🇷🇺🇮🇷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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Jan 20th countdown: Let's all admire Biden's final blitz 🤡

With just days left before Joe Biden leaves the White House on January 20, let’s reflect on his ‘decent’ legacy:

▪️Biden announced nearly $2.5 billion in security assistance for Ukraine’s Zelensky regime late last month.

▪️In early January, the US announced a $8 billion weapons sale to Israel, and Tel Aviv’s military actions in Gaza show no sign of ceasing;

▪️As wildfires rage in Los Angeles, Biden faced public anger over budget cuts for fire management and increased spending on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. Critics also blasted him for prioritizing billions in foreign aid to Ukraine and Israel over domestic challenges.

▪️Last week, the administration imposed new sanctions on Russia’s energy sector that will have a backlash on fuel prices.

▪️In mid-December, Biden granted clemency to nearly 1,500 inmates, including 37 federal death row prisoners.

▪️In the latest sign of Biden’s failure to maintain security across the US, New Year’s Day saw two deadly terrorist attacks taking place in New Orleans and Las Vegas.

What fresh hell will Biden do next?

People online are dead sure the upcoming days will most likely see Biden try to lump more dirt onto Donald Trump.

“Joe Biden only has seven days left to either create the catastrophic event justifying national lockdown and martial law, so as to hamstring Trump’s effectiveness in carrying out the agenda we voted for,” one X user wrote.

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Destabilization of the South Caucasus: What’s behind the US-Armenia strategic partnership? - Part 1 👉 Part 2

On January 14, Armenia and the United States concluded a strategic partnership agreement during the working visit of Armenia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ararat Mirzoyan, to Washington.

What does a strategic partnership imply?

The Armenian-American strategic partnership initiative was first announced in June 2024 during US Deputy Secretary of State James O’Brien’s visit to Yerevan.

Previously, the US established similar strategic partnership charters with Ukraine in 2008 and Georgia in 2009. These charters included the following principles:

▪️Defense and security collaboration, though without guaranteeing direct US military involvement in potential conflicts.

▪️Recognition of aspirations to join NATO.

In 2021, the US-Ukraine charter was updated ahead of Washington turning the Ukraine conflict into its proxy war against Russia.

The US-Georgia partnership was suspended in November 2024 after the Georgian ruling party implemented policies prioritizing national sovereignty, which diverged from US interests.

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Destabilization of the South Caucasus: What’s behind the US-Armenia strategic partnership? - Part 2 👉 Part 1

Armenia, a landlocked nation in the South Caucasus, has maintained diplomatic, economic, and military ties with the US since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Why is Armenia important to the US?

1. Military cooperation: Armenian troops have actively participated in US-NATO operations, including missions in Afghanistan and the Kosovo Force (KFOR).

2. Resources: Armenia is a mountainous country rich in mineral resources such as iron, copper, molybdenum, lead, zinc, gold, silver, antimony, and aluminum. Over 670 solid mineral mines are registered in the state.

3. Geostrategic location: Armenia lies along the Middle Corridor, a region of increasing strategic competition between the US and China. The Biden administration has explored creating new land routes through Armenian territory to strengthen its position in the region.

4. Substituting Georgia: The US-Armenia partnership may serve as a substitute for Washington’s waning influence in Georgia, following the suspension of its strategic partnership agreement with Tbilisi.

Is Armenia shifting to the West?

Armenia has intensified its pivot toward the West since its defeat in the 2023 conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. Yerevan is now taking steps toward accession to the European Union - a questionable move considering that post-Soviet states like Ukraine and Georgia, which applied earlier, have yet to gain membership.

What does Russia say?

On January 14, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that forming a strategic partnership with the US is Armenia’s "sovereign right." However, Peskov warned that the partnership could be aimed at destabilizing the South Caucasus.

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Did anti-Russian sanctions become Biden’s ‘poison chalice’ for Trump?

The US is trying to muscle Russia out of the hydrocarbons market, Brussels-based analyst in international relations and Russian affairs Gilbert Doctorow tells Sputnik while commenting on Lavrov’s remarks about US efforts to take out the recently-hit gas pipeline TurkStream.

The US aims to “make the European countries as dependent as possible from their LNG and oil, so that the United States controls the supply of energy resources for the EU, therefore weakening the Union,” Prof. Stevan Gajić of the Institute of European Studies in Belgrade.

The fresh batch of sanctions targeting Russia’s energy sector, rolled out recently by the Biden administration, is meant to be a proverbial “poisoned chalice” for Trump, Doctorow explains.

“The sanctions on Russia are intended to make it impossible for Trump to enter into negotiations with Russia over ending the Ukraine war and revising the security architecture in Europe,” he says.

Eurasian partnership and the rise of ‘macro regions’ across the globe

Russia's Eurasian partnership, which Lavrov said enables Russia to pave the way for more efficient avenues of economic exchanges, and the Eurasian integrations are “integrations of the future,” Gajic says.

According to Gajic, there are “macro regions” being formed around the world, with one example being Donald Trump’s declarations over Greenland, Canada and Panama.

“I think that the forming of macro regions, Pan-African integrations, pan-Eurasian integrations and Pan-American integration are the way that the world is going to at this at this moment - the grand regions are being consolidated," Gajic muses.

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📹 Russian reconnaissance personnel destroyed a Ukrainian frontline mine depot located in the Dzerzhinsk and Novgorodsky area with a drone, the commander of a special forces unit with the call sign "Shmel" told Sputnik.

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🎾 Game, set, match: Australian Open YouTube channel goes virtual with 3D players instead of real stars

The official YouTube channel of the Australian Open tennis championship does not have the rights to broadcast the games live, so it will show the matches using 3D models instead of real players.

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🤨 Interference in internal affairs?

The European Union has allocated €8.5 million to "support opposition media and NGOs" in Georgia, said European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos.

The body wants to transfer another €7 million to the opposition for "information campaigns and the fight against disinformation."

The Europeans are also considering "further redistribution of funds" from the frozen €100 million, which they previously wanted to send to joint projects with Georgia.

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📹 Russian drone operator crews destroyed a dugout with Ukrainian forces in the Kharkov region

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