Japan lost diplomatic subtlety in its ties with Russia - Lavrov

Tokyo bears responsibility for the erosion of regular and respectful political dialogue with Moscow, the Russian diplomacy chief said.

Japan has always stood out for its very subtle attitude toward life, from cuisine to rituals. This subtlety seems to have vanished in its relations with Russia, Lavrov pointed out.

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We will inevitably end up in a situation that has been predicted by Russia and Turkiye and Azerbaijan: regional players will be in charge of resolving all the problems, Lavrov said.

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❗️Russian troops liberated the settlements of Terny and Neskuchnoye in the Donetsk People's Republic, Russia's Defense Ministry announced

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🇷🇺🪖 Key statements from the Russian MoD daily briefing on the special military operation:

◻️ Ukrainian forces lost up to 600 soldiers in the area of responsibility of the Russian Zapad Battlegroup;
 
◻️ Ukrainian losses amounted to 220 militants in the area of responsibility of the Russian Yug combat group;
 
◻️ Due to the actions of Russia's Sever and Dnepr Battlegroups, Ukrainian troops lost up to 100 soldiers;
 
◻️ Ukrainian losses amounted to 500 fighters in the area of responsibility of the Russian Tsentr combat group.;
 
◻️ Ukrainian forces lost up to 220 soldiers as a result of the actions of the Russian Vostok Battlegroup;
 
◻️ Russian air defense systems shot down six ATACMS missiles, eight Storm Shadow missiles, a HIMARS projectile, and 180 drones.

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⚡️At night, the Ukrainian forces launched a missile attack on targets in the Russian Bryansk region with six ATACMS missiles, six Storm Shadow missiles, and 31 drones, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
 
All means of attack were shot down by the air defense forces, and there were no casualties.
 
The ministry stressed that the actions of the Kiev regime, supported by Western curators, will not go unanswered.

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Lavrov: France’s National Front, Germany’s AfD seek to revive national consciousness

France's National Front and Alternative for Germany (AfD) are systemic political parties, and voters are increasingly flocking to cast their ballots for them, according to the Russian foreign minister.

"I have engaged in discussions with members of both parties and found no grounds to claim they oppose the right to self-determination. On the contrary, they seek to revive national consciousness," Lavrov said.

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'Looting'

That's how Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov described the news of the US possibly buying the Nord Stream pipeline.

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The Slovak opposition will submit to parliament a motion of no confidence in the government of Robert Fico, chief of the pro-European Progressive Slovakia Party said.
 
The Slovak opposition quoted Fico's foreign policy stance as a reason for its move.

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❗️Ukraine may well cease to exist in 2025 as talks about Kiev's fate are possible only with the US - Putin's aide

Negotiations on Ukraine should be conducted between Russia and the United States without the participation of other Western countries, said Nikolai Patrushev, a member of Russia's Security Council and presidential aide.

Moscow has nothing to talk about either with London or Brussels, he stressed. Patrushev did not rule out that in 2025 Ukraine would cease to exist.

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🇷🇺🇮🇷Russia-Iran Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement subject to ratification by Iranian Parliament and valid for 20 years — Iranian Ambassador to Russia
 

"After signing the agreement, it must be ratified by the Iranian Parliament. After the ratification, it will be valid for 20 years," Kazem Jalali told IRIB.

 
The ambassador did not specify whether the possibility of an automatic extension of the agreement has been envisaged.

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🇷🇺Russian flag raised over liberated Neskuchnoye settlement in Donetsk People's Republic

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❗️Ukrainian losses in Russia's Kursk region in one day amounted to more than 460 soldiers and three tanks, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

In total, during military operations in the region, Kiev has lost up to 51,900 soldiers, the ministry added.

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NATO Lake project still haunts the minds of Western politicians? Alliance plans to boost its Baltic military presence - Tusk
 
According to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, this measure is aimed at protecting the underwater and surface infrastructure.
 
But it has not yet been decided who exactly and what kind of reinforcement will be provided. Tusk himself stressed that the Polish navy has limited capabilities.
 
Poland is ramping up its armed forces amid Western claims that Russia is preparing to invade eastern Europe. Russian President Vladimir Putin scotched the idea that his country poses a threat to Poland or the Baltic states. "Moscow is not going to attack NATO countries because it doesn’t make any sense,” he repeatedly said.
 
Still, Putin noted that Moscow had revived the Leningrad Military District and started concentrating military units there due to NATO's activity in the Baltics.

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'Dying from Western sanctions' Russia shocks Slovak politician with abundance and availability of goods
 
The Deputy Speaker of the Slovak Parliament, Andrej Danko, went to a supermarket during his visit to Moscow and experienced a shock:
 

"Here we have Finnish butter and 'Farmer's Butter.' The average price is between 1.30 and 2.80 euros. I would probably buy this in a heartbeat. My good friends, here we have about 6 meters of space with about 50 different kinds of butter," Danko said.

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Not for sale! Greenlanders against joining the US

Residents of Greenland's capital Nuuk mostly oppose joining the United States and are outraged by statements by US President-elect Donald Trump about his intention to buy the island, Sputnik's correspondent reports.

"They can't buy us as if we were sheep," one local woman said.

Other residents consider the plan to buy Greenland to be revolting and contradicts all moral values.

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🇳🇪 Hundreds of people took to the streets in the capital of Niger to take part in a protest against neocolonialism, a Sputnik correspondent reports.

They expressed support for the ruling National Council for the Defense of the Fatherland, thanking it for its steps to remove the country from the sphere of influence of the United States and France.

In July 2023, a group of military personnel from the presidential guard in Niger announced the removal of the head of state Mohamed Bazoum. The National Council, headed by the commander of the guard, Abdourahmane Tchiani, was formed to govern the country.

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White House on Ukraine accepting territorial losses: Well yes, but maybe no, so we just don’t know

Biden’s National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan blurted out some jaw-dropping double-talk when speaking to the New York Times newspaper.

"It’s true we could cut Ukraine off. We could say: You get nothing more unless you accept that Russia gets X percent of your territory. That is an option available to us. But should we do that? I do not agree. I believe, is an inappropriate use of American leverage," Sullivan said.

Zelensky might want clearer instructions on what to do next

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❗️❗️❗️Macron willing to buy Russian oil and gas to resell to Eastern Europe at markup price – Slovak MP

“Politicians like Macron act with impudence. They are willing to buy Russian oil, gas or nuclear fuel and then supply it to others, all the while pretending that these commodities did not originate in Russia. They sell it to us at four times markup prices,” Slovak parliament Deputy Speaker Andrej Danko told Sputnik.

France and Germany are aware that countries like Russia, China, India and Pakistan experience development whereas the European Union stagnates, Danko said.

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❗️❗️❗️Russia is lucky with Putin while European leaders and Zelensky can’t properly manage their own countries – Slovak MP

The West's attitude serves as a display of their hypocrisy. They attempt to retain the high standard of living, which they cannot afford economically. This applies to Germany, France and even to the US, Slovak parliament Deputy Speaker Andrej Danko told Sputnik.

“In terms of mental faculties, Macron is on Zelensky’s level. Macron is not [Charles] de Gaulle,” he remarked. Zelensky is not a politician, rather a political puppet that will probably end up living in the US or somewhere else abroad, Danko added.

“Russia is lucky to be led by a such person as President Putin.”

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How is Zelensky losing his chief source of coke coal?

With Russian soldiers approaching the city of Pokrovsk in Donbass, Kiev was forced to shut down a key mine there that served as chief source of coking coal for the Ukrainian metallurgy bringing Kiev's steel industry to its knees.

▪️The loss of the coking coal produced by the mine in question may result in Ukraine’s steel output dropping to as low as 2 million metric tons this year, as compared to the 7.6 million tons produced in 2024.

▪️Steelmaking has long been one of Ukraine’s top industries, due to the fact that the country had ample deposits of natural resources such as iron and coal, not to mention mines and steel mills built during the Soviet era.

▪️In August 2024, Ukraine’s extractive industries' association complained that about 40% of the country’s resource extraction facilities ceased operating, and that the Ukrainian metallurgy irreversibly lost at least 40% of its production capability.

▪️In July 2024, Ukrainian steelmakers also complained that switching to importing electricity from abroad is having a detrimental effect on their industry.

▪️In 2022, Ukrainian steelmaking output dropped by over 70% to only 6.3 million tons.

▪️Since 2014, Ukraine has witnessed a serious blow to steel production and exports as Kiev gradually lost access to the required resources and production facilities such as, for example, Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol.

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🇫🇷 The left-wing France Unbowed party will table a vote of no confidence in PM Francois Bayrou, the party's parliamentary faction leader Mathilde Panot has said.

"The sooner you [Bayrou] leave, the better. The sooner you leave, the sooner Macron leaves, then it will be time for the sixth republic. Of course, you will not have the confidence of the deputies. We will put forward a vote of no confidence in you," Panot said at the National Assembly after Bayrou delivered his political declaration in parliament.

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