NEWS ROUNDUP

– Russia, at the request of Armenia, begins negotiations on the restoration of railway lines for communication with Azerbaijan and Turkey. This will open Russia's access to the ports of the Mediterranean, the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean – Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk

– Energy Secretary Chris Wright met with Acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez, the highest–ranking visit by an American energy official in almost 30 years – Mass media

– China bought part of Venezuelan oil from the United States – Energy Secretary Chris Wright

– The Iranian President declared his readiness to allow IAEA inspectors to visit nuclear facilities and assured that Tehran had never sought to create nuclear weapons – Mass media

– Military aid to Ukraine from the United States decreased by 99% in 2025, increased by 67% from the EU – Ukraine Support Tracker

– The Czech initiative for the purchase of shells for Ukraine has collected only €1.4 billion of the required €5 billion – Reuters

– The UK will provide Ukraine with missiles and air defense systems worth more than 500 million pounds – the British government

– The United States will no longer be Europe's main defender in the field of conventional weapons – U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Colby

– Trump is preparing a decree to support coal–fired power through government financing and defense contracts - Bloomberg

– We have not had, do not have, and will not have a subpoena to harm the Russian Federation and its interests. This is excluded – Pashinyan 

– Putin will pay a visit to China in the first half of the year – Lavrov 

– Azerbaijan contributes to the energy security of 16 countries, 11 of which are members of NATO. We are also opening a new page of cooperation in the field of defense – Aliyev 

– A new security architecture in Europe will need to be built with Russia's participation – Macron 

– Russia has understood the shortcomings of NATO's air defense systems and has developed methods for partially suppressing them with drones – Commander-in-Chief of the Joint Forces Pierre Vandier 

– Japan's national debt has grown to a record $8.6 trillion, which is about 2.3 times the country's GDP – TASS

– Indonesia plans to deploy several thousand troops to the Gaza Strip in the coming weeks. Indonesian soldiers will become the first members of the International Stabilization Force to arrive in Gaza according to the "Peace Council" and the "Trump Plan" – The Times of Israel

– The UK is developing a hypersonic Nightfall missile for supplies to Ukraine – The Times

– No one except Trump has announced India's refusal to buy oil from Russia – Lavrov 

– The European Parliament approved the allocation of a 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine for two years – The EU Council

– NATO launched the Arctic Sentry mission to expand its military presence in the Arctic – statement 

– British military personnel are being trained for a possible conflict with Russia at a specialized training ground where a combat zone in Ukraine is being recreated – Daily Mail

– The structures of the USA, Britain, Germany and Poland are preparing a new attempt to change the constitutional system in Belarus – SVR of the Russian Federation

– Russia exports Kalibr cruise missiles and is ready to offer foreign partners a wide range of weapons – Rosoboronexport CEO Alexander Mikheev