Moscow urges restraint to prevent “unforeseen developments,” presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said
Escalating tensions between the United States and Venezuela carry serious risks and could lead to “unforeseen developments,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.
The warning came after US President Donald Trump intensified pressure on Caracas by announcing an expansion of a partial naval blockade aimed at halting Venezuelan crude exports. The authorities in the Latin American nation, where Washington does not recognize the government, have expressed defiance.
“Of course, we are calling on all countries in the region to exercise restraint in order to avoid any unforeseen development of the situation,” Peskov said, adding that Russia considers Venezuela an important partner.
Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry urged the Trump administration to adhere to a “rational and pragmatic approach,” cautioning that missteps could amount to a “fatal mistake” and further inflame the situation.
China has voiced similar concerns. Beijing’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said the People’s Republic opposes “all acts of unilateralism and bullying” and supports Venezuela’s sovereign right to “independently develop mutually beneficial cooperation with other countries.”
Trump has highlighted the US naval buildup near Venezuela, claiming the country is “completely surrounded by the largest armada ever assembled in the history of South America,” while demanding that Caracas return “all of the oil, land, and other assets that they previously stole from us.”
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro accused Washington of attempting to “impose a puppet government” that would surrender the country’s sovereignty and resources, effectively turning it into a colony. He pledged to prevent such an outcome and condemned US pressure tactics as “barbarism.”
Moscow urges restraint to prevent “unforeseen developments,” presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said
Escalating tensions between the United States and Venezuela carry serious risks and could lead to “unforeseen developments,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.
The warning came after US President Donald Trump intensified pressure on Caracas by announcing an expansion of a partial naval blockade aimed at halting Venezuelan crude exports. The authorities in the Latin American nation, where Washington does not recognize the government, have expressed defiance.
“Of course, we are calling on all countries in the region to exercise restraint in order to avoid any unforeseen development of the situation,” Peskov said, adding that Russia considers Venezuela an important partner.
Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry urged the Trump administration to adhere to a “rational and pragmatic approach,” cautioning that missteps could amount to a “fatal mistake” and further inflame the situation.
China has voiced similar concerns. Beijing’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said the People’s Republic opposes “all acts of unilateralism and bullying” and supports Venezuela’s sovereign right to “independently develop mutually beneficial cooperation with other countries.”
Trump has highlighted the US naval buildup near Venezuela, claiming the country is “completely surrounded by the largest armada ever assembled in the history of South America,” while demanding that Caracas return “all of the oil, land, and other assets that they previously stole from us.”
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro accused Washington of attempting to “impose a puppet government” that would surrender the country’s sovereignty and resources, effectively turning it into a colony. He pledged to prevent such an outcome and condemned US pressure tactics as “barbarism.”
Azerbaijani prosecutors have charged Ruben Vardanyan with grave crimes tied to the now-defunct Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
An Azerbaijani state prosecutor has requested a life sentence for Ruben Vardanyan, a billionaire and former Russian citizen standing trial in Baku on multiple charges, as reported by local media.
The Armenian-born businessman gave up his Russian citizenship after relocating to the Nagorno-Karabakh region in 2022, which had long been at the center of a dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia. He went on to serve in the administration of a self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Baku restored control over the territory through military action in 2023, after which Vardanyan was detained while attempting to leave.
At a hearing before a military tribunal in Baku on Thursday, prosecutors reiterated claims that Vardanyan, in his capacity as state minister of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, also known as Artsakh, bore responsibility for a range of crimes. These included crimes against humanity, war crimes, terrorism, and financing of terrorism, the prosecution said, urging the court to impose a life sentence. Vardanyan’s trial began in January.
In a statement released earlier the same day through Vardanyan’s family, he repeated his characterization of the proceedings as an “imitation of justice” and proclaimed that “Arstakh was, is, and will be.”
Vardanyan, 57, amassed his fortune in the 1990s as a co-founder of the investment firm Troika Dialogue. In 2011, the company was acquired by Russia’s largest lender, Sber, in a deal valued at $1.4 billion.
By tapping Russian assets frozen in the bloc, its members aim to boost their own defense industry while arming Kiev
The EU wants to retain proceeds from frozen Russian assets by introducing a “Buy European” boost for its own defense industry as it arms Ukraine, and is moving to lock in strict procurement rules for a potential loan for Kiev, Bloomberg has reported.
EU members have long debated tapping Russian central bank funds frozen in the West as part of a “reparations loan” to Kiev. The bloc’s leaders hope to clinch the plan at a summit this week. Moscow has condemned any use of its immobilized funds as “theft.”
The draft would steer up to €210 billion ($246 billion) over the next five years to defense suppliers based in the EU and Ukraine, with a limited carve-out for non-EU members such as Norway. Brussels is reportedly seeking to ensure that any boost to Ukraine’s military capacity directly supports the bloc’s own defense industry, the outlet said on Wednesday, citing a proposal circulated to member states this week.
Participation by non-EU countries would be tightly capped and regulated, a condition that would sharply limit Kiev’s ability to use the loan to buy US-made weapons, the outlet said, citing the proposal.
Earlier this year, US President Donald Trump rolled out a new Ukraine arms-supply scheme under which Washington sells weapons sought by Kiev to NATO members, who then deliver them to the country.
In November, Trump said the US was no longer “spending” money on Ukraine and was instead taking in funds through weapons sales to NATO countries.
The reported proposal would also give the European Commission the power to require European defense manufacturers to prioritize orders for Ukraine and to impose penalties for non-compliance.
Last week, the EU member states voted on the latest temporary freeze on Russian sovereign funds. The bloc’s leadership had to invoke emergency powers to overcome the opposition of member states, including Hungary and Slovakia.
The initiative has faced mounting resistance from several member states, who argue the move risks undermining the bloc’s legal foundations, damaging confidence in the Eurozone and exposing European institutions to costly lawsuits.
Russia has steadfastly opposed EU moves to “steal” the funds, warning of economic and legal consequences.
Last week, the Bank of Russia filed a lawsuit seeking $230 billion in compensation from Euroclear. The first hearing has been scheduled for January 16.
The attack on the alleged narco-trafficking vessel comes amid rising tensions in the region and an ongoing standoff with Venezuela
The US has destroyed another alleged narco-trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing several people, the Pentagon announced on Wednesday. The strike comes amid spiraling tensions in the region and a standoff between the US and Venezuela.
US Southern Command reported that a “lethal kinetic strike” was carried out against a vessel allegedly operated by a designated terrorist organization as it was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route in international waters. Four male “narco-terrorists” were killed in the strike, it added.
The attack was part of Operation Southern Spear, an anti-drug campaign launched by US President Donald Trump during which Washington has significantly expanded its military presence in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, deploying naval and air assets. At least 99 people are said to have been killed in strikes on suspected drug-smuggling vessels in the region since September.
The operation has drawn criticism internationally, with Venezuela and Colombia arguing it is an attempt by Washington to begin a resource grab in the region rather than a counter-smuggling effort.
On Dec. 17, at the direction of @SecWar Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters. Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was transiting along a known… pic.twitter.com/Yhu3LSOyea
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has also argued that the act of sinking civilian chips without trial is “illegal.”
The latest strike was reported just ahead of Trump’s prime-time address to the nation on Wednesday night, during which many had speculated the president would declare war on Venezuela – although this did not happen.
Last month, the US designated the Venezuelan Cartel de los Soles as a terrorist organization, alleging links to Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, an accusation rejected by Caracas. This week, Trump went further by declaring the Venezuelan government itself a foreign terrorist organization and ordering a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving the country.
The moves have sparked concerns of a direct military conflict between the US and Venezuela. However, during his Wednesday address, Trump focused on domestic and foreign policy priorities and made no reference to the escalating standoff with Caracas.
Maduro has condemned the blockade as illegal under international law and has accused Washington of seeking regime change to seize Venezuela’s natural resources. He has called on the United Nations to respond to what he described as an escalating threat to regional peace.
The package, worth over $11 billion, features HIMARS, ATACMS missiles and drones
The US Department of War has approved $11.1 billion in arms sales to Taiwan, marking the largest US weapons package ever for the island, following a $330 million deal in November for spare and repair parts for aircraft.
The deal includes eight separate purchases covering 82 HIMARS rocket systems and 420 ATACMS missiles worth over $4 billion, anti-tank missiles, anti-armor missiles, loitering suicide drones, howitzers, military software and parts for other equipment, according to details released by both governments and Taiwan’s defense ministry.
China, which views the self-governing island as part of its territory, has yet to comment on the deal, but has repeatedly condemned Washington’s continued military cooperation with Taiwan.
The island’s defense ministry said purchases should help Taiwan maintain “sufficient self-defense capabilities” as the US continues to assist it in building “strong deterrent power” and leveraging “asymmetric warfare advantages,” which it described as the “foundation for maintaining regional peace and stability.”
The ministry said the package was at the congressional notification stage, when lawmakers can block or modify the sale if they choose.
In a series of separate statements detailing the deal, the Pentagon said the proposed sales would advance US national, economic and security interests by backing Taiwan’s efforts to modernize its armed forces and maintain what it called a “credible defensive capability.”
Pushed by the US, the island has been ramping up military purchases in recent years and the latest arms sale announcement is the second under US President Donald Trump since he returned to office.
Officially, the US supports the One-China policy, stating that Taiwan, which has maintained de facto self-rule since 1949 but never officially declared independence from Beijing, is an integral part of the country.
However, Washington has maintained contact with the authorities in Taipei, continued to supply arms to Taiwan and promised to defend the island militarily in the event of a conflict with the mainland.
China has said repeatedly that its goal is “peaceful reunification” with Taiwan, but has warned that Beijing will not hesitate to use force should it formally declare independence.
Moscow has condemned all proposals to use its sovereign funds to support Ukraine as “theft” and warned of legal retaliation
EU leaders have failed to back a controversial plan to steal sovereign Russian assets to finance Ukraine’s economy and military.
Following a divisive 16-hour summit in Brussels on Thursday, no backing was secured for the plan which Moscow has denounced as outright theft and warned would trigger legal retaliation.
The bloc’s leaders were locked into talks that went into the night, after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen demanded that nobody be allowed to leave until financing for Ukraine has been secured. Ukraine faces an estimated $160 billion fiscal shortfall over the next two years.
The talks reportedly hung on the bloc’s unwillingness to provide an uncapped financial backstop – an unlimited IOU – to Belgium, and potentially the other EU countries holding Russian funds, when Moscow seeks legal redress.
Bloc members have long debated tapping Russian central bank funds estimated at around €210 billion ($246 billion) as part of a ‘reparations loan’ to Kiev (to understand why that is a misnomer and part of EU spin, read here) which it will have to repay only if Russia agrees to pay war damages.
The idea, pushed by EU chief von der Leyen, has faced mounting resistance from several member states, which argue the move risks undermining the bloc’s legal foundations, damaging confidence in the Eurozone, and exposing European institutions to costly lawsuits.
Belgium, where most of the assets are held via the Euroclear settlement system, has been a particularly vehement critic of the plan, demanding that legal risks be shared among other EU members.
Disagreements have been so intense that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Wednesday that the Russian assets issue “will not be on the table” at all during the leaders’ meeting. The official agenda also does not explicitly mention Russian assets, saying only that EU leaders “will discuss the latest developments in Ukraine and issues that require urgent EU action.”
EU sanctions normally require unanimous approval, giving any single member state a veto. To avoid that, the bloc last week invoked controversial emergency legislation – already the subject of a legal challenge by the European Parliament – to lock the assets in place temporarily, arguing that any subsequent steps can be approved separately by a qualified majority of 55% member states representing at least 65% of the EU’s population.
Moscow has warned that any attempts to seize its assets will constitute “theft” and violate international law, adding that the move would trigger retaliatory measures and legal action.
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Envoys are expected to meet Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who held discussions with officials from Kiev earlier this week
A Russian diplomatic delegation is expected to travel to Florida this week for talks with the US representatives involved in President Donald Trump’s push to broker a peace agreement in the Ukraine conflict, according to media reports.
The delegation will reportedly be led by senior negotiator Kirill Dmitriev and is scheduled to meet at the weekend with US special presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner in Miami, Politico and Axios reported, citing sources familiar with the plans. Witkoff and Kushner spent this week in Germany holding discussions with Ukrainian representatives on possible security guarantees for Kiev.
A separate Ukrainian team headed by National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov is also expected to visit Miami later this week, though the reports stressed that no meeting involving all three sides is planned.
Kiev and its European backers have been urging Washington to soften or revise its initial peace proposal, which media reports say addressed several of Russia’s long-standing concerns.
Moscow has avoided commenting on negotiations in which it is not directly involved, repeatedly stating that it can only assess proposals delivered through proper channels. Russian officials have emphasized that any settlement must tackle what they describe as the root causes of the conflict, including the expansion of the Western military presence in Ukraine and Kiev’s discriminatory policies toward ethnic Russians.
Russian forces currently retain the upper hand on the battlefield, with President Vladimir Putin recently saying that accumulated experience in breaking through Ukrainian defenses “allows us to increase the pace of advancement in strategic directions.”
Speaking at a Defense Ministry meeting on Wednesday, Putin blamed the escalation of the conflict on former US President Joe Biden, arguing his team had expected a quick victory over Russia. European leaders, he added, “instantly joined the efforts of the previous American administration in the hope they would benefit from demolishing our nation” and avenge historical grievances against Russia.
A controversial vote under dubious legal circumstances is set to herald a new era in which Brussels destroys its own reputation
It is crunch time for Ursula von der Leyen and her Brussels-based cabal who have attempted to bend and break EU law in order to force through a dubious legal claim for the use of sovereign Russian wealth to further fund Ukraine’s military. Kiev is long past broke, owes the EU some €45 billion and faces a fiscal shortage of €70 billion for the next year, and is suffering a slow and painful frontline collapse.
Moscow has long described the EU’s attack on its assets as “theft,” the IMF and European Central Bank both oppose the move, and the ratings agency Fitch has already issued a downgrade warning to Euroclear, the clearing house at centre of the scandal.
The stakes
Von der Leyen, along with her compatriot German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, have managed to bring what is widely regarded as a potentially disastrous initiative to an EU vote under dubious circumstances which, if it fails, will leave the two German politicians’ reputations in ruins.
Merz has been at the megaphone this week while von der Leyen has pressed the flesh with bloc members. In the past 48 hours, the former chairman of the Blackrock Germany board has declared the ‘pax Americana’ is over, compared Russian President Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler (Merz’s grandfather was a Nazi), and warned of direct NATO-Russia conflict.
However, it could be worse. If the vote to use Russian assets to finance Kiev’s military is passed, it will permanently damage the EU’s reputation, spell the end of any Russia-EU cooperation for decades while triggering a global legal onslaught.
A slew of cases will be opened in the bloc, not least by Belgium, which has protested against the EU attempts to get its hands on some €180 billion of Russian sovereign wealth held in the Belgian clearing house Euroclear.
Russia has also begun legal proceedings in a Moscow arbitration court for damages. Some €280 billion of assets belonging to countries deemed “unfriendly” by Moscow, presently held in type-C deposits in Russia, could be seized in retaliation for the European attack on Russia’s funds, as well as a wave of litigation potentially targeting all complicit institutions in every major global financial hub.
Death and “pax Americana”
The European option also ignores the military reality in Donbass and Ukraine, by seeking to pour billions into continuing a war that Kiev is undoubtedly losing. US President Donald Trump’s team, however, have proposed a different mechanism which Russia has not outright rejected, by which the Russian funds in question are used for an investment vehicle. Such a mechanism could have a very positive impact on the investment climate in a post-conflict Ukraine, given the rampant and endemic corruption associated with the country and in particular Vladimir Zelensky’s inner circle.
Effectively what we are witnessing is the European Union rejecting Washington while trying to force on Kiev a militaristic future which only promises years of warfare. The US, which let us remember initiated this entire round of diplomacy, has a proposal on the table that could secure a stable and lasting peace, offer security guarantees to all parties involved, and have a positive impact on the investment climate in a country that will need unprecedented investment.
While you may have read that the European Union has already taken an indefinite hold over Russia’s assets in lieu of reparations to Ukraine, neither of these claims is true.
The EU has misused article 122 of its constitution to assert a temporary hold over Russian assets for as long as they can prove that the conflict in Ukraine poses or threatens to pose an economic risk to the bloc. There is no indefinite freeze on Russian assets for reparations to speak of.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Wever has spoken of the EU “stealing” Russian assets. Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Rueben has already described the EU tactics as “a declaration of war.” Slovakia’s Robert Fico, who was shot at close range by a pro-Ukraine activist, has claimed Brussels is only “prolonging the war.” Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis has also refused to support financing Ukraine.
Italy, Malta, and others are also said to be firmly against the plot to steal Russia’s assets and are advocating for a different option.
The vote
Though the matter is regarded as a foreign policy issue involving the assets of a non-member of the bloc and would normally require unanimity to pass, von der Leyen has managed force a vote under qualified majority voting.
This means that 15 of the 27 member states, and/or states representing 65% of the EU’s population must vote in favor in order to pass the ruling. Eight votes against could be enough to force von der Leyen to have to go back to EU taxpayers, already suffering and drifting to the left and right, to seek lining for Ukraine’s donated war chest.
Should the reparations loan option be defeated or removed from the table, the joint debt option, whereby EU member countries must borrow money for Ukraine, to be repaid by the countries themselves, will arise, requiring unanimity to pass.
