💬 Israel key winner from Syrian crisis, as Putin rightly noted, says Turkish analyst

“We may say that by looking at the current dynamics in Syria, Israel seems to be one of the key winners on the ground,” Dr. Hasan Selim Ozertem, Ankara-based security and political analyst, told Sputnik.

His assessment echoed the one given by Russian President Vladimir Putin at his annual Q&A session.

Three factors contributed to Israel’s expansion of its territorial control in the region:

▪️Firstly, once Syria’s Bashar Assad left the country, Israel “acted swiftly and got control of Mount Hermon,” a strategic location in the Levant, said the pundit.

▪️Secondly, Israel “managed to successfully destroy the military capacity of Syria in the aftermath of almost 400 to 500 airstrikes,” he noted.

▪️“And probably the most important thing is that Iran had to withdraw from Syria in the aftermath of the regime change,” said the analyst.

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🗣Kiev regime has no scruples about plotting sabotage attacks in Europe – Putin

Despite being unable to maintain its economy and wage military actions without the West's help, Ukraine has no scruples about cutting off gas supplies to Westerners and even plotting terrorist attacks in Europe, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

"Not long ago our special services reported to me that saboteurs were detained in Slovakia, having maps with energy facilities and installations marked on them," Putin noted.

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🗣Russia would not reject Zelensky's request for refuge – Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that while the West is likely to take care of Volodymyr Zelensky, Russia wouldn't reject the Ukrainian politician's request for refuge.

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📹Undoubtedly, Putin’s 4.5-hour-long Q&A made headlines around the globe. To wrap up the day, check out the highlights from the Russian President’s conversation with citizens and media.

🔹 What Putin had to say on Russian special military operation, the Ukrainian crisis and the Middle East turmoil.

🔹 ‘Russia will only sign a peace deal with the legitimate leader of Ukraine’.

🔹 The one thing about the special military operation Putin regrets.

🔹 Why Putin is right to say that Israel is the ‘key winner’ from the Syria crisis.

🔹 Trump will talk with a much stronger Russia, Putin said.

🔹 Putin names the major achievement of his decades-long term in office.

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💬 Zelensky would have hard time staying in power while negotiating peace with Russia: analyst

“The fact that Zelensky has officially stated that the ‘Donbass and Crimea cannot be reconquered’ is a precise indication that Trump’s message of ‘you must negotiate achievable results’ passed through to Ukraine,” veteran international politics observer Paolo Raffone told Sputnik, commenting on President Putin’s reiteration at his year-end presser Thursday that Russia is ready for talks with a legitimate Ukrainian leadership.

“In this framework, Putin’s openness to negotiate without preconditions signals that the dialogue is ongoing,” Raffone, director of the Brussels-based CIPI Foundation geopolitical affairs think tank, explained.

At the same time, “it will be difficult for Zelensky to remain in power while negotiating under such circumstances,” the observer stressed, perhaps alluding to the immense sway of Ukraine’s ultra-right radicals on issues of war and peace.

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🦟Innovative Russian technology sterilized yellow fever mosquitoes in Bolivia and Ecuador for the first time

Dangerous mosquitoes have been neutralized using radiation technologies of Russia's Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation in cooperation with Bolivia and Ecuador.

The mosquitoes were carriers of yellow fever. The insects were sterilized, which reduced their population.

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📈 Trump suggests eliminating debt ceiling

After rejecting a congressional funding deal to avoid a shutdown, Trump said Congress should get rid of the debt ceiling altogether, calling it the "smartest thing it [Congress] could do," NBC reports.

"It doesn't mean anything except psychologically," he said.

The US debt ceiling has increased sixfold over the past 25 years and now stands at $31.4 trillion.

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US prefers separate arms control talks with Russia and China - official

The Biden administration prefers a bilateral dialogue with Russia on strategic stability to multilateral talks on the issue involving China, US Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer said.

"These are very different countries, very different contexts, very different capabilities, and I think very different doctrines within those countries. So, our sense is that it is better, more likely to be constructive, and ultimately successful to pursue those conversations bilaterally," he said.

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❓ Pentagon does not know where unused billions for Ukraine would go

Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder failed to answer a question about what would happen to the $5.6 billion under the PDA initiative for Kiev if the current government does not spend it in time.

"We are going to remain committed to spending as much as we can ... I'll take your question," he said.

PDA initiative provides funds for sending Kiev military supplies from Pentagon warehouses.

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🇭🇺 Szijjarto: Zelensky launched an 'ugly campaign' against Hungary

Ukraine has launched an ugly campaign against Hungary in response to the Christmas ceasefire proposal, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has said.

"It is easy to see that [Zelensky] has launched an ugly campaign against us in recent days, constantly provoking us in the international arena. I think we should not give in to this provocation," Szijjarto said.

He also added that ultimately it is up to the Ukrainian people to judge Zelensky's refusal to accept a ceasefire proposal.

“Hungary did what it could do as a neighboring Christian country: it created an opportunity for a ceasefire," he said, adding, "the Ukrainian people will judge ... what [Zelensky] told about it,” the minister said.

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✈️ Biden will visit Italy in January - White House

US President will visit Rome on January 9-12 to meet with the country's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, as well as Pope Francis, said press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

📹 During his visit to the Vatican in 2021, Biden introduced himself as "Jill's husband," a precursor to his position after January 20.

🤔 But really, is he going there to confess?

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💸 What a relief: Lil Wayne spends $9M relief funds on luxuries

Dwayne Carter Jr, better known as Lil Wayne, reportedly used $8.9 million from the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, which was meant to help struggling artists during the pandemic, to pay for luxury hotels and designer clothes, according to Business Insider.

Despite earning $100 million from his music career in 2020, he used the grant, which was created by the Trump administration as a financial lifeline for artists.

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⚡️ Congress fails to pass GOP funding bill

A government funding bill proposed by Republicans to avoid a government shutdown on Saturday failed to pass the House of Representatives, with 235 voting against it.

Donald Trump said earlier that House Speaker Mike Johnson had proposed a "very good deal" on the government spending bill.

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🤥 US has twice as many troops in Syria as we told you - Pentagon

Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder has said that the information about 900 US soldiers deployed in Syria is incorrect, and according to updated data, the number of US troops in Syria is about 2,000 people.

"I learned today that in fact there are approximately 2,000 US troops in Syria …These additional forces are considered temporary rotational forces … Where is the core 900 deployers are on longer term deployments," Pat told journalists.

He stressed that these forces were there before the turmoil in Syria began.

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🇷🇺📹 Russian cosmonauts install science gear in space

Cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner performed a spacewalk to install a spectrometer on the Zvezda service module. This device can observe 80% of the celestial sphere and will aid scientists in studying supermassive black holes in the universe.

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🛑 Democratic Rep.: We had a deal, then a TWEET changed everything

Democratic Rep. Richard Neal blamed Elon Musk for sabotaging a bipartisan congressional spending bill and warned about the future of the US under Trump's team.

"If every time the Congress works its will and then there's a tweet from an individual who has no official portfolio, who threatens members on the Republican side with a primary and they succumb?" he said.

Elon Musk previously urged people on X to contact their lawmakers to kill the bill.

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