Ukraine’s top diplomat said Kyiv was seeking to organise a call with Chinese President Xi Jinping as it plans a leaders summit to push forward its blueprint for peace. 

Congressional leaders said they were cautiously optimistic about reaching a deal on stricter border security that would unlock funding for Ukraine, following a White House meeting with President Joe Biden.

Russia rules out nuclear arms talks with US over Ukraine support

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov lashed at the US over its support for Ukraine and warned of the risks of confrontation between nuclear powers as he ruled out any discussions on strategic security with Washington.

“There is already more and more talk of a direct clash of nuclear powers,” Lavrov told reporters on Thursday at his annual news conference in Moscow. “There are fewer and fewer restraining factors in the West.”

He accused the US and its European allies of escalating the confrontation with Moscow over Russia’s unprovoked February 2022 invasion of Ukraine that triggered the biggest conflict in Europe since World War 2. 

“We don’t see any grounds not only for additional joint measures on arms control, but also for any conversation with the US about strategic stability in general,” he said.  

Lavrov issued his warning as he prepared to travel to New York for United Nations Security Council meetings next week.  

Ukraine seeks to organise call with China’s Xi to push leaders’ summit

Ukraine’s top diplomat said Kyiv was seeking to organise a call with Chinese President Xi Jinping as it plans a leaders’ summit to push forward its blueprint for peace. 

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, said the government was pushing for a direct channel between Xi and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. 

“There are things that they can talk about,” Kuleba said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Thursday. Zelensky’s peace formula is “a way to restore long-lasting just peace in Ukraine”. 

White House meeting stirs faint hope on US border, Ukraine aid deal

Congressional leaders said they were cautiously optimistic about reaching a deal on stricter border security that would unlock funding for Ukraine, following a White House meeting with President Joe Biden.

While legislators struck a positive tone, there were few signs of concrete progress on Wednesday toward breaking a monthslong stalemate that has delayed funding for Kyiv, as well as Israel.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said the session with Biden and congressional leaders was “productive” but reiterated Republican demands for a crackdown at the US-Mexico border in exchange for supporting the president’s $110-billion emergency spending request.  

“We must insist that the border be the top priority,” Johnson told reporters after the meeting. 

Johnson said later on Fox News he had been consulting “pretty frequently” with Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump, who opposes an emerging border compromise in the Senate. He said Republicans would continue to push for limits on asylum claims and the president’s power to shield certain migrants from deportation. 

“We’re cautiously optimistic,” the speaker said. 

Estonia expels Russian Orthodox leader on security concerns

Estonian authorities revoked the residency permit of the Russian Orthodox Church’s top cleric in the Baltic nation, where authorities have long accused the spiritual leader of supporting the Kremlin’s war. 

The Interior Ministry in Tallinn won’t renew the permit of Metropolitan Eugene, whose name is Valery Reshetnikov, when it expires on 6 February, it said in a statement. The ministry said it had repeatedly told Reshetnikov, a Russian citizen, not to legitimise Moscow’s war aims. 

“Reshetnikov supports the aggressor in his public actions and speeches, and despite previous warnings, he has not changed his behaviour,” the ministry said in a statement.  

About a quarter of Estonia’s 1.3 million people are Russian-speaking and many are Russian Orthodox Christians. Interior Minister Lauri Laanemets said the church, also known as the Moscow Patriarchate, can continue to practise freely in Estonia and the government will not intervene in any selection of its next leader.  

Rutte’s backers are pushing to lock him in as Nato’s next leader

Countries supporting Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s bid to lead Nato have been working behind the scenes to make sure the race is wrapped up by this summer, according to people familiar with the matter.

The decision needs to be unanimous among the 31 North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies and the Dutch leader is already the strong favourite to succeed current Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg when his term ends in October. Nevertheless, some countries in Eastern Europe have still to give Rutte their backing, the people said. 

Rutte made an appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this week when he urged European countries to spend more on defence, a common refrain from former US President Donald Trump who is a strong contender to reclaim the White House in November. Rutte also backed US and UK attacks against the Houthis earlier this month.  

Russia’s oil export revenue at six-month low as price falls

Russia’s oil export revenue in December dropped to a six-month low as declining crude prices offset the highest overseas flows since last spring, according to the International Energy Agency.

The top-three global oil producer earned $14.4-billion from foreign sales of its crude and oil products in December, down by nearly 9% from the month before, the Paris-based agency said in its monthly oil report on Thursday. 

“Russian oil price discounts increased and benchmark oil prices declined,” the IEA said. As a result, revenue dropped even though the nation hiked its oil flows abroad to 7.8 million barrels a day, the highest since March. DM