U.S. President Joe Biden has told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that the United States and its allies will "respond decisively" if Russia further invades Ukraine, according to a White House statement on January 2.

Biden “reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in the statement, which came after the two leaders spoke by phone.

“The leaders expressed support for diplomatic efforts, starting next week with the bilateral Strategic Stability Dialogue, at NATO through the NATO-Russia Council, and at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe,” Psaki said.

The first of the three high-level U.S. and Russian talks are set for January 9-10 in Geneva.

Zelenskiy noted that the call came early in 2022 and said he and Biden discussed the cooperation between the United States and Ukraine and other partners.

"The first international talk of the year with @POTUS proves the special nature of our relations," Zelenskiy wrote on Twitter. He said he and Biden discussed the joint actions of Ukraine, the United States "and partners in keeping peace in Europe, preventing further escalation, reforms, deoligarchization.

“We appreciate the unwavering support of Ukraine,” he added.

The call was the second in three weeks between the two leaders as the White House attempts to address a Russian troop buildup that has alarmed NATO, while authorities in Kyiv have expressed concerns that Russia could invade Ukraine in the coming weeks.

The call follows on the heels of talks between Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin on December 30 in which Biden said the United States and its allies would impose severe sanctions on Russia if it invades Ukraine.

SEE ALSO:

'Serious, Substantive': Biden, Putin Agree To Intensify Diplomacy Amid Ukraine Tensions

Russia has amassed about 100,000 troops near its border with Ukraine as it makes demands for sweeping security guarantees from the United States and NATO.

In particular, Moscow wants NATO to deny membership to Ukraine and other former Soviet countries and roll back military deployments in Central and Eastern Europe.

During their call on December 30, Biden and Putin set the groundwork for three sets of upcoming talks aimed at defusing the crisis.

The talks in Geneva next week are to discuss arms control and the mounting tensions over Ukraine under their bilateral Strategic Stability Dialogue.

That will be followed by a separate meeting of the Russia-NATO Council in Brussels on January 12.

Another meeting will be held in Vienna a day later within the framework of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which includes the United States, its European allies, Ukraine, and Russia.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on December 31 reinforced that Russia stands by its demands for written security guarantees.

“If no constructive answer comes in a reasonable time and the West continues its aggressive course, Russia will have to take all necessary measures to maintain a strategic balance and remove unacceptable threats to our security,” he told the state news agency RIA Novosti.

The Biden administration and NATO have repeatedly said that the alliance has an open-door policy and that no country should have a veto over the aspirations of another country to join. It also has said it would not discuss Ukraine's security without consulting Kyiv.

The Ukrainian ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, reiterated Ukraine’s aspiration to join NATO in an interview with RFE/RL broadcast on January 1.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service

Russian warplanes have bombed a pumping station that provides water to rebel-controlled Idlib city in northwestern Syria, potentially depriving hundreds of thousands of people in the overcrowded city of water, according to witnesses and a monitoring group.

Russian Sukhoi jets dropped bombs in Idlib and several surrounding villages on January 2, witnesses and the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.

“Reliable sources said that Russian fighter jets have so far carried out nearly 10 air strikes targeting the vicinity of Al-Sheikh Yusuf village in western Idlib countryside, the vicinity of the central prison near Idlib city, and the vicinity of Sejer water station, which feeds Idlib city and its western villages, leaving the station out of action as pipes have been damaged,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

An official at the city's water utility service confirmed the pumping station was out of action as a result of the strikes.

There was no immediate comment from the Russian or the Syrian armies.

More than 3 million civilians live in jihadist and rebel-controlled Idlib Province, many of them displaced from other parts of Syria during the country’s decade-long civil war. Most of the population in Idlib is dependent on UN humanitarian assistance to survive.

In March 2020, Russia, which backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces, and Turkey, which supports some opposition groups, agreed to a de-escalation zone in Idlib. However, rebel attacks and Russian and Syrian bombing have continued despite the cease-fire.

Turkey has thousands of troops deployed at bases in Idlib to deter a Syrian Army offensive, which it fears would push millions of people across the border as refugees.

Syrian and Russian planes have carried out deadly aerial strikes on schools, hospitals, markets, and other infrastructure in Idlib Province that UN investigators and rights groups say may amount to war crimes.

Jihadist factions have also been accused of carrying out possible war crimes.

With reporting by Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, have vowed to boost ties, both sides said.

In a phone call, Putin and Erdogan “reviewed bilateral cooperation and reaffirmed their determination to continue boosting the mutually beneficial partnership between Russia and Turkey," the Kremlin said on January 2.

"The parties also touched upon global issues, including the recent proposals on developing legally binding agreements that will guarantee Russia’s security, the situation in the South Caucasus, and efforts to resolve the Syrian and Libyan crises," the statement added.

Turkey’s Communications Directorate said the call focused on steps to improve relations.

“The Caucasus, Syria, and Libya alongside regional and international developments were discussed in the meeting that reiterated the determination to advance Turkey-Russia cooperation in all fields,” the Turkish side said.

The call comes as NATO-member Turkey, which has the alliance's second-largest army, has angered Moscow by supplying weapons to Ukraine, including armed drones that were used for the first time against Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine in late October.

Turkey has good ties with both Kyiv and Moscow, but it has criticized Moscow's seizure of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and voiced support for Ukraine's territorial integrity.

Russia has amassed about 100,000 troops near its border with Ukraine, raising concerns it is preparing for a possible offensive as it demands sweeping security guarantees from the United States and NATO.

In particular, Moscow wants NATO to deny membership to Ukraine and other former Soviet countries and roll back military deployments in Central and Eastern Europe.

Russia and Turkey are also cooperating in a diplomatic push to bring stability to the South Caucasus following Azerbaijan’s victory against Armenian forces in the late 2020 war over Nagorno-Karabakh.

Turkish and Armenian special envoys are expected to meet in Moscow this month to kick-start talks on normalizing relations as part of a broader Russia-mediated regional peace effort involving Armenia and Turkey’s ally, Azerbaijan.

In Syria and Libya, Russia and Turkey back opposing sides but have generally cooperated in trying to reduce conflict.

Five people died and 21 were injured in a passenger bus accident south of Moscow, authorities said.

The bus crashed into a pillar under a railway bridge around 5:45 a.m. in the Ryazan region, an Interior Ministry spokesperson said on January 2.

The accident occurred on a highway near the village of Voslebovo, 270 kilometers south of the capital.

The bus carried a total of 49 passengers who were traveling from the southern city of Astrakhan on the Volga River to Moscow.

There were conflicting reports about the cause of the crash.

According to initial reports, the driver may have fallen asleep at the wheel.

Interfax quoted a regional investigator as saying the driver may have lost control due to ice on the road.

Police and the local branch of Russia's Investigative Committee have launched a probe into the cause of the crash.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Russian Service, AFP, and Interfax

U.S. President Joe Biden is scheduled to speak by phone with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, on January 2 as the two leaders plan to review preparations for upcoming diplomatic engagements aimed at de-escalating tensions over a Russian military buildup near Ukraine.

During the call, Biden intends to "reaffirm U.S. support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russian aggression," a White House official said.

The call will be the second in three weeks between the two leaders as the White House attempts to address the military threat, which has alarmed NATO, while authorities in Kyiv have expressed concerns that Russia could invade Ukraine in the coming weeks.

The call follows on the heels of talks between Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin on December 30 in which Biden said the United States and its allies would impose severe sanctions on Russia if it invades Ukraine.

Russia has amassed about 100,000 troops near its border with Ukraine as it makes demands for sweeping security guarantees from the United States and NATO.

In particular, Moscow wants NATO to deny membership to Ukraine and other former Soviet countries and roll back military deployments in Central and Eastern Europe.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on December 31 reinforced that Russia stands by its demands for written security guarantees.

“If no constructive answer comes in a reasonable time and the West continues its aggressive course, Russia will have to take all necessary measures to maintain a strategic balance and remove unacceptable threats to our security,” he told the state news agency RIA Novosti.

The Biden administration and NATO have repeatedly said that the alliance has an open-door policy and that no country should have a veto over the aspirations of another country to join. It also has said it would not discuss Ukraine's security without consulting Kyiv.

SEE ALSO:

'Serious, Substantive': Biden, Putin Agree To Intensify Diplomacy Amid Ukraine Tensions

The Ukrainian ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, reiterated Ukraine’s aspiration to join NATO in an interview with RFE/RL broadcast on January 1.

Markarova also said Ukraine will receive more armed Mark VI patrol boats in the first half of 2022. She said the United States and Ukraine are cooperating on arranging the delivery of the boats. The number of boats that will be sent is “under discussion,” she said.

In his comments to RIA Novosti, Lavrov noted an increase in weapons supplies to Ukraine and the growing scope of joint military drills, charging that Kyiv "naturally perceives this support as a carte blanche for the use of force.”

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Amid Rumblings About A Russian Invasion, 'No Hysteria' In Ukraine  

In his annual New Year's message, Zelenskiy expressed defiance amid the buildup of Russian forces.

"No army on the other side of the border frightens us because a great army on our side of the border protects us,” he said. “I am happy that today [Ukraine's armed forces] have the biggest budget in the history of Ukraine."

During their call on December 30, Biden and Putin set the groundwork for three sets of upcoming talks aimed at defusing the crisis.

U.S. and Russian officials will meet January 9-10 in Geneva to discuss arms control and the mounting tensions over Ukraine under their bilateral Strategic Stability Dialogue. That will be followed by a separate meeting of the Russia-NATO Council in Brussels on January 12.

Another meeting will be held in Vienna a day later within the framework of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which includes the United States, its European allies, Ukraine, and Russia.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service

The world junior ice hockey teams from Russia and the Czech Republic were removed from a flight on New Year's Eve after some of the players reportedly violated a mask mandate before the flight departed the Canadian city of Calgary.

Officers responded to reports of a disturbance on an Air Canada flight, according to a Calgary police statement on January 1. The statement didn’t say who caused the disturbance or if there were any arrests.

The Calgary police department's airport unit “assisted Air Canada staff with keeping the peace and deplaning passengers," the statement said. "Passengers were being asked to deplane due to a disturbance involving multiple passengers in the aircraft cabin."

Police did not provide further information, and Air Canada did not respond to RFE/RL’s request for more information.

The teams were heading home from the junior championships, which were canceled midweek because of COVID-19 outbreaks.

Russian coach Sergei Zubov told the Russian newspaper Izvestia that the Russian and Czech Republic teams were removed from the flight for violating the mask mandate. Russian and Canadian media reported that Zubov was among those who violated rules by smoking.

Czech team manager Otakar Cerny said his team complied with all the rules and had likely been treated the same as the Russians because of the similarity of their gray sweatshirts, which had been handed out to all of the players in the tournament.

“And practically only for that reason, they threw us into the same bag as the Russians and told us that the entire Czech and Russian expedition could no longer board the plane,” Cerny told Czech media, according to the AP.

Cerny said Air Canada representatives had apologized and arranged a hotel and a flight home on January 1. The Russian players managed to leave on the next flight after the one that had been delayed by the disturbance.

Passengers who were on the flight told AP and Canada's CTV News that the Russian squad caused the disturbance by smoking cigarettes, vaping, blaring music, and refusing to wear masks. One passenger said the disturbance delayed the flight by three hours.

With reporting by AP, CTV News, and Izvestia

Hundreds of Ukrainians held a torchlight march in the capital, Kyiv, to mark the birthday of the controversial nationalist leader Stepan Bandera.

The January 1 march came amid a buildup of Russian forces near the border with Ukraine, which some believe could be a prelude to an invasion.

“Today, when there is a war with the occupier at the front, and the struggle against the ‘fifth column’ continues in the rear, we remember and honor the memory of Stepan Bandera,” Andriy Tarasenko, leader of the nationalist party Right Sector, said.

Bandera is revered as a hero by many Ukrainians for leading the political wing of the anti-Soviet independence movement, the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN). Its military wing -- the Ukrainian Insurgent Army -- waged partisan warfare during and after World War II.

But Bandera -- who was killed by a Soviet assassin in Munich in 1959 -- is regarded as a traitor by others for leading an insurgent war against Soviet forces and collaborating with Nazi Germany. His forces also fought against the Nazis at times during the war and are accused of carrying out murderous campaigns against Poles and Jews.

Similar marches also took place in several other cities, including Lviv, where about 500 people gathered at Bandera’s monument to honor him.

With reporting by AP

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) killed six "armed bandits" in the country's southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan, the IRGC said in a statement on January 1.

Three local members of the volunteer Basij militia fighting alongside the IRGC forces were killed in the clashes, the statement said, adding that at least five “bandits” were wounded.

Sistan-Baluchistan, one of Iran’s poorest provinces, is a volatile area near Iran's borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan where drug smugglers and militant groups operate.

On December 31, the IRGC shot dead three men believed to have been involved in a deadly attack that left two guards dead on December 25, Iranian media reported.

Based on reporting by Reuters and IRNA

KYIV -- In his annual New Year's message broadcast late on December 31, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy expressed defiance amid a buildup of Russian forces on the other side of the country's border with Russia.

"No army on the other side of the border frightens us," he said, "because a great army on our side of the border protects us."

His remarks came amid high tensions between Moscow and the West over the troop buildup and Moscow's demands for broad "security guarantees" in Europe and Central Asia.

Authorities in Kyiv have expressed concerns that Russia could invade Ukraine in the coming weeks.

Zelenskiy said ending the war between Kyiv and Russia-backed separatist formations in parts of eastern Ukraine remains the "main goal" of his government, promising that "next year will be better."

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In New Year's Greetings, Putin Praises Russian Solidarity, As Navalny Urges Optimism

The Ukrainian president expressed confidence that Crimea would "one day" be returned to Kyiv's control.

"We can say we have returned Crimea to the global agenda so that one day we can say we have returned Crimea to Ukraine," Zelenskiy said. "And it is important that all the prisoners are returned. Every one."

Zelenskiy also expressed support for citizens of the Russia-occupied Ukrainian region of Crimea who had been detained by the Russia-imposed authorities there.

He said they "did not lose their dignity and told the truth about Crimea, for which they lost their freedom."

While he was speaking, the video showed clips of RFE/RL freelance correspondent Vladyslav Yesypenko, who was detained in Crimea in March and who has said he was tortured while in custody.

Despite increasing tensions with Russia, the Biden administration supports extending the operations of the International Space Station (ISS) through 2030, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said.

In a December 31 statement, Nelson said that the Biden administration is committed to working with international partners, including Russia, to continue research being conducted on the orbiting laboratory through the end of the decade.

Nelson called the ISS “a beacon of peaceful international scientific collaboration” and said that it has returned “enormous scientific, educational, and technological developments to benefit humanity” during its more than two-decade existence.

Russia and the United States have had close cooperation aboard the ISS since the first component was launched in 1998.

However, relations between the two nations have deteriorated to their lowest point since the early 1990s, raising questions about whether both sides were ready to continue cooperation.

The station would operate through 2030 if approved by international partners and funded by the U.S. Congress. Currently, Congress has approved funding through 2024.

Nelson said the U.S. commitment to extend its participation in the ISS is critical in light of the growing competition in space.

"As more and more nations are active in space, it's more important than ever that the United States continues to lead the world in growing international alliances and modeling rules and norms for the peaceful and responsible use of space," he said.

In November, NATO and the United States condemned Russia for conducting a missile test that blew up a defunct Russian satellite, creating a debris cloud that endangered the ISS -- an accusation dismissed by the Kremlin.

Nelson called the move "reckless."

The German government has scrapped plans to award the country’s highest honor to an Israeli Holocaust historian due criticism about his work on genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier had planned to present the Order of Merit to Gideon Greif, but the presidential office and Foreign Ministry said they would review the plans for the award in October.

German news agency dpa reported on December 31 that the Foreign Ministry withdrew the nomination earlier this month.

Greif, who is primarily a Holocaust researcher, chaired an international commission of historians who published a report in July that suggested the Srebrenica massacre at the end of the 1992-95 war in Bosnia was not genocide.

International courts have deemed the mass murder of more than 8,000 Muslim Bosniaks around Srebrenica by Bosnian Serb forces as genocide. Denial of the genocide became a criminal offense in Bosnia in July, in one of the last acts of the former high representative of the international community in Bosnia, Valentin Inzko.

The report was commissioned by Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, who has recently pushed for secession of the Serb part of Bosnia, Republika Srpska.

Dodik has repeatedly questioned the nature of events in Srebrenica and criticized laws criminalizing denial of the genocide.

News of the German decision was first reported by klix.ba, a Bosnian news site, citing a letter from the German Foreign Ministry dated December 7.

Based on reporting by dpa

Russia’s dollar-denominated stock index rose about 15 percent this year as high oil prices outweighed growing political risk.

The RTS Index rallied as much as 38 percent in 2021, touching a 10-year high of 1,900 in October, lifted by oil prices, which gained by more than half this year as global economies reopened.

Oil is Russia’s biggest export, while oil companies account for a significant percentage of the RTS index.

However, Russian stocks pulled back about 15 percent from their October highs to close the year just shy of 1,600 following a Russian military buildup on the border of Ukraine that sparked fears of an invasion.

The United States and Europe have warned Russia it faces massive economic sanctions if it invades Ukraine, spooking some investors.

Russia’s stock market was also impacted late in the year by U.S. Federal Reserve comments that it could raise interest rates in 2022.

U.S. rate increases make riskier assets like emerging market stocks and bonds less attractive.

Russia’s ruble closed the year nearly flat at around 75 to the dollar.

The ruble strengthened to 69 in October on high oil prices, but retreated along with Russian stocks amid the Kremlin’s growing standoff with the West.

Nonetheless, Russia’s stock market and currency performed better than some of their emerging market peers.

Turkey’s lira is set to end the year down about 43 percent.

Meanwhile, the broader emerging market index is on track to close about 4.5 percent lower due in large part to China’s crackdown on its largest tech companies.

However, the RTS Index’s advance still trails the U.S. benchmark S&P 500, which is on pace to close the year 25 percent higher.

With reporting by Reuters

WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Joe Biden will hold another call with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, on January 2 as the United States seeks to defuse a crisis sparked by Russia’s military buildup.

During the call with Zelenskiy, Biden intends to "reaffirm U.S. support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity" in the face of Russian aggression," a White House official said on December 31 in announcing the date of the call.

The two leaders will also discuss U.S. preparations for talks with Russia next month aimed at de-escalating the situation in the region, the official said.

The upcoming call with Zelenskiy is the latest in a flurry of White House diplomacy to address the Kremlin military threat and comes on the heels of talks between Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin on December 30. Biden last spoke to Zelenskiy three weeks ago.

Russia has amassed about 100,000 troops near its border with Ukraine as it makes demands for sweeping security guarantees from the United States and NATO.

In particular, Moscow wants NATO to deny membership to Ukraine and other former Soviet countries and roll back military deployments in Central and Eastern Europe.

The Biden administration and NATO have repeatedly said that the alliance has an open-door policy and that no country should have a veto over the alliance aspirations of another country.

Zelenskiy has also shown no signs of backing away from his call for NATO membership. His ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, reiterated Ukraine’s aspiration to join the Western military alliance in an interview with RFE/RL due to air January 1.

Putin has said he would ponder various options if the West fails to meet Moscow’s demands for security guarantees.

Biden warned Putin during their call on December 30 that the United States and its allies would impose severe sanctions on Russia if it invades Ukraine.

• RFE/RL

Amid fears of a possible invasion, Ukrainian officials say more than 90,000 Russian troops have been deployed along its border -- including on the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia seized by force from Ukraine in 2014. Maxar Technologies, a satellite-imaging company, has released photographs that show the Russian troop buildup.

The Biden administration has been in close contact with allies to demonstrate a united front ahead of talks next month with Russia.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with his Canadian and Italian counterparts on December 31 to coordinate their policies aimed at deterring Russia from attacking Ukraine.

Blinken also spoke with NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg about the upcoming NATO-Russia Council talks.

During their call on December 30, Biden and Putin set the groundwork for three sets of upcoming talks aimed at diffusing the crisis. The State Department said earlier in the week that Biden would speak with Zelenskiy following his call with Putin.

The Biden administration has repeatedly said it would not discuss Ukraine's security without consulting Kyiv.

U.S. and Russian officials will meet January 9-10 in Geneva to discuss arms control and the mounting tensions over Ukraine under their bilateral Strategic Stability Dialogue.

That will be followed by a separate meeting of the Russia-NATO Council in Brussels on January 12.

Another meeting will be held in Vienna a day later within the framework of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which includes the United States, its European allies, Ukraine, and Russia.

Kosovo has ordered the expulsion of a Russian diplomat and member of the United Nations mission in the Balkan country on national security grounds

The Kosovar foreign minister, Donika Gervalla-Schwarz, made the announcement in a December 31 post on Facebook.

“At the request of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Mr. Albin Kurti, today I issued the decision to declare a Russian UNMIK official in Kosovo persona non grata because of his harmful activity,” she said.

Gervalla-Schwarz said she has notified law enforcement to implement the decision. She did not name the Russian diplomat, nor did she state what the individual allegedly did to deserve expulsion.

UNMIK stands for the United Nations Mission in Kosovo, which was set up in 1999 to provide an interim administration for the region when it was still formally part of Serbia.

Following Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia in 2008, the tasks of the UN mission shifted to the promotion of security, stability, and respect for human rights in Kosovo.

Russia, which has close ties to Serbia, does not recognize Kosovo as an independent country.

Kosovo is seeking to join both the European Union and NATO, something Russia opposes.

Kosovo in October kicked out two Russian diplomats for "destabilizing" activities.

Gervalla-Schwarz reiterated Kosovo’s ambition to join NATO and the EU and said the country remains committed to battling Russian influence, “which aims to undermine the achievements of Kosovo.”

In his traditional televised New Year’s greeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that Russians had “encountered colossal challenges” in 2021 but had overcome them through “solidarity.”

Putin’s six-minute recorded speech was broadcast on December 31, just as midnight approached in the easternmost of Russia’s 11 time zones. According to the TASS state news agency, it was the longest such address Putin has given.

Without discussing specifics, Putin said Moscow “firmly” defended its interests in 2021, a year marked by a harsh crackdown on civil society and the political opposition in Russia and by heightened tensions with the West amid a buildup of Russian forces near the border with Ukraine.

Putin expressed condolences to those who had lost loved ones during the coronavirus pandemic, which killed at least 87,527 Russians in November.

He said that the government’s main goal “is to improve the well-being and the quality of life of the citizenry.”

“The solution of these tasks will make Russia even stronger,” Putin said.

Former President Dmitry Medvedev posted a similar New Year's greeting that also emphasized that “we remain strong because we are unified.”

“Our people have shown many times that they know how to love, to sympathize, to help, and even to sacrifice themselves for the sake of others,” Medvedev said. “This experience has made us stronger.”

Imprisoned Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny posted on Instagram a New Year’s greeting in which he called on Russians to “remain optimists, no matter what.”

Navalny was arrested in January immediately upon his return to Russia after weeks of medical treatment in Germany following a near-fatal nerve-agent poisoning that he blames on Federal Security Service (FSB) agents acting on Putin’s behest.

He is serving a 2 1/2-year prison sentence that he says was retribution for his political activity.

With reporting by TASS

The head of the North Caucasus region of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, long accused of grave human rights abuses, has been named “distinguished human rights defenders” by the regional human rights ombudsman.

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Ombudsman Nurdi Nukhazhiyev, at a ceremony in Grozny on December 30 that was not attended by Kadyrov, said the Kadyrov family had made an “enormous contribution…to securing human rights and strengthening the state.”

A video of the ceremony was posted on the Internet by Grozny state television.

In addition to Kadyrov, the medals were awarded to his father, former Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov, and his mother, Aimani Kadyrova.

Akhmad Kadyrov was president of Chechnya from 2003 until his assassination in May 2004.

Earlier in the month, Kadyrov’s daughter, Aishat Kadyrova, who serves as Chechnya’s culture minister, was awarded the medal For the Defense of Human Rights.

Russian and international human rights monitors have for years accused Ramzan Kadyrov of overseeing grave human rights abuses including abductions, torture, extrajudicial killings, and the persecution of the LGBT community.

The Venice Commission of the Council of Europe has repeated its “very strong criticism” of Russia’s laws on so-called “foreign agents” and “undesirable organizations” in the wake of a December 28 Russian Supreme Court decision ordering the closure of the venerable Memorial International nongovernmental organization.

The commission’s statement on December 30 criticized the “vague and overly broad terminology” of the laws, adding that “the penalty of liquidation of an NGO should be reserved as a last resort measure for extreme cases of serious violations threatening democracy.”

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The Venice Commission noted that the recommendations in its three previous opinions on the Russian legislation “have not been followed up,” adding that “it becomes even more urgent that they should.”

Rights monitors inside Russia and abroad have accused the government of President Vladimir Putin of using the “foreign agent” laws, and laws ostensibly aimed at combatting extremism, to stifle dissent and persecute political opponents.

After the Russian Supreme Court decision on liquidating Memorial International, the European Court of Human Rights ordered the government to suspend implementation of the decision pending the resolution of a case contesting the “foreign agent” laws brought by a group of Russian NGOs, including Memorial.

Russia recorded its highest monthly death toll from COVID-19 in November, the state statistics agency Rosstat reported on December 30.

The number of deaths during the month was 87,527, breaking a record set in October and bringing the overall number of virus-linked deaths between April 2020 and October 2021 to nearly 626,000.

According to Rosstat, 71,187 of the 87,527 deaths were caused directly by confirmed COVID-19. The number of deaths likely caused by the virus but not confirmed by a test was 8,939.

In 1,477 cases, the virus significantly exacerbated fatal complications of other diseases and in 5,924 cases people tested positive for the virus but died of other causes.

The surge came amid low vaccination rates and poor compliance with coronavirus restrictions. Although Russia approved a domestically developed COVID-19 vaccine -- Sputnik V -- months before most of the world, just 51 percent of Russia’s nearly 146 million people have been fully vaccinated.

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Russia in recent months has faced record numbers of infections and deaths as the delta variant spread. The situation improved over the past few weeks, but the authorities are now bracing for a new wave of infection caused by the omicron variant.

Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova, who heads the state coronavirus task force, said Russia’s overall mortality rate grew by 17 percent in November over the same month last year, a growth she said was due to COVID-19.

The task force held its final meeting of 2021 on December 30 and Golikova said the number of coronavirus infections is declining.

The overall number of deaths reported by Rosstat is more than twice the toll reported by Russia’s state coronavirus task force. Russian officials have attributed the difference to the fact that the task force only includes deaths for which COVID-19 was the main cause and uses data from medical facilities.

Rosstat uses broader criteria for counting deaths linked to the virus and takes its numbers from civil registry offices where registering a death is finalized.

With reporting by AP

The Russian government has extended a decree to allow a domestic pharmaceutical company to produce a generic version of a U.S. biotech company’s COVID-19 drug without consent.

The government on December 30 approved the extension for one year of a decree originally issued last year to grant Russian drugmaker Pharmasyntez permission to produce and sell the antiviral drug remdesivir, citing the need to protect its citizens.

Pharmasyntez asked the Kremlin to allow it to produce a generic version of remdesivir in November 2020 without consent from Gilead Sciences, which holds the patent. Russia granted the license a month later. The U.S. company filed suit challenging the decision, but the Russia's Supreme Court in May rejected its claim.

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The governmental decree published on December 30 also said Pharmasyntez must pay compensation to the drug's patent holder but did not specify an amount.

Gilead Sciences did not respond to an e-mail from RFE/RL requesting comment on the decision.

Remdesivir, originally developed to treat hepatitis C, has been approved in the United States and dozens of countries to help treat COVID-19.

A World Health Organization (WHO) panel in November 2020, however, advised against using it. The WHO cited a study showing that it “appeared to have little or no effect on 28-day mortality or the in-hospital course of COVID-19 among hospitalized patients.”

Gilead argued in court that it had repeatedly expressed its ability to supply the drug to Russia and that the government decree was issued only to save money.

Pharmasyntez has registered Remdeform for a maximum price of 7,400 rubles ($100), while Gilead had offered a rate nearly four times higher.

The government contested in court that it had no option but to issue the compulsory license to expedite COVID-19 treatment and that at the time Gilead had not sent an application to reduce the cost of the drug in line with laws on the maximum selling prices for vital and essential medicines.

The Federal Anti-Monopoly Service also argued that Gilead discriminated against Russia by allowed its drug to be produced by seven manufacturers in other countries at sale prices of less than $100.

Before asking for permission from the government, Pharmasynthez had asked Gilead for permission to produce the drug but was denied.

With reporting by Reuters

U.S. President Joe Biden has urged his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to de-escalate simmering tensions in a phone call aimed at intensifying diplomacy amid a buildup of Russian troops near the border with Ukraine and the Kremlin’s demands for sweeping security guarantees.

During a 50-minute call on December 30, the two leaders held a “serious and substantive” exchange to set the groundwork for three sets of upcoming talks early next month, a senior Biden administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic matters, told reporters.

U.S. and Russian officials will meet January 9-10 in Geneva to discuss arms control and mounting tensions over Ukraine under their bilateral Strategic Stability Dialogue. Then a separate meeting of the Russia-NATO Council will be held in Brussels on January 12, followed a day later by a meeting in Vienna within the framework of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which includes the United States, its European allies, Ukraine, and Russia.

“Biden very much saw this call as setting the conditions for…pragmatic, results-oriented diplomacy” at the upcoming meetings, the senior U.S. official said.

A Kremlin readout of the call posted on December 31 said that Biden told Putin the United States has no intention of introducing offensive weaponry on Ukrainian territory.

The United States has delivered more than $2.5 billion in military aid to Ukraine since 2014, including lethal weapons to help government forces battle Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Putin told Biden that the introduction of “massive” sanctions against Russia by the United States in the event of an escalation in Ukraine could threaten “a complete breakdown of Russian-American relations,” the Kremlin’s account said.

Russia earlier this month laid out sweeping demands for security guarantees from NATO as it amassed some 100,000 troops on its border with Ukraine, triggering fears of an invasion and a flurry of diplomacy, including another call between the two leaders on December 7.

Russia is seeking legal guarantees that NATO will not accept new members on its border, including Ukraine and Georgia. It also wants NATO to halt military drills near its borders and roll back military deployments in Central and Eastern Europe.

Putin last week called on the West to “immediately” give Russia those guarantees. The Biden administration has said that some Russian demands are “unacceptable,” and that each country has the sovereign right to choose its own security arrangements. But Washington has also signaled that discussing other Russian proposals -- including those on arms control, deconfliction of military forces, and the conflict in eastern Ukraine -- could yield results.

“Both leaders acknowledged that there were likely to be areas where we could make meaningful progress as well as areas where agreements may be impossible, and that the upcoming talks would determine more precisely the contours of each of those categories,” the senior U.S. official said.

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During the call, Biden also reiterated that any invasion of Ukraine would be met with crushing economic sanctions from the United States and its partners as well as a greater NATO presence in Central and Eastern Europe.

Putin told Biden that any sanctions would be a “colossal mistake” that would lead to a “total severance of relations” between Russia and the United States, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.

Overall, Ushakov said Russia was satisfied with the phone conversation and the prospects for further diplomacy early next year, which he said centered on security guarantees that Moscow wants from the West.

The Eurasia Group, a U.S.-based political risk consultancy, said in a note to clients that the Russia-initiated call underscores the pressure Putin is applying for a quick start to negotiations. However, they warned talks would be slow and "face significant obstacles."

Nonetheless, the call was an opportunity for Putin “to air his grievances, to influence the forthcoming series of bilateral, U.S.-Russia, and OSCE meetings in the second week of January, and, just as important, to shape the Russian news cycle...to demonstrate that he took Russian concerns straight to the U.S. president,” Yuval Weber, an expert on Russian military and political strategy at Texas A&M's Bush School in Washington, D.C., told RFE/RL following the call.

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Russia invaded and annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and backs separatists in eastern Ukraine fighting a nearly eight-year war against Kyiv's forces.

Peace talks to end the fighting have stalled as Moscow and Kyiv disagree over the interpretation of the framework signed in 2015 known as the Minsk agreements. Germany and France are mediating those talks.

U.S. officials have emphasized that no decisions about Europe’s security architecture would be made without agreement from Ukraine and European allies.

"We have heard very clearly from our partner, and we hear constantly that all issues related to Ukraine will be resolved together with Ukraine," including its NATO membership aspirations, Ukraine's ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service in an interview to be aired on January 1 .

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy ahead of Biden's call with Putin to reiterate Washington’s “unwavering support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity," the State Department said.

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Biden plans to speak with Zelenskiy soon after the call with Putin.

Weber said Ukraine’s membership in NATO or a bilateral military alliance between the United States and Ukraine “is either many years away or purely fantastical, so it's both easy for Biden to say it won't happen and gleefully be accepted by the Russian side as a concession.”

John Herbst, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, said Putin had sought another phone call “to build on the momentum” he perceived coming out of his last discussion with Biden on December 7.

Putin “still believes he can get a concession or two out of us,” Herbst said, adding that just holding the call itself is a “kind of concession” to the Russian leader.

Herbst said he doesn’t expect Russia to invade Ukraine.

“I think he's looking again to use this crisis -- which he created -- to see if there's some wiggle room, either from the U.S. or from Germany and France in terms of the Minsk talks or from Ukraine,” said Herbst, who is now an analyst at the Washington-based Atlantic Council.

Belarus has declared a social media account of one of its oldest rights organizations “extremist” as the government of strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka continues its crackdown on dissent.

Crisis In Belarus

Read our coverage as Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka continues his brutal crackdown on NGOs, activists, and independent media following the August 2020 presidential election.

A Belarusian court in Homel, a town 300 kilometers southeast of the capital, Minsk, ruled on December 30 that material published by Vyasna on its Telegram channel is extremist.

Vyasna, which was founded in 1996, documented Lukashenka’s brutal crackdown on the opposition following the disputed August 2020 presidential election, publishing data on the thousands of detentions as well as cases of torture.

Vyasna did not escape the postelection repression, with seven members of the organization currently behind bars.

The December 30 ruling opens the door to prosecuting subscribers of the channel as well.

Over the past year, Lukashenka’s government has declared about 300 Internet sites and online channels -- the majority run by the opposition -- as “extremist” as he seeks to quash any challenge to his 27-year rule.

Tens of thousands of Belarusian citizens took to the streets last year to demand Lukashenka step down following what the election, which they claim was rigged.

Belarus earlier this month added RFE/RL's Belarus Service, known locally as Radio Svaboda, to its registry of extremist organizations.

YEREVAN -- The Armenian government has lifted a ban on the import of Turkish goods that was imposed over Ankara's backing of Azerbaijan in last year’s war with Armenia.

"A decision was made not to extend the embargo on the import of Turkish goods into the country," the Economy Ministry said on Facebook.

The decision takes effect on January 1.

The ban was imposed on December 31, 2020, for six months and was extended for another six months in June. It was set to expire on December 31.

More than two weeks ago, the Economy Ministry told RFE/RL that a draft decision was being developed to extend the ban for another six months, but it never made it onto the government's agenda.

The government’s last cabinet meeting of the year took place on December 30, and the Economy Ministry issued a statement afterward in which it said that as a result of interdepartmental discussions it was decided not to extend the embargo on Turkish goods.

The lifting of the ban is expected to create more favorable conditions for the export of Armenian goods.

According to the ministry, the ban has had both positive and negative economic consequences.

“We have received many statements and requests to lift the ban on the import of Turkish goods,” the ministry said in a statement.

In autumn 2020, Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a six-week war over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. The conflict claimed more than 6,500 lives and ended with a Russian-brokered cease-fire under which Armenian forces ceded territories to Azerbaijan that they had controlled for decades.

Earlier this month, Turkey and Armenia appointed special envoys on mending relations.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Veronika Nikulshina, two members of the Pussy Riot protest group, have been added to Russia's controversial "foreign agents" list, which is used by the government to label what it says are foreign-funded organizations that are engaged in political activity, as well as people linked to them.

The Justice Ministry said in a statement on December 30 that two journalists connected to RFE/RL -- Yelena Vladykina and Ivan Belyaev -- were also placed on the "foreign agents" list in an update that added a total of eight people. With the update, the list now comprises 111 entities and individuals.

"This decision was made on the basis of documents received from authorized government bodies. In particular, according to the information received, these persons systematically distribute materials to an indefinite circle of persons, while receiving foreign funding," the ministry said in the statement.

Vladykina is a journalist with North.Realities, of RFE/RL's Russian Service, while Belyaev is a social media editor for RFE/RL's Russian Service.

RFE/RL President Jamie Fly said the Kremlin's "assault on the truth" would not succeed.

"This targeting of more @RFERL journalists from @SvobodaRadio and @severrealii will not deter us from our mission of providing objective information to Russian audiences," Fly said on Twitter.

He also issued a statement saying the addition of two more RFE/RL journalists to the foreign agents lists brings to 18 the number of Russian citizens working for RFE/RL "who have been falsely labeled in this way."

Yaroslavl filmmaker Andrei Alekseev; Marat Gelman, a former deputy director of Channel One and former member of the Public Chamber of Russia; Taisiya Bekbulatova, editor in chief of the magazine Kholod; and Viktor Shenderovich, a columnist for The New Times, were also added to the list.

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Who Has Russia Labeled As A 'Foreign Agent'?

The Pussy Riot performance-art collective came to prominence after some of its member were convicted of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" for a stunt in which they burst into Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral and sang a "punk prayer" against Vladimir Putin, who was prime minister and campaigning for his return to the presidency at the time.

In another protest, Pussy Riot members -- including Nikulshina -- interrupted the 2018 World Cup final in Moscow between France and Croatia by running onto the field wearing fake police uniforms.

The "foreign agents" laws require those designated to register with the authorities and label their content with an intrusive disclaimer, with criminal fines for not doing so.

The designation also restricts other media from citing a "foreign agent" organization without including a disclaimer.

The "foreign agents" label has led to several NGOs, media organizations, and other groups to shut down as they lose revenues from advertisers.

The United States voiced concern on December 30 over Iran's new space launch, saying such activities use technology that can help further its ballistic-missile program.

"The United States remains concerned with Iran's development of space launch vehicles, which pose a significant proliferation concern," a State Department spokesperson said after Iran announced it had launched a rocket carrying three satellites.

The space launch vehicles "incorporate technologies that are virtually identical to, and interchangeable with, those used in ballistic missiles, including longer-range systems," the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson also said the launch violated UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which backed the 2015 nuclear deal and called on Iran not to carry out work on ballistic missiles with the potential to carry nuclear warheads.

Earlier on December 30, Defense Ministry spokesman Ahmad Hosseini said the rocket used was an Iranian Simorgh (Phoenix) rocket and that the payload reached an altitude of 470 kilometers.

It was unclear whether any objects had successfully entered Earth’s orbit.

Iran’s Tasnim news agency quoted Hosseini as saying the launch was a “space research mission.”

He said the "performance of the space center and the performance of the satellite carrier were satisfactory."

State television showed footage of the rocket launching from the Imam Khomeini Spaceport near the northern city of Semnan.

The reported launch comes amid difficult negotiations in Vienna between Tehran and world powers over reviving the nuclear deal aimed at restricting Iran's nuclear program. That deal has been under threat since the United States withdrew from it and reimposed sanctions against Iran in 2018.

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One reason the administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump gave for withdrawing from the agreement was concern that it did not restrict Iran’s strategic missile program.

Iran has said that it is not seeking to develop nuclear weapons and that its rocket tests do not have military objectives.

European delegates to the talks for weeks have warned that they are close to collapsing. In a joint statement on December 28, they said: “We are clear that we are nearing the point where Iran’s escalation of its nuclear program will have completely hollowed out” the 2015 agreement.

Iran's chief negotiator at the talks, Ali Bagheri, said on December 30 that the talks had seen some progress.

"Some written changes on the lifting of sanctions were established between the two parties and relatively satisfactory progress has been made over the first days of the eighth round of negotiations," Bagheri said in a video published by Tasnim.

Negotiations to restore the agreement began earlier this year but were put on hold in June as the Islamic republic held its presidential election, which brought an ultraconservative government led by President Ebrahim Raisi to power. They resumed in late November, and the latest round got under way on December 27.

The nuclear deal offered Iran relief from sanctions that have weighed heavily on its economy. Bagheri said on December 30 that the discussions had recently focused mainly on the lifting of sanctions.

"We hope that after a few days of pause, more serious work will continue on the question of lifting sanctions," he continued.

Talks are due to resume on January 3.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, and AFP

TBILISI -- Lawyers for former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili have expressed concerns about his health following his transfer overnight from a military hospital in Gori to a prison in Rustavi.

"I do not know how extreme the situation is following his transportation," defense lawyer Nika Gvaramia told journalists on December 30. "I have to see if the prisoner is alive."

Gvaramia claimed Saakashvili had been "abducted" and that his defense team and relatives had no information about his condition.

Defense lawyers were hoping to meet with Saakashvili at Rustavi prison No. 12 on December 30.

Georgia's prison service on December 30 confirmed that "convict Mikheil Saakashvili is in prison No. 12."

A parliament deputy from the ruling Georgian Dream party, David Sergeyenko, told journalists that Saakashvili had been released from the hospital after doctors determined his health had "stabilized."

Saakashvili had been scheduled to be transferred on December 27, but that move was postponed after he reportedly fainted upon being told of the order. A representative of Georgian rights ombudsman Nino Lomdzharia visited Saakashvili in the Gori hospital on December 28.

Saakashvili, 54, has been in custody since October 1, when he was detained shortly after returning to Georgia from self-imposed exile. He is serving a six-year sentence after being convicted in absentia of abuse of office.

He was transferred to the Gori Military Hospital on November 19 after a 50-day hunger strike to protest his convictions, saying they were politically motivated.

He and his supporters have complained that he has been mistreated and "tortured" while in custody.

On December 18, an independent medical team examined him and ruled that his health had been seriously compromised "as a result of torture, ill-treatment, inadequate medical care, and a prolonged hunger strike."

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Ukraine's Foreign Ministry on December 28 called on the Georgian authorities to treat Saakashvili, who has Ukrainian citizenship, "with respect," adding that he needs additional medical treatment.

Saakashvili served as Georgia’s president from 2004 until 2013.

With reporting by AFP