Sputnik International

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone conversation with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, during which they discussed the situation in Venezuela, the Kremlin said on Wednesday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plane has returned to Israel following a flight to Crete.

The US is withdrawing some personnel from key bases in the Middle East as a precautionary measure amid rising tensions in the region, the agency reports, citing an unnamed US official.

The oligarchy that really controls the Empire of Chaos has hit the panic button, as the structural contours of Hegemony seriously wobble.

Led by the UK and Germany, Europe is debating a military buildup on Greenland — while France plans to open a consulate on February 6 as a diplomatic “mic drop” at Washington.

Russia's stance on the US's illegal operation in Venezuela remains unchanged, as it is a gross violation of international law, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, plan to visit Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in January, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - European Union officials, faced with Washington's claims on Greenland, have largely shifted their focus to the protests in Iran in order to divert public attention from "the fact that an island is being taken away from them," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday.

In late December, US President Donald Trump said he would support new strikes on Iran if Tehran attempted to continue developing its missile and nuclear programs. Later, amid protests and unrest in Iran, Trump threatened the country with a strike if protesters were killed, stressing that he would come to the aid of the Iranian people if necessary.

Since returning to the White House, US President Donald Trump has tightened trade policy. He imposed tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, raised them for China, and then announced tariffs on steel, aluminum, and automobile imports, including those from the EU.