🎙 Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova's answer to a question from Russia Today on the Russian nationals among the crew of the tanker Marinera, who were detained by the US authorities (January 22, 2026)

❓ Question: How can you comment on the situation involving Russian nationals – members of the crew of the oil tanker Marinera – whose release was promised by US President Donald Trump?

💬 Maria Zakharova: A considerable amount of time has passed since the Russian Side received confirmation that, in response to our request, Donald Trump had taken a decision to release two Russian nationals serving as members of the crew of the oil tanker Marinera, detained by US armed forces in international waters of the North Atlantic.

We express bewilderment and disappointment over the prolonged pause in resolving this issue, which is important to us and requires urgent action.

We expect that their release will take place in the very near future, allowing our citizens to return home soon.

Steven Witkoff welcomed at the Kremlin

Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov and Special Presidential Representative for Investment and Economic Cooperation with Foreign Countries, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev are attending the meeting on the Russian side.

Attending on behalf of the United States are entrepreneur, investor, and founder of Affinity Partners Jared Kushner and Commissioner of the US General Services Administration's Federal Acquisition Service Josh Gruenbaum.

#Outcomes2025

🎙 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during his annual news conference on the Russian diplomacy outcomes in 2025 (January 20, 2026)

💬 Sergey Lavrov: It is possible to restore relations with the EU?

President of Russia Vladimir Putin has spoken about this on many occasions. We were not the ones who severed relations, and it was not us who closed all doors to cooperation, whether in Russia-EU relations or in contacts between Russia and individual EU member states – especially with such long-standing, good, historic friends and partners of ours as the Italians.

European leaders have been saying for four years that it is altogether impossible to sit at the same table with Russia, that a “strategic defeat” must be inflicted on our country, and then suddenly the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says that Russia is a European country and that it is necessary to talk to it. ☝️ What a revelation!

That is why, to those who genuinely want to talk to us seriously, I would advise against making loud statements and then proudly surveying the audience.

📞 If there is a genuine interest, they should simply call, as diplomats do – without accusations, without proclamations like “I have just made such-and-such a threat, now I will talk to Vladimir Putin”. Emmanuel Macron has already announced this yet again.

Last year, President of France Emmanuel Macron did call President of Russia Vladimir Putin, and nothing he said in that phone conversation differed from what Paris – including Macron himself – had said publicly and continues to say.

I could not resist quoting Macron after his meeting in November 2025 with Zelensky: “Russia itself chose the path of war, nothing justified this war, not a single real threat, only fakes. All this is in complete disregard of the truth, influenced by the reflexes and instincts of a state that cannot reconcile with its history”.

This is sheer rudeness, blatant disrespect towards Russia. We are above that, and we treat statements of this kind not even with contempt, but with indifference.

👉 Of all people, a Frenchman cannot be unaware of Russia’s history.

He cannot fail to understand that history is not what the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas said about “nineteen wars unleashed by Russia against Europe over the past 100 years”.

History begins with Napoleon Bonaparte and continues with Adolf Hitler, who mobilized almost all of Europe to defeat and dismantle Russia. That is where history begins – and that is something our people will never forsake.

If someone wishes to engage in dialogue, we will never refuse – even while understanding that it's most likely impossible to reach any agreements with the current EU leaders

❗️ They have driven themselves too far down the hostility towards Russia line.

📺 Watch the news conference in full

⚡️ Comment by Aide to the President Yury Ushakov regarding President Vladimir Putin’s meeting with US President’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff (January 23, 2026)

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💬 Yury Ushakov: President Vladimir Putin has held a meeting with US President’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. Jared Kushner and Josh Gruenbaum also attended the meeting. The latter is a White House Senior Advisor who specialises in economic matters. This was his first time joining the US team.

🤝 The talks lasted about four hours and were exceptionally in-depth, constructive, and, I should say, constituted an extremely frank and heart-to-heart conversation.

As you know, our counterparts arrived from Davos after taking part in a series of events together with President Donald Trump, including those concerning the Ukraine settlement. These meetings literally lasted until it was time for them to leave for Moscow.

They provided first-hand accounts of these events and shared their impressions, as well as their latest thoughts and assessments regarding the meeting between the President of the United States and Zelensky in Davos. <...>

An agreement on the next step in this direction has been reached. An agreement was reached to hold the first meeting of a trilateral working group on security matters today, this Friday, January 23, in Abu Dhabi, with Russia, the United States and Ukraine. At the same time, Abu Dhabi will also host a meeting of the heads of the bilateral working group on economic matters. This bilateral group was formed by Russia and the United States, led by Kirill Dmitriev and Steve Witkoff.

Our negotiating team on security matters has already been formed and will depart for the Emirates in a few hours. The group includes senior officials from the Defence Ministry, led by Chief of the Main Directorate of the General Staff Admiral Kostyukov.

I would also like to inform you that the President of Russia has given our delegation specific instructions based on today's conversation with the United States.

Importantly, the participants in the conversation between the President of Russia and the Americans reaffirmed the fact that:

☝️ achieving a lasting settlement is unlikely without addressing the territorial issue based on the formula agreed upon in Anchorage.

Vladimir Putin has emphasised Russia’s sincere commitment to settling the Ukraine crisis by political and diplomatic means.

However, as long as this is not the case, Russia will persist in its consistent effort to achieve the special military operation’s goals on the battlefield, where Russia’s Armed Forces hold the strategic initiative.

During the meeting at the Kremlin, we also discussed Donald Trump’s idea of a Board of Peace, a host of regional matters and the Greenland issue.

While exchanging views on the Board of Peace, we emphasised our readiness to transfer US$1 billion from Russia’s assets frozen under the previous US administration to its budget. The remaining Russian assets frozen in the US can be used for rebuilding the territories damaged during the hostilities after a peace agreement is signed between Russia and Ukraine. Discussions on this issue will continue in the bilateral economic group.

I would like to note that the further development of bilateral Russian-US relations was discussed conceptually, considering the vast potential for cooperation in various spheres.

American representatives are already considering certain plans that could be implemented after the settlement of the Ukraine crisis.

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Overall, as I mentioned, the meeting that has just ended at the Kremlin was beneficial in every sense for both us and the American Side.

It was decided that the Russian and American Sides will maintain close contact on Ukraine and other issues.

#RussiaUSA

🗓 On January 23, 1930, Tanya Savicheva, a schoolgirl who kept a diary during the Siege of Leningrad, marking the days and hours of her relatives’ death, was born.

She grew up in Leningrad together with her elder sisters Yevgenia (Zhenya) and Nina and her brothers Leonid (Lyoka) and Mikhail. Their father died in 1936.

In late May 1941, Tanya finished the third grade. When the Great Patriotic War broke out the family stayed in Leningrad, working in the rear, doing everything they could to help the Red Army. On September 8, 1941, the Siege of Leningrad commenced. According to Hitler’s plans, all its residents were supposed to die.

📖 One day, Tanya found a notebook her elder sister left behind. It was in that notebook that she made her short and horribly tragic entries, which make your heart ache:

• Zhenya died on December 28 at 12 noon, 1941.
• Grandma died on January 25 at 3 pm, 1942.
• Lyoka died on March 17 at 5 in the morning, 1942.
• Uncle Vasya died on April 13 at 2 in the morning, 1942.
• Uncle Lyosha, May 10, at 4 in the afternoon, 1942.
• Mom, May 13 at 7:30 in the morning, 1942.
• The Savichevs are dead.
• Everyone is dead.
• Only Tanya is left.

Keeping the diary helped Tanya cope with anxiety, fear, and loss. Amid hunger, constant shelling, bombings, and the death of her loved ones, the piece of paper and pencil became a form of self-comfort and support.

After her mother’s death, the severely ill Tanya lived in an orphanage, which was evacuated to the Gorky region in August 1942. She fought for her life for almost two years. In March 1944, Tanya, who was diagnosed with bone tuberculosis, scurvy, dystrophy, nervous exhaustion and blindness, was transported to a nursing home. She succumbed, worn out by her diseases.

🕯 Tanya Savicheva passed away on July 1, 1944, at the age of 14.

The only Savichevs who survived the war were her sister Nina, who was registered as missing, and her brother Mikhail, who joined the partisans. Nina, upon returning to Leningrad, found Tanya’s diary.

In 1946, the public saw Tanya’s diary at the exhibition about the heroic defence of Leningrad. In 1953, the diary was transferred to the Museum of the History of Leningrad (St Petersburg), where it has been kept since then.

Tanya Savicheva’s diary is one of many heartbreaking testimonies of the Great Patriotic War, Nazi crimes, and the inhuman trials endured by the Soviet people. Tanya became a symbol of true courage and the tragedy of besieged Leningrad.

#WeRemember #NoStatuteOfLimitations

🎙 Statement by Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN Vassily Nebenzia at an Informal Meeting of Intergovernmental Negotiations on the Question of Equitable Representation on and Increase of the Membership in the UN Security Council and Other Matters Related to the Council (New York, January 21, 2026)

💬 Vassily Nebenzia: We have consistently emphasized that intergovernmental negotiations (IGN) are the unique and only legitimate platform for considering all aspects of the UNSC reform.

It goes without saying that, in essence, the reform is to be geared towards gradually accumulating the elements of convergence in negotiating positions with the view to achieving a compromise universal solution, ideally based on consensus.

Any attempts to spur the negotiations through introducing proposals that are clearly unacceptable to many will only set back reform prospects for many years.

☝️ The UN will have to pay far too high a price for this.

<...>

The Russian Federation reaffirms its position of principle in favor of making the Council more representative without compromising its effectiveness. The optimal membership of a reformed Council, in our view, would be in the low twenties.

We are convinced that a more radical increase in the size of the Security Council, as is being proposed by some countries, would lead to lengthier meetings and would complicate the already labor-intensive decision-making process. These are not the goals that we are pursuing.

As regards geographical representation, of course, the unconditional priority must be given here to increasing the proportion of developing countries from Africa, Asia, and Latin America in the Security Council.

<...>

We do hope that the upcoming negotiations will contribute to converging the approaches of member States regarding such a complex set of issues.

👉 To this end, we call on all participants to engage constructively, to demonstrate political will with the view to finding reasonable compromises, and to refrain from imposing artificial time constraints and promoting proposals that are certain to be divisive.

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📆 On January 23, Director of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova held a meeting with Ambassador of the State of Israel to the Russian Federation Oded Josef.

The parties exchanged views on matters pertaining to the preservation of historical memory of the Second World War and the victims of Nazism in Europe.

Oded Joseph was briefed on Russia’s ongoing efforts to immortalise the heroic deeds of Soviet soldiers.

Ahead of January 27 – a date when our nations commemorate the complete liberation of Leningrad from the Nazi siege and the International Holocaust Remembrance Day (established by UN General Assembly Resolution No. 60/7 at Russia’s initiative in 2005, coinciding with the Red Army’s liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in 1945) – both sides underscored the necessity of joint opposition to attempts to rewrite history and deny the crimes of Nazism. They also agreed to maintain further contacts on this issue.

✍️ Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s condolences to the family and friends of Vladislav Fedorchenko (January 22, 2026)

Dear Natalia, Yekaterina and Vera.

It is with great sadness that I learnt that Vladislav Fedorchenko passed away.

A skilled worker, a judicious manager, a caring mentor, a modest and devoted colleague, he will always be remembered as an outstanding professional, an amazingly responsive person, open to everything and everybody, who won our love, gratitude and respect, leaving behind many grateful people.

With great warmth I recall our joint work at the Foreign Ministry of the USSR and Russia: in Moscow, New York, Geneva and Bangkok.

Until senior age, Vladislav Fedorchenko preserved an undying interest to his profession and continued working at our Ministry, making a tangible contribution to solving current issues, taught young diplomats the trade he himself masterfully practiced.

On behalf of the Foreign Ministry and myself I convey our sincerest condolences.

🕯 Please accept the words of sympathy and compassion from the colleagues and comrades of Vladislav Fedorchenko.

📆January 24 is the International Day of Education, proclaimed by the United Nations in 2018.

📍In 2026, #UNESCO events dedicated to this date focus on youth and their role as a driving force for change in the field of education.

📚Russia is committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal on inclusive and quality education for all. The coverage of general education in our country exceeds 99%.

🇷🇺Russia makes a significant contribution to UNESCO’s work in the field of education: at the level of higher education, a network of UNESCO Chairs operates at Russian universities. At the secondary education level, the network of UNESCO Associated Schools is actively developing, and a number of Russian cities are also part of the Global Network of Learning Cities.

🇷🇺🇻🇳 On January 24 Russia's President Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee To Lam.

Vladimir Putin offered heartfelt congratulations to To Lam on his reelection to the top party post during the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam and wished him continued success in his efforts for the good of the Vietnamese people.

To Lam thanked the Russian leader for his kind words and briefed him on the ambitious goals set by the National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

The Leaders discussed prospects for further cooperation between Russia and Vietnam in politics, trade and economy, and energy, confirming their mutual commitment to developing the entire range of bilateral relations at a rapid pace and in the spirit of the comprehensive strategic partnership.

They also agreed to maintain contacts at various levels.

#RussiaVietnam

#Outcomes2025

🎙 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during his annual news conference on the Russian diplomacy outcomes in 2025 (January 20, 2026)

💬 Sergey Lavrov: President of Russia Vladimir Putin has repeatedly and comprehensively addressed this issue, including during his address in this hall in June 2024. Once again, he explained in detail our approaches to the Ukrainian settlement and presented his vision for shaping a Eurasian security architecture.

❗️ We proceed from the understanding that Eurasian security concerns the entire continent – a single geographical, geopolitical, and geo-economic space cannot be fragmented.

Until recently, those promoting the concept of Euro-Atlanticism were doing precisely that. They created a “club” called NATO, with an appendage in the form of the EU. Together with the USSR – albeit under different conditions – they created the OSCE, and after the dissolution of the Soviet Union these instruments began to be used to eliminate any influence of the Russian Federation in this geopolitical space.

In recent years, #NATO, the #EU, and the #OSCE have been used to push into areas of our country’s traditional influence – the South Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Far Eastern regions. Without creating an equal, pan-continental architecture, they sought to manage everything from a Euro-Atlantic centre.

These ideas remain relevant for them to this day, and they are clinging to them with all their might. I do not know what will become of NATO in the wake of the “Greenland drama”, but this mindset is deeply entrenched in the thinking of most of today’s European “elites”.

Instead of a pan-continental, equal structure – the formation of which we advocate and in which the interests of all would be balanced – they want to govern this vast, richest, and most populous continent from a Euro-Atlantic centre. At least until recently, this was the plan.

☝️ NATO and the EU are in a deep crisis, and the OSCE is barely "clinging to life". All their schemes are doomed to fail.

👉 Those who are more far-sighted are welcome to join our efforts, together with our Belarusian friends, to promote the Eurasian Charter of Diversity and Multipolarity in the 21st century.

As I have already noted, a number of European ministers and representatives are already taking part in the relevant annual conferences in Minsk. Their number will grow.

📺 Watch the news conference in full

⚡ Comment by Foreign Ministry Official Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova following the Kiev regime’s recent terrorist attack in the Kherson Region (January 24, 2026)

💬 While representatives of Russia, the United States and Ukraine were participating in the talks on settling the conflict, held on January 23-24 in Abu Dhabi, the Kiev regime and its armed units committed yet another barbaric crime against our country’s civilians.

In the early hours on January 24, an ambulance vehicle with a medical crew of the Aleshkovo Central District Hospital, en route to a severely ill patient, was attacked close to Golaya Pristan in the Kherson Region.

The vehicle was distinctly labelled as medical transport; however, it was directly targeted by a Ukrainian drone. The drone operator knew he was striking a civilian van; yet, they and their commanders made a conscious and inhumane decision to commit a terrorist act against civilians.

The three medical workers in the ambulance vehicle were killed.

On the same day the Kiev regime militants attacked another emergency medical transport and several civilian vehicles, this time in the Zaporozhye region. 4 people were injured.

It should be stressed that attacks on civilian medical transport are prohibited by international law.

❗️ With this act, the Kiev regime not only prompted conflict escalation but also demonstrated, once again, its true, or absolutely irresponsible, attitude to the resolution efforts being taken at this particular moment.

We strongly condemn the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ direct attack on civilians. We sincerely sympathise with the victims’ families and loved ones.

Russian investigative and law enforcement bodies will do their best to hold the organisers and executors of this extremely grave crime accountable, with an inevitable and harsh punishment.

We demand that international competent bodies issue an objective and impartial assessment of this and other criminal acts by the Ukrainian neo-Nazis. Silence and connivance with the Kiev regime are unacceptable.