💥 Peace talks are last chance for Ukraine — Ex-US Army officer

The recent 20-point peace plan presented by Ukraine is a "non-starter" for Russia as it includes nothing that is important to it, former US officer and analyst Daniel Davis wrote on X.

💬 "[The US-proposed draft] is probably the last chance we have to get anything good for Ukraine. If we refuse to give Russia any of the major terms they’re looking for, then the only path left to Russia is military conquest," he said.

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📆 2025 in retrospect: Revisiting the year's historic events

This year was full of truly remarkable moments, yet, some of them stand out as truly significant milestones:

🟠 The high-stakes Putin-Trump summit in Alaska

🟠 Victory Day at 80 – Commemorating the Soviet triumph over Nazi Germany and militaristic Japan in WWII.

🟠 Russia’s military advances – 5,000 sq km liberated in the special military operation

🟠 Gaza war end

🟠 Pope Francis death and the election of Robert Prevo as the new pontiff

… and many more.

📹 Watch to find out!

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🇷🇺🇺🇸 Renowned US investor calls Russia–US tunnel idea 'wonderful'

💬 “It [tunnel] would be wonderful if it were easy to drive between Russia and the United States, even into Alaska,” Jim Rogers said, commenting on the idea of a tunnel between Russia's Far East and the US' Alaska via the Bering Strait.

👉 He also expressed hope that the project could one day be realized.

📍 Earlier, Russia’s presidential envoy for investment and economic cooperation Kirill Dmitriev confirmed that the idea of a Russia–Alaska tunnel is being discussed, without providing further details.

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🇷🇺 As AI reshapes the world, Putin calls on Russia to get ready

Artificial intelligence is rapidly permeating every sphere of life, requiring Russia to fundamentally prepare, President Vladimir Putin emphasized, pointing out that the workforce along with labor practices must quickly adapt to the universal changes AI will usher in very soon.

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💵💣 Russia’s ‘responsible stewardship’ led ruble to outshine weaponized dollar

Russia’s “conservative” policy has driven the ruble up 45% since the start of 2025, veteran financial analyst Paul Goncharoff tells Sputnik.

That explains why, despite sweeping Western sanctions, the ruble has outperformed every major currency against the dollar, adds the general director of Goncharoff LLC.

💬 “It hasn’t been an easy path,” he notes, “but it’s a clear, understandable reality check for working within actual means rather than relying on endless borrowing.”

Ruble resilience: Thriving against all odds

High interest rates purposefully maintained by the Russian Central Bank through capital controls make Russian assets “attractive to all investors, foreign and domestic, who are looking for high returns in a stable, commonsense, well-run market like Russia,” says Goncharoff.

He singles out:

👉 Russia had to get creative — from digital innovation to the cryptosphere

👉 Russians built domestic businesses that outperform imports

👉 Domestic products find ready buyers internationally

Shattered myth of Western economic dominance

💬 “Even the most diehard aficionado of sanctions can’t fail to see where the healthier economic reality lies,” speculates the pundit.

Almost no debt, booming investment, dynamic infrastructure from roads to education – “Russia ticks all the boxes,” the analyst emphasizes.

🌏 World bets on Russia

Regardless of politicized Western media attacks – often “anecdotal and without factual confirmation” - the world sees Russia as a reliable partner, notes the expert.

A sure sign of reliability is Russia’s economic data which “helps to know (or learn about) the actual history behind several key fields of endeavor in Russia, be it energy, mineral resources, high technology, or agriculture,” Goncharoff sums up.

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💸 ‘They’re only interested in money’: Russian MFA spox slams Europe for war profiteering 

💬 "They are still betting on escalating tensions and continuing hostilities until the last Ukrainian. Why? Because they are only interested in money," Maria Zakharova said.

The spokeswoman noted that negotiations with the US regarding Ukraine are progressing slowly but steadily.

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🇷🇺🤝 Putin declares 2026 Year of Unity for the Peoples of Russia

✍️ The Russian president has signed a decree declaring 2026 as the "Year of the Unity of the Peoples of Russia."

👉 Russia is home to over 190 ethnic groups, the majority of which are indigenous. The Russian Constitution officially recognizes the country’s multiethnic character.

2025, on the other hand, was named the Year of the Defender of the Fatherland, honoring the 80th Anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War and expressing gratitude to veterans and participants of the special military operation.

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🚨 NATO’s dreams of blockading Russia’s Kaliningrad show weak-mindedness — Russian MFA spox

💬 "The most rabid Western politicians" talk about turning the Baltic Sea into NATO's internal sea via blockading Russia’s Kaliningrad region, which prompts Russia to use all its tools to protect its territory and interests in the Baltics, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

NATO's statements are nonsense that shows feeble-mindedness, she added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated Russia will eliminate threats to the Kaliningrad region if they emerge, stressing a possible blockade may lead to a full-scale conflict.

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🗣 'For the Lord is their judge': Russian presidential aide on Ukraine ceasing Orthodox Christmas

👉 Vladimir Medinsky, head of the Russian delegation at the Istanbul talks, lashed out at the Ukrainian regime's decision to move Christmas from January 7 to December 25, a law signed by President Zelensky in July 2023.

💬 "The current actions of the Ukrainian authorities is to impose other denominations. For the Lord is their judge. The Lord sees everything. Such things can not be forced on people," Medinsky said.

➖ Earlier, Verkhovna Rada reported that the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers had approved Zelensky’s decree on celebrating Programmer's Day on January 7 instead of celebrating Orthodox Christmas.

➖ For centuries, the Eastern Orthodox Church, including the Russian, Serbian, and Jerusalem Churches, has followed the Julian calendar, which celebrate Christmas on January 7. Meanwhile, many Catholic and Protestant denominations, including the Roman Catholic Church and most Protestant groups, observe Christmas on December 25, according to the Gregorian calendar.

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🔸 2025 in retrospect: Revisiting the year's historic events

🔸 Putin sent Christmas greetings to Trump

🔸 Russia’s ‘responsible stewardship’ led ruble to outshine weaponized dollar

🔸 ‘They’re only interested in money’: Russian MFA spox slams Europe for war profiteering 

🔸 As AI reshapes the world, Putin calls on Russia to get ready

🔸 Russia’s record-breaker: A closer look at the Tu-95MS bomber

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🇩🇰🇺🇸Danish MP proposes buying US states as Washington eyes Greenland

🔊Denmark’s economic growth is strong enough to start buying US states, Rasmus Jarlov, a conservative Danish MP and former minister of business, tweeted on December 25.

👉In the comments section, Jarlov said that he personally had always liked New Hampshire and reminded American netizens — who tried to belittle Denmark’s economic performance — of their country’s multi-trillion-dollar debt.

📍The tweet apparently came in response to Jeff Landry, President Donald Trump’s new special envoy to Greenland, who said he would make Denmark’s autonomous territory part of the US. “We need [Greenland] for national security. We have to have it,” Trump later reiterated.

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🥴Hunter Biden brands Ukraine ‘vipers’ den’ mired in corruption

During his appearance on the Shawn Ryan Show, Hunter admitted that “it was absolutely a mistake” for him to join the board of directors of Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma in 2014, when his father was vice president in the Obama administration.

👉He immediately insisted, however, that what made this appointment a mistake was the fact that it became “the toe in the door” to label his family as “the Biden crime family” due to the ensuing allegations of corruption and influence peddling.

🗣“I believe it was a mistake because I was very, very naïve about what a vipers’ den Ukraine is,” Hunter added, describing the level of corruption there as “staggering.” “Because they are part of a kleptocracy, of a greater kleptocracy.”

❓The ex-president’s son made these admissions after the current US President Donald Trump moved to void all the preemptive pardons made by Joe Biden, including the one protecting Hunter Biden from the fallout from all his shenanigans – including his potential involvement in rampant Ukrainian corruption.

❗️Hunter’s appointment to the Burisma board was also one of the causes of speculation that his father’s stalwart support of Ukraine stemmed from the Biden family’s alleged corrupt dealings in this East European country.

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