The Daily Populous Thursday January 23rd, 2025 evening edition
Authored by dailymail.co.uk and submitted by MothersMiIk

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Vladimir Putin's propaganda mouthpieces reacted with fury to Donald Trump's ultimatum urging the dictator to 'end-the-war', while stopping short of threatening the U.S. directly - and turning their ire towards London instead.

Andrey Gurulev, a pro-Putin MP and retired Lieutenant General, and Vladimir Solovyov spoke on state TV to call for a nuclear attack on London, or a massive atomic bomb test on the remote Arctic archipelago of Novaya Zemlya.

Gurulev, 57, appeared on 'Pryamoy efir' to blast Trump for posing as 'the master of the world' over yesterday's demands to end the 'ridiculous' war in Ukraine or face tougher sanctions.

Trump had qualified the threats by saying Putin, with whom he had 'always had a very good relationship', was 'destroying his country' after nearly three years of conflict.

'Is he threatening us or what?' asked Gurulev, later adding, 'The best answer would be to stage good nuclear explosions on Novaya Zemlya frankly.'

Solovyov, a television presenter and former teacher in the U.S., jibed: 'Why don't you like Novaya Zemlya? Don't you have enough place to blow up? London, for example.'

Gurulev, having made comments earlier this month calling for the UK to be wiped 'off the face of the Earth' pushed back before Solovyov added: 'Why should Novaya Zemlya be tortured? Rather than London? [The British] will think it's just fireworks.'

Solovyov and Gurulev discussed the possibility of nuclear tests on London and the Arctic

Gurulev (not pictured) had suggested testing on a remote island in the Arctic

He bashed Trump for his comments but stopped short of threatening the United States

Russia tests an experimental Oreshnik missile on Dnipro on November 21

Gurulev conceded the point before turning his focus back to Trump: 'That's just rude.'

The hardline Russian MP had stoked anxiety about an attack on the UK with comments earlier this month that it was 'inevitable' that Russia would strike Britain directly with missiles.

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He was responding to Ukraine's use of British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles when he said that an attack on the UK would 'wipe the country off the face of the Earth'.

He said that such an attack was inevitable and depends only on timing, assessing that 'about 80 per cent of the world's population will approve of our actions'.

'There's still going to come a point where we're going to strike. It is inevitable,' he said.

'The question is simply a matter of time and decision-making. And there is no other way.

Rhetoric has been dialled up since Trump's comments calling for an end to the war in Ukraine.

The American president had boasted before the election that he could settle the war within one day if in power.

He did not even mention Ukraine in his inauguration speech but told reporters he still had 'half a day' to achieve it when pressed on January 20.

'We're going to try and get it done as quickly as possible. You know, the war with Ukraine and Russia should have never started,' he said.

Donald Trump had warned Russia to end its 'ridiculous war' with Ukraine

Trump set out his thoughts on ending the war in a Truth Social post Wednesday morning

Gurulev ruled out an attack on London at first, after threatening the UK earlier this month

Solovyev pushed back, suggesting strikes on the U.K.

On January 22 he went on to warn Putin that he would face additional sanctions, tariffs and taxes unless he came to an agreement with Kyiv.

'If we don't make a 'deal,' and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries,' Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.

'Let's get this war, which never would have started if I were President, over with!'

Trump has hinted that he could intensify the supply of arms to Ukraine if Moscow does not come to the negotiating table, yet at the same time has signaled the supply could be shut off if Kyiv refuses to countenance a deal.

Putin's hardline allies have closed ranks on the issue, hitting out at Trump's comments while avoiding directly threatening Washington.

Former deputy defence minister Col-Gen Andrei Kartapolov, now a hardline Russian MP, told another propaganda show: 'Neither in 100 days, nor in 180 days will [Donald] Trump solve and regulate the conflict in Ukraine.

'It will be done by the Russian army within the deadline set by its supreme commander-in-chief, our President Vladimir Putin.

'And whatever they say there, the decision will be on the battlefield. Today that battlefield is ours.'

Gurulev was critical of how Trump had addressed Russia in his post on Wednesday

Russian state TV propagandist Vladimir Solovyov with president Vladimir Putin

Lt-Gen Andrei Gurulev, United Russia MP, member of State Duma's Defence Committee

A Ukrainian soldier operates FPV drone wearing drone control goggles in a defensive position near the Russian border in the Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine on January 16

He told viewers: 'All these talks, negotiations - understand, this is not necessary for us. It is necessary first of all for Ukraine, which is losing on the battlefield.

'And this is recognised by everyone, including their European allies. And Trump understands this very well.'

Meanwhile, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky urged Trump to go for the jugular with Putin.

'President Trump is now, as they say, riding high,' he said. 'He had a convincing victory in the elections, and now he is making confident steps in domestic policy.

'And the issue of ending the war in Ukraine, in my opinion, should be Trump's victory, not Putin's. And for him, Putin is a nobody.

'America is much stronger, Europe is much stronger, China is much stronger than Russia. These are all players [and Russia is not].

'And during our war, everyone saw that Russia is not capable of occupying Ukraine. This speaks of its real strength.

'The only problem is that Russia is a big country, it has a lot of weapons, and it does not spare people.

'We are specifically defending Europe, specifically defending NATO countries.

'And Putin will go there [to NATO countries]. And therefore Trump must emerge victorious, he is capable of doing it.

'He can do it, but he will not be the winner if Putin is the winner. It is simply impossible.'

The Kremlin said today that they remain ready for an equal and mutually respectful dialogue with the U.S. on the matter of Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today that Trump had often applied sanctions against Russia in his first term as president, and that there was nothing particularly new in the threat from Trump.

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo told a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos today meanwhile that Russia seemed capable of keeping its war against Ukraine going for at least one more year.

Col-Gen Andrei Kartapolov, 62, ex-deputy defence minister

A Russian MI-35M helicopter launches rockets toward Ukrainian position in the Russian - Ukrainian border area in the Kursk region, Russia, released January 23, 2025

A resident stands in her flat in an apartment building hit by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine January 23, 2025

Reuters quoted five sources with knowledge of the situation today in saying that the Russian dictator was growing increasingly concerned about distortions in Russia's economy amid the conflict.

Russia's economy, driven by exports of oil, gas and minerals, grew robustly over the past two years despite multiple rounds of Western sanctions imposed after its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Reuters reports.

But domestic activity has become strained in recent months by labour shortages and high interest rates introduced to tackle inflation, which has accelerated under record military spending.

That has contributed to the view within a section of the Russian elite that a negotiated settlement to the war is desirable, according to two of the sources familiar with thinking in the Kremlin.

noomi18 on January 23rd, 2025 at 11:45 UTC »

"Back off Americans or I'll nuke England. And if that doesn't work I'll have to nuke France."

Suspicious-Fox- on January 23rd, 2025 at 11:33 UTC »

Russian state TV is getting hilariously bad.

Whenever it’s a rainy day in Moscow their reaction is ‘Nuke London!’

What the hell has the UK to do with that Boris. Lay off the vodka 🤣😁

Dear-Appointment8039 on January 23rd, 2025 at 11:31 UTC »

What the fuck does London have to do with this?