🇬🇪 Outgoing Georgian president stays overnight in presidential palace

Outgoing Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili said on Saturday she would spend the night at the presidential residence in Tbilisi as the inauguration ceremony of Georgian President-elect Mikheil Kavelashvili takes place tomorrow.

"Tomorrow at 10 o'clock in the morning [06:00 GMT] I will wait for you at the Orbeliani Palace and from here I will tell you what tomorrow will be like," Zourabichvili said in a video address to her supporters.

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze expressed hope on Friday that Zurabishvili would not have to be forcibly evicted from the presidential palace and that she would leave the building of her own free will at the end of her term.

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Trump's team weighs using military bases to deport illegal immigrants - Reports

The incoming Donald Trump administration is considering the possibility of using US military bases and aircraft to detain and deport undocumented immigrants, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Tom Homan, Trump's "border czar."

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Deputy Director General of Rossiya Segodnya: Western media show their weakness

The blocking of the RIA Novosti Telegram channel in a number of EU countries shows that the Russian media scene has proved stronger than the Western one, Alexander Yakovenko, deputy director general of the Rossiya Segodnya media group, told Sputnik.

"The basis of any country's immunity is the fabric of public statements by officials and experts on events in the world and at home. The Russian information fabric has proved to be stronger, as it contains answers to questions of interest to society," Yakovenko stressed.

He also noted that the West will soon have to deal with the whole world's majority media.

"Today [the media of the world majority countries] are more open to different points of view than in the West. It is in this area that a clash of meanings is taking place, and the projection of these meanings partly shapes public opinion and the policies of states. That is why the world majority countries did not support Western anti-Russian sanctions," Yakovenko concluded.

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🎄🕯 A unique way to light a Christmas tree from Switzerland

In Switzerland, Christmas trees are lit in an extraordinary way, enhanced by the enchanting sound of organ music.

📹 Footage from social media

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🇷🇸 Biden puts pressure on Serbia to sanction Russia before leaving - Deputy PM

Joe Biden's administration is trying to put pressure on Belgrade with sanctions against the Russian-Serbian company Naftna Industriya Srbije before leaving the office, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin said.

"This is being done because now is the time to break the Serbian leadership and put maximum pressure on President Vucic in order to try to force him to impose sanctions against the Russian Federation or at least take a step with NIS that will look to Russian partners like something directed against them," Vulin said.

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⚡️ A plane skidded off a runway in South Korea

A South Korean passenger plane with 175 passengers on board skidded off the runway and collided with a fence at an airport in the southwestern city of Muan, Yonhap reports.

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❗️ Lavrov: US and NATO will be rebuffed if they threaten Russia with missiles

The United States and NATO will receive a decisive rebuff in the form of military-technical countermeasures from Moscow if they create new missile threats for Russia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Sputnik.

"We are ready for any scenario. If new missile threats are created, the opponents will receive a decisive rebuff in the form of military-technical countermeasures. In turn, hypothetical steps to create acceptable conditions for an equal dialogue will be taken into account," Lavrov said.

Minister emphasized Russia's interest in reducing conflict potential and addressing fundamental security issues, "with an emphasis on eliminating the root causes of fundamental security contradictions."

"These include, first of all, the long-term expansion of NATO to the East. This is what provoked the Ukrainian crisis in many ways and continues to pose a threat to Russia's security. Hypothetically, arms control issues could also be discussed, but only as one of the elements of a broader agenda," Lavrov said.

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❗️ Lavrov: Russia will have to abandon its moratorium on the deployment of the INF

"Today it is obvious that, for example, our moratorium on the deployment of the INF is already practically nonviable and it will have to be abandoned," Lavrov said.

At the same time, today Russia's moratorium on the deployment of ground-based intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles "remains in force," the minister stressed.

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🇷🇺🇸🇾 Lavrov: Russia has not received any requests about the Russian military presence from Syria

"Syria is a sovereign country that has the right to conclude and terminate contracts with foreign partners... At the same time, we are not aware of the work carried out by its new authorities on the inventory of such acts and their revision. The Russian side has not received any appeals in this regard," Lavrov said.

Minister noted that this makes sense since a "transitional period" has been declared in Syria until March 1, 2025.

"These topics could be the subject of negotiations with the new Syrian leadership," Lavrov said.

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Lavrov: Both US administrations have all powers to launch negotiations on Ukraine

Both the current and the incoming US administrations have all the levers to itself and Kiev regime to launch negotiations, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Sputnik.

"If Washington really wanted to end the conflict, it would have stopped supplying weapons to Kiev, demanded that their satellites do the same and ordered their Kiev puppets to cease fire, resume the negotiation process without any conditions," Lavrov said.

Minister added that Russia is ready for such negotiations, but they should be aimed at "eliminating the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis and taking into account the real situation on the ground."

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⚡️ The death toll from the plane crash in South Korea has risen to 62, Ryonhap reports.

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🔥 Russian UAVs enable swift and effective assaults

The Russian Defense Ministry shared footage of Crimean paratroopers capturing a Ukrainian stronghold in the border area of the Kursk region.

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❗️Presumably, only two of the 181 passengers onboard the plane that crashed in South Korea survived, Yonhap reports.

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❄️🎉 The giant complex of ice "The World of Ice and Snow" in Harbin, China, is ready to welcome the New Year

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Key statements by Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in an interview to Sputnik:

🇷🇺🔥🇺🇸On relations between Russia and the US:

💬In the process of rearming its strategic nuclear forces, Russia strictly adheres to the limits set out in the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START Treaty)

💬Russia is ready to implement a number of measures to maintain an acceptable level of predictability, in relation to the US, in the nuclear missile field.

💬Russia will not conduct any negotiations with the US on arms control until Washington abandons its anti-Russia course.

⚔️On the Ukrainian conflict:

💬Kiev and the West need to discuss the possibility of establishing a ceasefire in Ukraine to get a respite and increase the potential of the Ukrainian Armed Forces - this is a dead end; the conflict can only be ended by implementing the proposals of Russian President Vladimir Putin

💬The transfer of the second batch of F-16 fighters to Kiev by Denmark provokes a further escalation of the conflict around Ukraine, forcing Russia to take relevant measures, including military-technical ones

🇷🇺✍️🇮🇷On the partnership treaty between Russia and Iran:

💬Russia and Iran will record a desire for security, defense, and anti-terrorism cooperation in a new treaty on relations

💬The strategic partnership agreement between Russia and Iran is ready for signing and does not require any amendments in light of the situation in Syria.

💬The new agreement between Russia and Iran will consolidate the desire of Moscow and Tehran to cooperate in the field of security and defense.

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The death toll from a plane crash in South Korea has risen to 96, Yonhap reports.
 
Local media footage reportedly shows the moment the Boeing 737 plane collided with a flock of birds.

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Hamas highly appreciates Putin's condemnation of Israel's actions in Gaza — Hamas politburo member to Sputnik
 
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Israel's goals in the Gaza Strip are unknown, but its actions deserve only condemnation.
 

"Russia has historically been one of the states friendly to the Palestinian people and supportive of their legitimate rights. This statement by President Putin is a confirmation of the continued support and new impetus at the international level for a just Palestinian position," Basem Naim, a member of the movement's politburo, told Sputnik.

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