📊Majority of Americans oppose acquiring Greenland - poll

53% of respondents said that they oppose Greenland joining the US, while 29% consider it a good but unrealistic idea, and 11% expressed the desire for the incoming Trump administration to do anything possible to take control over the island, according to a joint poll conducted by the USA Today news portal and Boston's Suffolk University.

Among the supporters of the Democratic Party, 86% opposed the idea, while among the Republicans, 21% said that it is a bad idea, 48% said that the idea is good but unrealistic, and 23% expressed full support for it.

The poll was conducted from January 7 to 11 among 1,000 US citizens.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Ukranian losses amounted to 1,675 sevicemen over the day, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

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

◻️ Ukrainian forces lost up to 470 soldiers in the area of responsibility of Russia's Zapad Battlegroup;
 
◻️ Due to the actions of the Sever and Dnepr Battlegroups, Ukrainian formations lost up to 125 soldiers;
 
◻️ Ukrainian losses amounted to 580 fighters, three armed vehicles, and three tanks, including Leopards, in the area of responsibility of the Tsentr Battlegroup;

◻️ Russian Air Forces hit 12 HIMARS shells and 95 Ukrainian drones.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Ukrainian officers rob fellow soldiers to feed gambling addiction — Ukrainian border guard to Sputnik

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

More than 70 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip in Israeli shelling since the ceasefire agreement was announced, Mahmoud Basal, a representative of the Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza, said on Thursday.

"Since the announcement of the ceasefire agreement, the Zionist occupation forces have killed 71 people, including 61 in Gaza City," Basal was quoted as saying by Palestinian broadcaster Al Aqsa

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🔥Argentina engulfed by fire

Volunteers and rescuers are working together to fight fires in Patagonia.

Helicopters deliver water to the most affected areas. Hundreds of local residents were forced to leave their homes and move to temporary shelter.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🌍Global leaders and top officials hail Gaza ceasefire agreement

Top officials of various world powers, including Germany, France, Spain, and Switzerland, have welcomed the Gaza ceasefire deal, which has been agreed to by Israel and Palestinian movement Hamas.

🇷🇺Russia expects an agreement between Israel and Hamas will make it possible to achieve sustainable stabilization of the situation in the gas sector, the Russian foreign ministry said.

🇨🇳China welcomed the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, the country's foreign ministry said, adding that it hopes for it to be effectively implemented and lead to a complete and lasting ceasefire in Gaza.

🇬🇧British foreign secretary called for the full implementation of all stages of the ceasefire agreement.

🇩🇪German Chancellor Olaf Scholz praised the agreement, which "must be consistently implemented."

🇫🇷French President Emmanuel Macron called the deal between Israel and Hamas a relief for the Gazans after "15 months of unjustified suffering."

🇪🇸Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez welcomed the ceasefire agreement, saying that it is crucial for achieving regional stability.

🇸🇪Swedish FM Maria Malmer Stenergard called the ceasefire deal a prerequisite for a two-state solution.

🇿🇦"The ceasefire must lay the basis for a just peace that should include the establishment of a contiguous, independent, and viable Palestinian state," the South African foreign ministry said in a statement.

🇹🇷The Turkish foreign minister said that the ceasefire agreement reached in Gaza is an important step towards justice and humanity.

🇦🇪UAE FM Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan stressed the importance of the international community's support for all efforts aimed at advancing the peace process in the Middle East, and ending illegal actions that undermine the two-state solution.

🇶🇦Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani expressed hope that destruction and killing will stop in all Palestinian territories, thanks to the ceasefire deal.

🇯🇴🇸🇦The Jordanian and Saudi Arabian foreign ministries both said that they highly appreciate the mediation efforts of Egypt, Qatar, and the US.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

NATO forces not trained to fight equal or superior adversaries

NATO’s belief in its total air, information and long-range weapon superiority has led to a serious flaw in its troops’ training methods, former Swedish Armed Forces officer and defense politician Mikael Valtersson tells Sputnik.

NATO forces, he explains, are simply “not prepared to meet the adversary that's at the same level or superior to them,” and thus “lack any relevant methods of the fighting on the ground.”

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

At least 82 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza just hours after Hamas and Israel announced a ceasefire agreement, Al Jazeera reports.

Only one attack near the Engineers Union Building in Gaza City killed at least 18 people, the agency added.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Russia hopes that Hamas-Israel ceasefire agreement will help create conditions for solution to Palestinian issue — Zakharova

"It will also create conditions for improving the situation in the Middle East region as a whole, including in Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen," the Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman added.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

NATO troops ‘have no clue how to fight modern war’ against peer foe

It is no surprise that Western military instructors take pointers from their Ukrainian trainees, as at this point, Ukraine’s Armed Forces may be more experienced in modern warfare than their NATO masters, former Swedish Armed Forces officer and defense politician Mikael Valtersson tells Sputnik.

For all their posturing and bravado, he points out, Western militaries are acutely aware of the fact that they “have no clue how to fight a modern war against an adversary that's on par with them.”

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇷🇺🇨🇫Russia is ready to continue providing humanitarian aid to the CAR, Russian President Vladimir Putin told President Faustin-Archange Touadéra during their meeting in Moscow.

He also highlighted that trade turnover between Russia and the Central African Republic (CAR) had increased nearly eightfold over the past year, describing the trend as positive despite current modest absolute figures.

Both countries continue to collaborate on security matters, Putin added.

The President of the Central African Republic, in turn, thanked Russian instructors for their role in strengthening bilateral cooperation during the talks. He also expressed gratitude for Russia’s shipments of grain and fuel to Bangui.

He also thanked Putin for the support that has helped restore stability in his country and enabled it to stand among sovereign states. He also stated that he plans to discuss cooperation between Moscow and Bangui in security and energy during their talks.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

The Trans-Alpine bet: Czech Republic’s oil gamble explained

The Czech Republic no longer needs to rely on Russian oil after the completion of the Trans Alpine Pipeline (TAL), Prime Minister Petr Fiala has claimed.

What did the Czech PM allege?

"The construction of this [TAL] expansion has now been completed. This is a crucial moment for the Czech Republic because Russia can no longer blackmail us, and we have a guarantee that we can completely supply ourselves with oil from the West."

Why do Fiala’s ‘blackmail’ claims hold no water?

🟠Contrary to Fiala’s remarks, it was Ukraine, not Russia, that disrupted oil transit to Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic via the Druzhba pipeline. In July 2024, Ukraine halted the flow of Russian oil through its territory.

🟠A similar incident occurred in August 2022, when the Russian oil company Transneft confirmed Ukraine's suspension of oil supplies through Druzhba.

US oil for the Czech Republic?

🔶The TAL pipeline transports oil from the Italian port of Trieste to southern Germany, where it connects with the IKL pipeline supplying the Czech Republic.

🔶In operation since 1967, the pipeline is owned by a consortium of eight oil companies, including the Czech Republic’s Mero, along with major global players such as the UK’s Shell, Italy’s Eni, and the US’s Exxon Mobil.

🔶Back in 2022, TAL mentioned America as one of its suppliers along with an array of other countries, including Libya and Iraq.

Washington’s oil arm-twisting

▫️US sanctions coordinator James O'Brien said last week that the only way to avoid the risks related to strategic partnership between Belgrade and Washington is to reduce the share of Russia's Gazprom and Gazprom Neft in the Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS) to zero.

▫️The developments unfold against the backdrop of Kiev’s move to stop transit of Russian gas via Ukrainian territory as of January 1.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🔥 Fire precipitation

Russia's paratroopers' artillery destroyed a concentration of Ukrainian infantry in the Kursk border area.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

'欢迎' — Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova invites Chinese guests to celebrate Chinese New Year in Moscow.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

NATO chief’s ‘disgusting’ remarks offensive to both Russia and New Zealand

New Zealand should be offended by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte’s recent comments regarding the alliance’s defense spending, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated to reporters.

Rutte made a controversial claim, stating that EU member states will be forced to learn Russian in a few years if they do not increase defense spending to 10% of GDP or “go to New Zealand.”

Zakharova argued that Rutte should have acknowledged that Europeans are already under external control, with American bases and nuclear weapons stationed on European soil.

“All the music for EU members has long been orchestrated in the United States, not by Europeans themselves, but by Washington,” Zakharova concluded.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt