A suspect threw smoke grenades and attacked people indiscriminately
A man armed with a knife and smoke bombs killed at least three and injured nine others in Taiwan’s capital, Taipei, local media reported on Friday.
The suspect began throwing smoke bombs down one of the exits out of a metro station during evening rush hour, and randomly stabbed people with a knife.
One victim reportedly died from cardiac arrest; two others succumbed to their injuries.
The 27-year-old suspect jumped off a building while pursued by police and later died in the hospital, according to the Taipei Times.
In videos circulating on social media, the attacker is seen in what appears to be body armor and a mask, armed with a long knife and throwing smoke bombs out of a backpack.
The suspect had an outstanding warrant out for his arrest from earlier this year, after he neglected to update his residence registration and failed to receive his mandatory draft notice, United Daily News (UDN) wrote, citing data from the local District Prosecutor’s Office.
🇹🇼⚡️- BREAKING: A man threw smoke grenades and attacked civilians with a knife in Taipei, Taiwan, at the MRT Taipei Main Station and then the MRT Zhonghshan Station.
— Rerum Novarum // Intel, Breaking News, and Alerts (@officialrnintel) December 19, 2025
The rampage reportedly began earlier that morning, when the suspect set fire to his residence and vehicles in the area, before heading to the metro station.
Bart De Wever has ridiculed the outlet, which branded him “Russia’s most valuable asset”
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever mocked Politico on Thursday after the outlet branded him “Russia’s most valuable asset,” joking that he was heading back to his “dacha in St. Petersburg” to join “neighbours” Gérard Depardieu and Bashar al-Assad.
Axel Springer-owned Politico, which has a staff of some 350 in its European bureau alone, took a personal swipe at the “bespectacled 54-year-old”“eccentric figure at the EU summit table, with his penchant for round-collared shirts, Roman history and witty one-liners.” The piece was authored by four of its reporters in early December, just as de Wever’s opposition to the asset-theft plan was becoming a significant thorn in the side of Merz and von der Leyen.
Following the collapse of the German-backed plan at a disastrous EU Summit for Merz and von der Leyen, De Wever addressed one of the authors of the article head on.
“Politico, you published some very nice articles with some very nice titles, claiming that I was Russia’s most valuable asset? I like that one a lot. I will remember that one. But go ahead with your question anyway, because as I said, a real politician lets go of his emotions, even if these emotions are pure anger, vengeance, and maybe even violence.”
Winding up his tirade and leaning fully into the sarcasm, De Wever delivered his closing flourish.
“But now I have to go to my dacha in St. Petersburg,” he said, “where my neighbor is Gerard Depardieu, and across the street there is Bashar al-Assad. And I think I can become mayor of that little village. Maybe that could be your title.”
Depardieu, a French actor, was granted Russian citizenship by President Vladimir Putin in 2013, though he does not live in Russia full time. Assad was given asylum by Russia after being overthrown last December by forces led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. He and his family now live in Moscow.
As the West retreats into commercial holiday minimalism, Russia elevates the Christmas season to an edifying public experience for millions.
Each December, as night settles early and frost glazes the boulevards, Moscow finds itself in the midst of a marvelous metamorphosis: It ceases to function merely as a capital and takes on the quality of a living fairy tale, played out beneath the radiant winter sky, and in the heart of splendid interior worlds built expressly for wonder.
Moscow’s magical transformation: Theatrical civic design at its finest
Light, sound, architecture, and imagination blend across the polished, panoramic stage of a city-sized theater to produce a triumphant winter celebration, anchored in Orthodox Christmas and framed by the wider, luminously secular New Year season.
Wander through the vibrant center, and you sense immediately that you are not a passive witness to an accidental scattering of decorations in service of Mammon.
Instead, you find yourself an active participant in a carefully choreographed civic composition, imbued with faith, love of country, and a distinctive fondness for deeply rooted tradition.
Moscow’s integrated and polycentric festive geography, much of it readily traversed on foot, stretches across several dozen major sites, each elaborate, immersive, and thematically coherent. From the winter-hallowed skating rink on Red Square to the whimsical Magic Library on Vozdvizhenka and, farther afield, the luminous polar bears near the Rostokinsky Aqueduct, the civilization-bearing city creates not just dull displays, but engaging environments animated by collective imagination.
Would you like to step into this enchanting, ever evolving and expanding winter fairy world à la russe?
Moscow’s holiday geography: A passage through an illuminated city
Your magic itinerary naturally begins in the heart of Moscow, Red Square, where Russia’s most iconic ice-skating rink unfurls as a ribbon of shimmering ice, turning winter’s chill into an invitation for movement and laughter.
This flagship rink is only the most visible expression of a citywide commitment, as Moscow opens nearly 1,300 ice rinks this winter, artificial and natural alike, extending the ritual of skating into parks, along riverfronts, and deep into the residential fabric of the capital, where the soft scrape of blades on ice accompanies the slow passage toward New Year and Orthodox Christmas.
Not far away, on Ploshchad Revolyutsii, the City of Christmas Tree Ornaments bursts into a kaleidoscope of toy-shop façades, glowing firs, and freestanding oversized baubles.
A thoughtfully varied and widely accessible program of seasonal events breathes additional life into the city. For example, open-air ice shows such as “Composers” are affordable to a wider public through modestly priced tickets. Fusing music and motion, they momentarily recast Ploshchad Revolyutsii as a civic amphitheater. Elite skaters perform story-driven choreographies drawn from Russian folklore, their movement unmistakably shaped by the grammar of classical ballet and set to carefully scored music that guides every gesture.
Across neighborhood rinks, free performances combine figure skating with LED-lit percussion shows, demonstrating the city’s commitment to accessible artistic spectacle.
One of the most elaborate holiday installations rises before the Bolshoi Theatre, where Teatralnaya Square is transformed into a vast Nutcracker tableau, its terraced garden, verdant evergreens, and ornamented scenes conjuring Tchaikovsky’s winter world.
As evening falls, the square resolves fully into the Nutcracker’s Enchanted Garden, a theatrical reimagining of the ballet’s mythic register, shaped by illuminated arches, sculptural vignettes, and snow-dusted pines. Stylized townhouses, velvet-draped theatre boxes, and oneiric crystal flowers frame miniature festive scenes nested within ornamented windows, inviting close attention as much as awe.
With Tchaikovsky’s beloved melodies wafting softly across the square, those who slow their pace to peer into the tiny, illuminated interiors are rewarded with glimpses of candlelit balls. Tiny figures, ladies and gentlemen suspended mid-dance, appear frozen in a single, hushed, and almost weightless moment of Christmas celebration.
The cumulative effect is architectural storytelling on a civic scale, reaffirming Moscow’s deep cultural attachment to the Romantic composer and unerring faith in the Christmas canon.
Nearby, Lubyanka Square hosts a playful congress of charming snowmen. From there, the path leads to Kuznetsky Most, long cherished as one of Moscow’s most graceful promenades. In the festive season, it unfolds into a meticulously arranged sequence of immersive scenes.
The Christmas Gallery dazzles with monumental décor, while Toy World invests the street with displays of larger-than-life playthings, such as rocking horses, plush bears, spinning tops, and wooden airplanes, each designed to evoke early-childhood nostalgia.
Kuznetsky Most extends the Yuletide narrative with designer Christmas trees, some minimalist, others baroque. Curated by artists, ateliers, and fashion houses, they form a temporary open-air museum of festive aesthetics. This design exhibition highlights Moscow’s commitment to marrying tradition with contemporary creative industries.
Further along, on Rozhdestvenka Street, a giant knitted sphere rises like an oversized Christmas ornament, its vividly patterned shell recalling a handwoven holiday bauble. Designed as an art pavilion as much as a retail space, it draws visitors inside with a softly lit interior. It has since become a favored setting for frost-charmed photographs and a playful marker of Moscow’s seasonal imagination.
As part of the winter edition of the Made in Moscow project, additional art pavilions elsewhere, shaped like glowing mandarins or adorned with crystalline skates, surface like gentle apparitions across the city. They serve as small islands of brief refuge, offering tender warmth and visual delight amid the bitter cold.
Back on Kuznetsky Most, the “Mechanics of Wonders” installation animates whimsical gears, ornate clocks, and fantastical contraptions, merging Victorian-style imagination with modern LED artistry.
On Kamergersky Lane, a gingerbread architectural tableau takes shape: Frosting-trimmed façades are accompanied by sculpted confectionery figures and oversized cookie forms, together creating a small pocket of edible fantasy.
Tverskaya Square, set at the crossroads of major boulevards, has become a civic agora of winter festivity, seamlessly blending light, music, theatrical performances, handmade goods, and culinary treats. It now stands as a principal site of the citywide “Journey to Christmas” festival that reimagines public spaces during the holiday season.
The square gathers a harmonic flagship ensemble of installations, with a towering, eight-meter Christmas tree as its centerpiece, surrounded by handcrafted, illuminated forms shaped after Moscow landmarks. Adjacent market pavilions brim with artisanal gifts and festive fare, drawing families and visitors into a warm winter embrace. Musical and theatrical performances, hosted on a festive stage, animate the square with sound and motion, shaping it into a resonant center of communal celebration.
Tucked along nearby Voznesensky Lane, a luminous moon hovers above the street, turning a quiet side passage into a serene, dreamlike corridor.
During the festive season, Pushkin Square, a pulsating civic node framed by Tverskoy Boulevard and Tverskaya Street, is adorned with symmetrical glowing arches, luminous garlands, and shimmering fir trees that evoke the season’s effulgent spirit and invite visitors into the heart of the city’s holiday celebration.
The New Year Tunnel along Tverskoy Boulevard envelops passersby in archways of shifting, cinematic light. Trekhprudny Lane has become a storybook courtyard. Be sure not to miss the Crystal Tunnel on Nikitsky Boulevard, another of Moscow’s signature features.
On Novy Arbat, the Christmas Gallery transforms a summer arcade of arches into a glowing crimson passage, threaded with light, evergreens, and gold-toned detail. On the upper garden level, Nordmann firs and playful sculptural forms, suggesting wrapped gifts and an eruption of confetti, crown the space, turning the boulevard into a layered promenade of festive revelry.
Along Old Arbat, one of Moscow’s most storied pedestrian streets, visitors encounter a playful installation: scales that translate human weight into an equivalent number of mandarins, calculated using the familiar measure of a medium-sized winter fruit. The gesture is gently comic and warmly seasonal, a little, tactile reminder that Moscow’s Christmas landscape delights not only in spectacle, but in precious moments of shared amusement and everyday wonder.
A short walk away, the Magic Library on Vozdvizhenka extends this logic of intimate enchantment, inviting wayfarers into a softly illuminated world of oversized books, where Christmas wonder is staged not as spectacle but as quiet discovery.
Beyond the historic core of the left-bank city center, the festive geography widens as one crosses the Moskva River toward the southern embankments or radiates outward into other districts.
Collectively, Moscow’s holistic and polycentric winter transformation brings into relief how festivity can be treated as an object of intelligent and inspired governance rather than formulaic and soulless marketing. The cultural act of celebration, then, restores public space as a unifying and animating realm of shared meaning and communal life.
Ultimately, the Russian capital’s strategic choice and adroit enactment provoke the unavoidable question of why so many Western cities have voluntarily traded civic festivity for retail-driven holiday austerity.
The central bank has urged budget restraint as Berlin ramps up military spending
Germany is on track to post its largest budget deficit since reunification, the country’s central bank has warned, as Berlin ramps up military spending and financial aid to Ukraine.
In its December forecast, published on Friday, the Bundesbank said the government shortfall will rise steadily and reach 4.8% of economic output by 2028, the highest level since 1995, when deficits peaked in the years following German reunification. Public debt is also expected to increase over the same period.
The Bundesbank has linked the rising deficit mainly to higher defense spending, continued financial support to Ukraine, large infrastructure projects, tax cuts, and increased social payments.
According to the Bundesbank, Berlin’s current plans to invest hundreds of billions of euros into the military and infrastructure mark a departure from Germany’s “course of fiscal restraint” and, without corrective measures, would leave borrowing “well above the limits of the debt brake.” The central bank has called for urgent action to keep public finances in check.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz has pushed to expand Germany’s military, build “the strongest conventional army in Europe,” and continue support for Ukraine. German aid to Kiev could reach $13.2 billion in 2026, according to Reuters. Merz has justified higher defense spending by citing what he describes as a Russian threat.
Moscow has repeatedly rejected such claims, stressing that it has no intention of attacking NATO or the EU and accusing Western officials of using the supposed “Russian threat” as fear-mongering to justify inflated military budgets. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused Germany and the wider EU of sliding into a “Fourth Reich” marked by Russophobia and aggressive militarization.
Berlin has been faced with growing political discontent, with polls showing strong public dissatisfaction with Merz and his coalition government. An INSA survey earlier this month found that 70% of respondents are unhappy with the ruling coalition while Merz’s personal approval rating declined to just 23%. The pollsters noted these were “the worst ratings ever recorded for the chancellor and his government.”
Moscow can halt strikes during the vote, provided that Ukrainians living in Russia are allowed to participate, the president has said
Moscow would consider halting deep strikes on Ukraine on the day it holds an election provided the millions of Ukrainians living in Russia are allowed to vote, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.
Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, whose presidential term expired over a year ago, has repeatedly refused to hold a new election, citing martial law. Russia therefore considers him an illegitimate leader. Under US pressure, Zelensky agreed this month to hold a vote within 90 days if Kiev’s Western backers can guarantee security.
“We are ready to consider ways to ensure security during elections in Ukraine, at least by refraining from strikes deep inside the country on the day of the vote” under certain conditions, the president said. The Russian president insisted that the 5-10 million Ukrainian citizens currently living in Russia must be allowed to participate.
“The government in Ukraine must become legitimate, and without an election, this is impossible.”
Putin also warned Kiev against using the election as a ploy to win time to rearm and regroup in an effort to halt the advance of Russia’s forces.
Ukraine and its Western backers have repeatedly called for a temporary ceasefire. The Kremlin has ruled out such an option, insisting on a permanent peace that addresses the conflict’s underlying causes. Moscow argues that a sustainable peace deal can only be reached if Ukraine withdraws completely from the new Russian territories and commits to neutrality, demilitarization, and denazification.
Moscow can halt strikes during the vote, provided that Ukrainians living in Russia are allowed to participate, the president has said
Moscow would consider halting deep strikes on Ukraine on the day it holds an election provided the millions of Ukrainians living in Russia are allowed to vote, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.
Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, whose presidential term expired over a year ago, has repeatedly refused to hold a new election, citing martial law. Russia therefore considers him an illegitimate leader. Under US pressure, Zelensky agreed this month to hold a vote within 90 days if Kiev’s Western backers can guarantee security.
“We are ready to consider ways to ensure security during elections in Ukraine, at least by refraining from strikes deep inside the country on the day of the vote” under certain conditions, the president said. The Russian president insisted that the 5-10 million Ukrainian citizens currently living in Russia must be allowed to participate.
“The government in Ukraine must become legitimate, and without an election, this is impossible.”
Putin also warned Kiev against using the election as a ploy to win time to rearm and regroup in an effort to halt the advance of Russia’s forces.
Ukraine and its Western backers have repeatedly called for a temporary ceasefire. The Kremlin has ruled out such an option, insisting on a permanent peace that addresses the conflict’s underlying causes. Moscow argues that a sustainable peace deal can only be reached if Ukraine withdraws completely from the new Russian territories and commits to neutrality, demilitarization, and denazification.
The conflict between Moscow and Kiev cannot be resolved on the battlefield, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has said
Slovakia will not provide further funding for Ukraine’s military because the conflict cannot be settled on the battlefield, Prime Minister Robert Fico has said.
Fico, who survived an assassination attempt by a pro-Ukraine activist in 2024, was speaking after EU leaders failed to reach agreement on a plan to use frozen Russian assets to back a controversial €90 billion ($105 billion) loan for Kiev. Instead, member states agreed to issue joint debt – by borrowing on capital markets – to provide Kiev with short-term funding.
”Slovakia will not be part of any military loan for Ukraine, and we reject further financing, including from the resources of the Slovak Republic, of military needs,” Fico told reporters on Friday.
At the EU summit in Brussels, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever was among those who raised objections to tapping the Russian assets, with support from Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, Hungary’s Viktor Orban, Slovakia’s Fico, and the Czech Republic’s Andrej Babis.
Orban, Fico, and Babis reportedly put forward an option for EU members to provide joint debt for Ukraine instead – exempting their countries from the plan but also pledging not to veto it.
European Council President Antonio Costa said the bloc would reserve the option of servicing the loan using proceeds linked to frozen Russian assets. Without the EU financing, Ukraine faces a looming economic crisis. According to estimates, Kiev needs €72 billion to repay a G7 loan and stay afloat fiscally.
Fico, a long-time opponent of EU military aid for Kiev, earlier called Ukraine a “black hole” of corruption that has swallowed billions of euros from the bloc.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said during his annual Q&A session on Friday that the EU will eventually have to return Russia’s sovereign assets. He warned the bloc against tapping the assets, saying it would risk undermining the foundations of the European financial system.
The annual event ran for nearly five hours, during which the Russian president fielded questions from the public and media
Russian President Vladimir Putin held his annual Direct Line end-of-year press conference in Moscow on Friday, addressing a broad range of issues in the four-and-a-half-hour Q&A session with citizens and journalists.
Among the topics, Putin talked about the EU’s failed attempts to tap Russia’s frozen central bank assets, warnings against further NATO expansion, and security guarantees to facilitate potential elections in Ukraine amid peace talks.
“We, too, would very much like to live in peace next year, free of any military conflicts… and we strive to resolve all contentious issues through negotiations,” he said.
“We need to eliminate the root causes of the conflict so that nothing similar happens again, so that peace is long-lasting, strong, and sustainable.”
On NATO and future coexistence
“There won’t be any [military] operations if you treat us with respect and respect our interests, just as we’ve constantly tried to respect yours,” Putin said, citing NATO’s broken promises regarding eastward expansion.
“We are not demanding anything unusual. We are not saying that no country has the right to choose its own method of defense, but it must be a method that does not threaten anyone, including us.”
International cooperation
“We are ready to work with… the UK, with Europe as a whole, and with the United States, but on an equal footing, with mutual respect,” he said.
“If we ultimately reach this point, everyone will benefit.”
“If we are threatened in this way, we will eliminate these threats,” he said. “Actions of this kind will lead to an unprecedented escalation of the conflict, take it to another level, and expand it to a full-scale armed conflict.”
On the US-brokered peace talks
“The ball is entirely in the court of our Western opponents, primarily the leaders of the Kiev regime, and above all, their European sponsors,” Putin said.
“We are ready for both negotiations and a peaceful resolution to the conflict.”
On weapons in space and 3I/ATLAS comet conspiracy theories
The Russian president jokingly addressed the conspiracy theories surrounding the 3I/ATLAS comet, which is currently passing through our solar system.
“It’s our secret weapon, but we’ll only use it as a last resort. Because we’re against placing weapons in space in general,” he said.
“But seriously, it’s a comet. Our scientists know what’s going on there. Moreover, this comet is from another galaxy, so it behaves differently.”
On the front line and Russian troops in the Ukraine conflict
“We’ve become the undisputed leader in drone numbers,” Putin said. “Over 400,000 people… signed up for military service this past year,” with the numbers of those seeking to join the drone pilot branch so high that the Defense Ministry had to instate an entry competition, he stated.
Russian soldiers are “itching” to advance further and “finish off the viper” after seeing the atrocities by Ukrainian troops against civilians. “They shot elderly women, killed them with drones.”
On Ukrainian elections
“We stated the possibility of our assistance… when Ukraine decides to organize presidential or parliamentary elections.”
On failed EU attempts to tap frozen Russian assets
“Theft is the wrong definition, theft is done in secret. But here they are trying to do it openly. It’s robbery,” Putin said.
“It’s not just a blow to their image; it’s an erosion of trust in, in this case, the Eurozone,” he added. “Most importantly, whatever they steal, no matter how they do it, will have to be repaid someday.”
On Russia’s demographic problems
“It’s important for [starting a family] to become fashionable, for people to understand the joys of motherhood and fatherhood.”
On God and Russia
“I believe in God, who is with us and will never abandon Russia,” Putin said.
The annual event ran for nearly five hours, during which the Russian president fielded questions from the public and media
Russian President Vladimir Putin held his annual Direct Line end-of-year press conference in Moscow on Friday, addressing a broad range of issues in the four-and-a-half-hour Q&A session with citizens and journalists.
Among the topics, Putin talked about the EU’s failed attempts to tap Russia’s frozen central bank assets, warnings against further NATO expansion, and security guarantees to facilitate potential elections in Ukraine amid peace talks.
“We, too, would very much like to live in peace next year, free of any military conflicts… and we strive to resolve all contentious issues through negotiations,” he said.
“We need to eliminate the root causes of the conflict so that nothing similar happens again, so that peace is long-lasting, strong, and sustainable.”
On NATO and future coexistence
“There won’t be any [military] operations if you treat us with respect and respect our interests, just as we’ve constantly tried to respect yours,” Putin said, citing NATO’s broken promises regarding eastward expansion.
“We are not demanding anything unusual. We are not saying that no country has the right to choose its own method of defense, but it must be a method that does not threaten anyone, including us.”
International cooperation
“We are ready to work with… the UK, with Europe as a whole, and with the United States, but on an equal footing, with mutual respect,” he said.
“If we ultimately reach this point, everyone will benefit.”
“If we are threatened in this way, we will eliminate these threats,” he said. “Actions of this kind will lead to an unprecedented escalation of the conflict, take it to another level, and expand it to a full-scale armed conflict.”
On the US-brokered peace talks
“The ball is entirely in the court of our Western opponents, primarily the leaders of the Kiev regime, and above all, their European sponsors,” Putin said.
“We are ready for both negotiations and a peaceful resolution to the conflict.”
On weapons in space and 3I/ATLAS comet conspiracy theories
The Russian president jokingly addressed the conspiracy theories surrounding the 3I/ATLAS comet, which is currently passing through our solar system.
“It’s our secret weapon, but we’ll only use it as a last resort. Because we’re against placing weapons in space in general,” he said.
“But seriously, it’s a comet. Our scientists know what’s going on there. Moreover, this comet is from another galaxy, so it behaves differently.”
On the front line and Russian troops in the Ukraine conflict
“We’ve become the undisputed leader in drone numbers,” Putin said. “Over 400,000 people… signed up for military service this past year,” with the numbers of those seeking to join the drone pilot branch so high that the Defense Ministry had to instate an entry competition, he stated.
Russian soldiers are “itching” to advance further and “finish off the viper” after seeing the atrocities by Ukrainian troops against civilians. “They shot elderly women, killed them with drones.”
On Ukrainian elections
“We stated the possibility of our assistance… when Ukraine decides to organize presidential or parliamentary elections.”
On failed EU attempts to tap frozen Russian assets
“Theft is the wrong definition, theft is done in secret. But here they are trying to do it openly. It’s robbery,” Putin said.
“It’s not just a blow to their image; it’s an erosion of trust in, in this case, the Eurozone,” he added. “Most importantly, whatever they steal, no matter how they do it, will have to be repaid someday.”
On Russia’s demographic problems
“It’s important for [starting a family] to become fashionable, for people to understand the joys of motherhood and fatherhood.”
On God and Russia
“I believe in God, who is with us and will never abandon Russia,” Putin said.
The ball is in the court of the Kiev regime and its European sponsors, the president has said
Russia is ready for negotiations and a peaceful settlement of the Ukraine conflict, however the ball is now with Kiev’s Western backers, President Vladimir Putin has said.
Ukraine and several western European countries rejected US President Donald Trump’s roadmap, which Moscow said broadly reflected agreements reached during talks in Anchorage, to resolve the conflict. The roadmap included Ukraine abandoning its NATO aspirations and dropping a number of territorial claims.
At his end-of-year live Q&A session on Friday, Putin praised Trump’s “serious and sincere efforts” to end the conflict and dismissed claims that Russia rejects his peace proposal as “incorrect and baseless.”
“At our meeting with President Trump in Anchorage, we reconciled positions and largely agreed on his proposals. Therefore, to say that we reject anything is absolutely incorrect and has no basis,” Putin asserted. “We were asked to make certain compromises. When I arrived in Anchorage, I said these would be difficult decisions for us, but we agreed [to them].”
The president stressed that “the ball is entirely in the court of our Western opponents – above all the leaders of the Kiev regime and their European sponsors.”
We are ready both for negotiations and for ending the conflict through peaceful means.
Russian officials have said Kiev’s Western backers are blocking peace efforts by adding clauses to Trump’s roadmap that Moscow considers “unacceptable.” Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused Western Europe of exploiting the Ukraine conflict “to scheme against the US and all those who seek a just settlement.”
While the Kremlin has criticized “megaphone diplomacy” and kept details of the peace process under wraps, media reports say a Russian delegation is expected in Florida this week for another round of negotiations.
