarrassing blow to Putin's efforts to cast the conflict as a distant event that doesn’t affect Russian daily life.

It also underscored Kyiv’s growing ability to hit deep inside Russia and showed the vulnerability of its cities. Scores of flights were delayed or diverted at St. Petersburg’s airport and authorities cut cellphone internet service to try to prevent drone attacks.

Putin had scaled down Russia’s annual Victory Day parade on May 9, fearing Ukrainian strikes. Days later, a massive drone attack on Moscow’s suburbs killed three and showed the capital’s vulnerability.

Peskov said Russia’s forces were carrying out “systematic” strikes on Kyiv. On Tuesday, Russia launched deadly attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.

Putin has used the St. Petersburg forum, likened to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to showcase his country’s economic advances and encourage foreign investment. While Western officials and business leaders have stayed away after Putin sent troops into Ukraine in 2022, Russia has sought guests from elsewhere to underline its declared goal of promoting a “multipolar world.”

Saudi Arabia sent a large delegation this year, and the presidents of Uzbekistan and Tanzania and vice president of China also are present. A U.S. official, Rodney Mims Cook Jr., head of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, is attending for the first time in years.

Russia’s economic outlook has clouded as the initial boost from military spending has fizzled. The government raised taxes and increased domestic borrowing to keep its budget deficit under control.

Asked at the media session if Russia’s economy was struggling because of the military action, Putin paraphrased Mark Twain that “rumors of my death are highly exaggerated.”

He said the economy was growing but admitted that inflation was a concern.

“We’ve deliberately taken steps to cool the economy,” Putin said of Russia’s Central Bank putting the country’s key interest rate at 14.5%, which he called “a difficult decision.”

“You can say we’ve cooled off, or you can say we haven’t done everything yet, but these are deliberate steps. We don’t want inflation – hyperinflation -- to reach 60-80%, as it is some countries,” he said. “We’re fighting for the health of the Russian economy as a whole.”

The Associated Press News Director of Europe/Africa James Jordan, center, attends Russian President Vladimir Putin's meeting with representatives of international news agencies on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum at the Constantine Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, Pool)

Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures during a meeting with representatives of international news agencies on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum at the Constantine Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Thursday, June 4, 2026. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, looks at President of Xinhua News Agency Fu Hua, right, while speaking to representatives of international news agencies as General Director of the Russian news agency TASS, Andrey Kondrashov, left, sits near on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum at the Constantine Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, Pool)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, foreground answers to a question by The Associated Press News Director of Europe/Africa James Jordan, back to a camera as he meets with representatives of international news agencies on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum at the Constantine Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, Pool)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, background third right, meets with representatives of international news agencies on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum at the Constantine Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, Pool)

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with representatives of international news agencies on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum at the Constantine Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, Pool)

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks to representatives of international news agencies on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum at the Constantine Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, Pool)

People walk past a screen with an image of Russian President Vladimir Putin at an exhibition at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in St.Petersburg, Russia, on Thursday, June 4, 2026. (Anatoly Maltsev/Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting on measures to support relatives of those killed and injured in the attack on a college in Starobilsk, of the Russia-controlled Luhansk region of Ukraine, at the Kremlin in Moscow, Monday, June 1, 2026. (Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

A plumes of black smoke is seen over the port of St. Petersburg, Russia, Wednesday, June 3, 2026, after a Ukrainian drone attack. (AP Photo)

A plume of black smoke is seen over the port of St. Petersburg, Russia, Wednesday, June 3, 2026, after a Ukrainian drone attack. (AP Photo)

BERLIN (AP) — German authorities on Sunday issued a wanted notice for a fugitive suspect in the van ramming near Berlin’s Pride festival that left one person dead and injured at least 16 others.

Police and prosecutors asked for help in finding the 21-year-old suspect, whom they identified as Abdul B. They said he is believed to have injured several people with a moving vehicle late Saturday evening, and that one or more people apparently then left that vehicle. Several people were also apparently stabbed, they added.

Sunday’s notice warned the public to avoid “direct contact” with the suspect, saying that he may be armed and dangerous.

Police had said earlier that they had identified a suspect who has ties to Islamic groups in the German capital.

“The suspect is known to police. He is known to us as a member of Islamic circles here in Berlin, and our search for this person is proceeding at full speed,” police spokesperson Florian Nath said.

Nath added that investigators had no information on “his specific motives.”

Police conducted operations in the city as they searched for the suspect. Those included a search at an apartment in Berlin's Schöneberg district in the early hours of Sunday, but police said they found no one there.

Julian Miethig, who had attended the Pride festival nearby, said he wanted to go to an after-party when he heard from a friend that “something bad happened there and there are a lot of fire trucks, a lot of emergency vehicles, ambulances.”

“It’s a dark day for the community,” he said.

According to police, a white van drove into the Tiergarten park around 10 p.m. and hit several people before colliding with a tree. The closing party at the Pride festival, known as Christopher Street Day, was ongoing at the time next to the Brandenburg Gate, a short distance away, following a parade with some 80 trucks that had made its way through downtown Berlin earlier in the day.

Police said a woman was killed. Berlin’s fire service said that three people sustained life-threatening injuries, another eight were seriously injured and five had slight injuries.

The Pride event next to the Brandenburg Gate was called off around 10:15 p.m. and a band’s performance on stage was interrupted. People were urged to go home and to avoid taking the route through the park.

One of the presenters at the Pride party, Ricarda Hofmann, wrote in an Instagram post that she had been there “not just as a moderator, but as part of a community that comes together to be visible. To celebrate love. To stand up for each other.”

She said the attack left her speechless. “What happened today has changed something in me,” she wrote.

Hundreds of thousands of people had come to Berlin to celebrate on Saturday, though it’s unclear how many were still at the festival by late evening. It’s one of Europe’s largest LGBTQ+ celebrations.

The van, with its battered front resting against a tree, could still be seen at the scene Sunday morning.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz described what happened as “an attack on our society.”

“What an abhorrent act in Berlin,” Merz wrote in a post on X. He added that Germany loves freedom, “and we will preserve and defend that.”

Associated Press writers Kirsten Grieshaber and Fanny Brodersen in Berlin contributed to this report.

Police officers stand near a vehicle crashed into a tree after driving into a crowd near Berlin's annual Pride event, in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, July 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Police officers stand near a vehicle crashed into a tree after driving into a crowd near Berlin's annual Pride event, in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, July 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Two people walk together past emergency vehicles in Berlin, early Sunday, July 26, 2026, following the cancellation of Christopher Street Day festivities. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Emergency personnel and police gather in Berlin, early Sunday, July 26, 2026, following the cancellation of Christopher Street Day festivities. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Emergency personnel and police gather in Berlin, early Sunday, July 26, 2026, following the cancellation of Christopher Street Day festivities. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Emergency personnel and police gather in Berlin, early Sunday, July 26, 2026, following the cancellation of Christopher Street Day festivities. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Two people embrace near others wearing thermal blankets as they stand near emergency personnel in Berlin, early Sunday, July 26, 2026, following the cancellation of Christopher Street Day festivities. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)