WASHINGTON, 25 December 2022, (TON): The United States on Friday derisively called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to acknowledge reality and pull troops from Ukraine after he finally called the conflict a war.

Since Putin ordered the invasion in February, Russia has officially spoken of a “special military operation” and imposed a law that criminalizes what authorities call misleading terminology.

But at a news conference, Putin himself used the word “war” as he said that he hoped to end it as soon as possible.

MOSCOW, 25 December 2022, (TON): Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday called for de-escalation in Azerbaijan’s Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh, a region which has sparked two wars between the Caucasus neighbours.

Lavrov told reporters “we need to de-escalate the situation as soon as possible.”

According to Lavrov, Armenia’s representatives were expected at the talks but pulled out at the last moment.

For more than a week Azerbaijani activists have blocked the only land link connecting Karabakh to Armenia, the Lachin corridor, to protest what they claim is illegal mining.

LONDON, 25 December 2022, (TON): The Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has issued a statement on Fiji’s new Prime Minister.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said “congratulations to Sitiveni Rabuka on his appointment as Fiji’s Prime Minister and all Fijian people on their democratic process.”

As a Commonwealth partner, I look forward to working closely with Prime Minister Rabuka and his government on shared priorities, including green growth, security and justice.

KYIV, 25 December 2022, (TON): A top Ukrainian presidential aide called for the liquidation of Iranian factories making drones and missiles, as well as the arrest of their suppliers, as Kyiv accused Tehran of planning to supply more weapons to Russia.

Writing on Twitter, Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak said “Iran blatantly humiliates the institution of international sanctions, before calling for the destruction of Iranian weapon factories in response.”

MUSCAT, 25 December 2022, (TON): Saudi Minister of Commerce Majid Al-Qasabi recently visited Oman, where held meetings with several ministers and officials.

Al-Qasabi, who is also the chairman of the General Authority for Foreign Trade, met with Omani Minister of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion Qais bin Mohammed Al-Yousef; Minister of Foreign Affairs Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al-Busaidi; Minister of Finance Sultan bin Salem Al-Habsi; and Minister of Information Abdullah bin Nasser Al-Harrasi.

The Saudi minister also met with the head of Oman’s Vision 2040 implementation follow-up unit, Khamis bin Saif Al-Jabri; the chairman of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Faisal bin Abdullah Al-Rawas; and the president of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority, Halima bint Rashid Al-Zaria.

KYIV, 25 December 2022, (TON): presidential aide Kyrylo Tymoshenko said “at least five people were killed and another 20 wounded by a Russian strike on the center of Ukraine’s southern city of Kherson.”

Shortly after, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attacks as an act of terror.

“These are not military facilities,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram, adding that the attacks were “killing for the sake of intimidation and pleasure.”

MOSCOW, 24 December 2022, (TON): The Kremlin accused Kyiv and Washington of turning a deaf ear to its concerns and charged the United States was using Ukraine as a battleground to weaken Russia.

It came as President Vladimir Putin insisted Russia was aiming for a speedy end to the fighting.

“Our goal is to end this conflict. We are striving for this”, he told reporters. “We will seek to make sure that it all ends, and the sooner, the better”.

Putin said “all conflicts end, some way or another, with talks… The faster our adversaries (in Kyiv) understand that, the better it will be.”

Moscow s military chief has said Russian forces are now concentrated on wresting control of the eastern Donetsk region where the battered city of Bakhmut has become an epicentre of fighting.

LONDON, 24 December 2022, (TON): According to reports by the South Korean military “North Korea has fired two short-range ballistic missiles from its capital Pyongyang’s Sunan area.”

An FCDO spokesperson said “North Korea’s ballistic missile launches on 23 December are a breach of multiple UN Security Council resolutions. North Korea’s repeated testing of ballistic missile technology poses a threat to our regional partners and global security.”

North Korea must return to dialogue and take credible steps towards denuclearisation in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner.

NEW DELHI, 24 December 2022, (TON): The army said “sixteen soldiers were killed in India’s remote northeast when the military truck transporting them skidded down a steep mountain slope and crashed.”

The accident occurred in the state of Sikkim while the truck carrying the soldiers was negotiating a treacherous turn in a mountainous area near the border with China.

“A rescue mission was immediately launched, and four injured soldiers have been air evacuated,” the Indian Army’s eastern command said in a statement, confirming three officers and 13 soldiers had died of injuries after the accident.

BEIRUT, 24 December 2022, (TON): French President Emmanuel Macron called on Lebanon to get rid of politicians who have for months blocked sweeping reforms vital to bailing out its stricken economy.

Macron said “the problem with Lebanon is that we must solve people’s problems and get rid of those who cannot do it.”

“Lebanon must change its leadership,” he said in an interview with three media outlets including Lebanon’s Annahar newspaper.