Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa:

Syria will not give up a single atom of dust of its territory… this is an oath we have sworn before the people.

📸 German Der Spiegel's new cover, displaying Trump and Putin:

Two villains, one goal.

How Trump and Putin are attacking Europe.

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa:

I don’t want a Syria where the President decides everything, and I don’t think the people would accept that.

The Architects of AI are named TIME’s 2025 Person of the Year.

NEW: Senior U.S. officials will meet Saturday in Paris with counterparts from Ukraine, France, Germany and the U.K. to discuss Trump’s peace plan.

Zelensky and European leaders want a joint call with Trump, but it hasn’t been scheduled.

Source: Axios

Kremlin:

Putin spoke by phone with Maduro.

Putin expressed solidarity with the Venezuelan people and supported the course of Maduro’s government in defending national interests and sovereignty amid increasing external pressure.

Trump is pressing European leaders to force Zelensky to accept a U.S. peace plan that would require Ukraine to surrender significant territory and cap its military.

In a tense call with German, French and British leaders, Trump repeated his criticism that Zelensky hadn’t properly engaged with the earlier U.S. proposal and signaled he wasn’t willing to revise it.

Source: WSJ

Zelensky:

I am definitely in favor of elections.

The most important thing is that they are held legitimately.

Zelensky:

The United States does not want Ukraine to be in NATO.

What separate agreements the US has with Russia — we do not know.

Over time all secrets come to light.

Zelensky:

Ukraine and the United States will sign agreements on the economy, reconstruction, and security guarantees.

There may be an analogue of the Marshall Plan for Ukraine.

Zelensky:

Will Ukraine agree to a “free economic zone” in Donetsk region? The people of Ukraine will answer this question.

Whether in the format of elections or a referendum — there must be a position of the Ukrainian people.

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee:

Israel is not blackmailing the US Government with the Epstein files.

Israel was not behind Epstein.

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee:

Charlie Kirk, who is a friend of mine, never would have had any reason to have been on a target list for Israel.

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee:

Charlie Kirk… the only thing he could imagine wanting to do in government was be ambassador to Israel.

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee:

Israel did not attack the country of Qatar.

Israel sent a missile to a attack a terrorist.

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee:

To actually commit a genocide, you have to intentionally try to kill civilians. And not just kill civilians, but to kill all of the civilians within a particular area.

That simply never happened in Gaza.

The International Olympic Committee on Thursday urged global sports bodies to allow Russian and Belarusian youth teams and athletes to return to competition with their flag and anthem.

The IOC said athletes have “a fundamental right” to compete without political interference.

Source: AP

White House on Russia-Ukraine:

Trump is extremely frustrated with both sides of this war.

He is sick of meetings just for the sake of meeting.

He does not want anymore talk, he wants action.

The Trump administration has issued new sanctions targeting three nephews of Venezuelan President Maduro, a businessman tied to the regime, and six companies moving Venezuelan oil.

Source: Axios