Latest news for 22 January 2026

RUSSIA

More meetings.

Putin is scheduled to meet US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump factotum Jared Kushner for further Ukraine talks today (Thursday). They’ll likely also touch on Russia’s frozen assets, which Putin wants to use for his $1B ‘Board of Peace’ membership fee. (Reuters)

Comment: Classic Putin here: parlay another US red carpet invite into something that not only a) positions Putin domestically as a world player and peacemaker, but also b) distracts the US from his own continued attacks on Ukraine, and c) tests US sanctions enforcement in the process.

ARMENIA

In the clear.

An assessment by the Armenian foreign intelligence service finds the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace deal signed in DC last August makes a renewed conflict highly unlikely. The service does, however, warn of the risks posed by Azerbaijan’s rapid ramp-up in propaganda and military spending. (Eurasianet)

GERMANY

Who do you work for?

Germany is intensifying its crackdown on networks targeting military aid to Ukraine, arresting a woman in Berlin on suspicion of spying for Russia, and detaining two men in Brandenburg over allegedly funding pro-Russia militias. (Euronews)

Comment: Putin has his hands full, so this kind of asymmetric, plausibly-deniable play is the result: pay off a few useful idiots to divide, distract, and/or deter the West.

MALAYSIA

A long fall from the top.

Malaysia’s anti-corruption agency is charging two former top military commanders in a landmark corruption case involving defence procurement. (CNA)

Comment: Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is now freezing all defence contracts for a review, though this latest scandal seems to involve local contracts rather than big foreign defence deals.

COLOMBIA

Salary cuts.

President Petro has effectively ordered a 30% pay cut for lawmakers in an effort to curb public spending (and bypass a hostile legislature while burnishing his populist credentials?) ahead of upcoming elections in March and May. (ABC)

Comment: Petro is termed out, but polling suggests he could cut lawmaker salaries down to zero and the ex-guerrilla’s party still wouldn’t stand a chance.

IRAN

Blood on Tehran’s hands.

Iranian state outlets have released the first official toll from the recent protests, claiming they left 3,117 people dead. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Araghchi took to the Wall Street Journal op-ed pages to warn his ruling mullahs will retaliate to any US attack “with everything we have”. (AP)

Comment: If even the regime is putting the death toll that high, you can bet reality is higher. Oh, and bold choice for the WSJ to grant Araghchi an op-ed the same week the WSJ-adjacent Davos crowd cancelled Araghchi’s appearance over the massacres.