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New Year & Christmas

Putin to make his traditional New Year address from Kremlin — spokesman

According to Dmitry Peskov, the address "has not yet been recorded"

MOSCOW, December 19. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s traditional New Year address will be recorded in the Kremlin, Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said.

"On New Year’s eve, Putin congratulates Russians while standing outside [against the backdrop of the Kremlin’s walls]. It will be the same this year," he said, when asked whether any surprises should be expected.

According to Peskov, the address "has not yet been recorded."

As a rule, the president’s New Year address is recorded against the backdrop of the Kremlin. However, this tradition was broken on several occasions. In 2022, Putin delivered his address from the headquarters of the Southern Military District in Rostov-on-Don, surrounded by servicemen taking part in the special military operation. On December 21, 2013, the Russian leader was on a working trip to Khabarovsk, a city in Russia’s Far East hit by floods. On that night, residents of Russia’s easternmost region of Kamchatka saw the president’s address recorded in the Kremlin beforehand, while the rest of Russia’s time zones were shown the presidential address delivered from Khabarovsk.

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Vladimir Putin Dmitry Peskov New Year & Christmas

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EU summit communique makes no mention of Russian assets, meeting continues

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Whole world, save for Europe, condemns US actions in Caribbean — Lavrov

The Russian foreign minister underscored that "all other countries have clearly expressed their positions"

Kremlin gets set to be briefed by US on talks with Ukraine, EU

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Kiev and Europe try to disown compromises of Trump plan, Naryshkin says

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INTERVIEW: Ukraine can return to normalcy when Nazism snuffed out — intel chief

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UK 'co-running war' in Ukraine — former French military officer

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Dmitry Peskov noted that "the Kiev regime continues to demonstrate its true nature"

Russian troops strike Ukrainian army’s energy infrastructure over past day

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Russia alarmed by worsening humanitarian situation in Syria — UN mission

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Karin Kneissl: Zelensky Has No Chance Left

Zelensky cannot withdraw troops from Donbass due to nationalist resistance — opposition

Viktor Medvedchuk noted that Western media outlets consistently report significant pressure from Washington on Kiev and Europe regarding this issue

Washington's main concert complex to be renamed in honor of Trump and Kennedy

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EU to issue 90 billion euro in interest-free loan to Kiev — Merz

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Russia’s Intelligence Service likens declared unity of West to chimera

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Russia-UK relations head south after Putin's Munich speech in 2007 — foreign intel chief

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Trump says US wants back oil rights allegedly taken by Venezuela

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EU summit fails to expropriate Russian assets, but may do so in future — von der Leyen

"The member states have agreed to finance Ukraine through an EU borrowing on the capital markets for an amount of 90 billion euro for the next two years," Ursula von der Leyen said

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Corruption scandal fallout, threat to Ukrainian elites — Russia’s SVR statements

According to the intelligence service, the corruption scandal in Ukraine has resulted in "a sharp decline in the morale of Ukrainian troops on the frontlines"

EU fixated on idea of stealing Russia's money to continue war in Ukraine — Kremlin

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Russia hopes Serbia stands by national interests, not West's lies — SVR chief

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EU leaders looking for ways to finance Ukraine, but Hungary will not support them — Orban

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Lavrov to discuss preparations for third Russia-Africa summit in Cairo

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Billionaire Isaacman to serve as new head of NASA

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Bank of Russia refrains from naming foreign banks it plans to sue

The regulator said that it is too early to speak about any assessments

EU leaders upset about late start to Brussels summit — media

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Zelensky admits Biden told him Ukraine would not be brought in to NATO before conflict

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Lukashenko says he is ‘outgoing’ president

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New US security strategy rightly America first — Russian intel chief

Sergey Naryshkin noted that "there are clear tendencies toward isolationism, which US President Donald Trump and US Vice President JD Vance do not hide"

Russia’s Safonov makes history for PSG in FIFA championship win

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Russian intel chief reveals recent extended call with MI6 director

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Russophobic policies to cause further degradation of EU — Naryshkin

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Euro democracy in US crosshairs, meddling threat in Russian elections: Lavrov statements

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TikTok signs deal to sell its US business — Axios

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Russian troops destroy 67 foreign mercenaries in battles for Yunakovka — defense source

According to the source, they were mostly Colombian nationals

Hungary, Czechia, Slovakia refuse to finance Kiev — EU summit statement

The European Council agrees to provide a loan to Ukraine of EUR 90 billion for the years 2026-2027 based on EU borrowing on the capital markets backed by the EU budget headroom

EU elites put stake on anti-Russian policy — Russian intelligence chief

Sergey Naryshkin noted that leaders of certain European countries are "in a dangerous situation"

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Bank of Russia lowers dollar rate to 80.03 rubles for December 19

The official euro rate was raised by 10 kopecks to 94.2524 rubles

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The Belarusian leader stressed that energy was the guarantor of economic development and a matter of national self-sufficiency

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Dmitry Peskov recalled that Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro spoke on the phone on December 11

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Viktor Medvedchuk also noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin has made it abundantly clear that the desire for war in this situation does not come from Russia

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The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service said that the Mindich-Zelensky case is undermining Ukraine

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Russia ready to restore intergovernmental trade commission with Slovakia

Minister of Science and Higher Education Valery Falkov heads the commission from the Russian side, Maria Zakharova noted

Orban describes EU loan for Ukraine as 'lost money' — Reuters

Viktor Orban assured that his country "is staying out" from European financing of the Kiev government

Russian defense technologies unmatched by Western military-industrial complex — expert

Alexander Stepanov noted that established industrial production would make it possible to make tens and even hundreds of items per year to provide strategic coverage for all critical areas and facilities in the Russian border regions

Lukoil left Ghasha concession in the UAE in November — mass media

The Russian company transferred its 10% participation interest to ADNOC

ECB will not support loan mechanism for Ukraine breaching EU laws — Lagarde

Article 123 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union prevents the ECB from printing money explicitly to finance government spending

FACTBOX: S-500 Anti-Aircraft Missile System

The system is being developed with the capability to be operational for the next 25 years

Anti-drone systems of Rosel holding protect Russia’s infrastructure — Rostec

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Ukraine’s unused gas in 2013 may cause fines of almost ten billion dollars

Ukraine’s incomplete receipt of gas in 2013 may cause fines of almost ten billion dollars

Russia, Africa working to increase number of intergovernmental commissions

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EU leaders discuss ‘uncapped financial guarantees’ to Belgium — Euractiv

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Desertion in Ukrainian armed forces grows — Russian intelligence chief

"In contrast to the Ukrainian side, the Russian army is continuously advancing, liberating several villages and cities each week." Sergey Naryshkin stated

Intelligence services remain ‘almost sole’ link between Russia, Europe — SVR

Responding to a question about whether the Russian side observes more common sense in the approaches of European countries’ intelligence services than in the activities of their politicians, Sergey Naryshkin noted that "the approaches of intelligence services generally align with the policies of their states"

Georgia's Labor party says accession to NATO detrimental for Georgia.

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Russia’s Safonov makes football goalkeeping history in French PSG FIFA championship win

The final match of the 2025 FIFA Intercontinental Cup between Paris Saint-Germain football club from France and Brazilian Flamengo FC was played at the 45,000-seat capacity Ahmad bin Ali Stadium

Ukrainian soldiers’ morale collapses after corruption scandal — SVR

According to the report, an increasing number of newly mobilized troops are deserting their positions, unwilling to risk

Inevitable Ukrainian surrender to make peace talk much easier — SVR

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Europe should consider Putin's words on placing Oreshnik missile on combat duty — expert

Military-Political Analysis Bureau head Alexander Mikhailov emphasized that the tactical and technical characteristics of the Oreshnik missile allow the Russian army to launch a strike targeting any spot in Europe

Russian stock market indices mixed on Thursday — market data

The MOEX Russia Index lost 0.24% to 2,753.07 points

Western military presence in Ukraine in any format unacceptable for Russia — MFA

Maria Zakharova stated that such pseudo-peacekeepers would become legitimate targets for the Russian army

IN BRIEF: Resuming nuclear tests, NATO threat: what Russia's military chief of staff said

The North Atlantic Alliance, under the pretext of a so-called Russian military threat, has "significantly increased" its military presence near Russia’s borders

Russia to boost fertilizer output by 3% to 65 mln tons in 2025

Russian Association of Fertilizer Producers President Andrey Guryev noted that by this figure Russia has surpassed the United States, India, and Canada and has firmly held second place globally behind China for several years

Beijing vows decisive response to $11 bln US arms sale to Taiwan

"The US side has announced a large-scale plan to sell advanced weapons to Taiwan, which seriously violates the One China principle and provisions of three joint communiques," Guo Jiakun said

Maduro vows full effort to protect Venezuela’s sovereignty under any circumstances

The Venezuelan president stated that the United States is seeking a regime change in the Bolivarian Republic "to impose a puppet government that will turn the country with its natural resources into a colony"

Durov compares UK’s future to dystopian thriller

V for Vendetta’s totalitarian UK felt far-fetched 20 years ago, now "it feels less like fiction and more like a government action plan," Telegram co-founder said

Press review: Trump seeks to pressure Moscow as EU desperate to find funds for Ukraine

Top stories from the Russian press on Thursday, December 18th

US relations thaw proving difficult — Russian diplomat

Maria Zakharova stressed that Russia's principled position, firmly based on the protection of national interests, respect for traditions, and a sustained readiness for pragmatic dialogue, constitutes the only correct approach

Gold futures record high on Comex again — market data

The precious metal price gained 0.92% to $4,401.9 per Troy ounce

Further funding for Ukraine risks prolonging conflict with Russia, Hungarian PM warns

Viktor Orban also pointed out that the idea of a Russian asset seizure was dead because talks on the issue "have stalled"

West can simply steal countries’ gold and foreign exchange reserves — Lukashenko

The Belarusian leader that the country held a record level of gold and foreign exchange reserves at present and suggested rethinking the strategy for managing international reserve assets

Russia’s international reserves down $0.5 bln over week to $741 bln

As of December 5, the volume of reserves amounted to $741.5 bln

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Four EU officials said that a key point in the discussion was the idea of excluding Hungary and Slovakia from the general debt repayment scheme, as both countries oppose further aid to Ukraine

Putin receives random but curated questions from Russians for Q&A session — Kremlin

According to Dmitry Peskov, to date, more than 2,100,000 questions have come in via different channels

US Treasury removes six entities, two individuals from anti-Russian sanctions

The sanctions will no longer apply to Russian citizen Dmitry Bugayenko and Finnish citizen Evgenia Dremova

US actions in Venezuela display Washington's neocolonial approach — Russia’s UN envoy

"Starting with false pretexts of combatting drug trafficking and terrorism, Washington has already moved on to open threats of military aggression and seizure of the territory and natural resources of a sovereign state," Vasily Nebenzya said

Four US planes spotted again near Venezuela's maritime border — dispatchers

"At least four carrier-based aircraft, namely Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter-bombers, are over neutral waters in the immediate vicinity of the Venezuelan border," the source said

Special EU decision now needed to unblock frozen Russian assets — von der Leyen

The qualified majority implies that 16 out of the 27 EU member countries, home to over 55% population of the European Union, need to support the move

Russia welcomes election of Chile's new president — diplomat

Maria Zakharova added that Russia and Chile have been linked by decades of friendship, solidarity, and cooperation