The Russian president is facing pressure not only from a stalemate on the battlefield but also from a battered economy that is fueling discontent.

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is in a weaker position than at any previous point in the war in Ukraine, citing battlefield losses, mounting casualties and growing public dissatisfaction inside Russia.

By Andrew Osborn MOSCOW, May 12 (Reuters) - The Kremlin has released a video of Vladimir Putin driving in Moscow and meeting an old school teacher in a hotel lobby, after Western media outlets cited a European intelligence report as saying the Russian president spent weeks holed up in bunkers.

Russia test-fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile as part of efforts to modernize its nuclear forces. The nuclear-armed Sarmat missile would enter combat service at the end of the year.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday voiced confidence of victory in Ukraine as he oversaw a military parade on Red Square commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II — a show that didn't include heavy weapons for the first time in nearly two decades.

The Russian leader is walking a tightrope: acknowledging public discontent while offering no indication that he might give up on his demands.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says he thinks the war with Ukraine is coming to an end as President Trump brokers a three-day ceasefire and prisoner exchange between both nations.

It was a remarkable admission of weakness. In an effort to shield the parade, Putin sought a three-day ceasefire, succeeding in persuading President Trump to pressure Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy into accepting it.