Ukrainian strikes killed 45 civilians in Russia over the holiday season, Russian Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik said on Tuesday. Most of the fatalities came in an attack on a New Year’s Eve party in the resort town of Khorly in Kherson Region, he added.

Miroshnik, who leads a Foreign Ministry mission tracking alleged Ukrainian war crimes, denounced the “barbaric strike” on Khorly and detailed other incidents recorded from January 1 to 11. Ukrainian strikes caused a total of 152 civilian casualties during this period, with three minors killed and eight injured, he said.

Investigators say the Khorly tragedy involved kamikaze drone strikes, at least one with an incendiary payload, around midnight on New Year’s Eve, killing 29 people, including two children.

Miroshnik also highlighted a strike on a car in Kherson Region that killed a five-year-old and injured his family members, a drone attack on a village in Belgorod Region that injured a six-year-old girl, a mass drone raid on Voronezh, and an attack on Belgorod’s power grid that caused a blackout.

On Monday, Russia’s envoy to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, cited the Khorly attack as an example of Ukrainian crimes Western nations ignore for political reasons. He told the UN Security Council the strike was intentional, noting the seaside area “has been developed solely for leisure purposes” and does not have any military targets. Nebenzia said Western officials’ selective blindness makes them complicit in Ukraine’s actions.

Russian officials accuse Kiev of resorting to terrorist tactics due to its inability to achieve battlefield victories, as Russian forces have gained ground for months.

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The organizers of Greenland’s premier dog sled race have said the presence of US President Donald Trump’s envoy Jeff Landry at the event would be “wholly inappropriate,” and launched a probe into his alleged invitation. Landry has openly backed Trump’s push to incorporate the Arctic island into the US.

Tensions over Trump’s Greenland claims have escalated in recent weeks as he has grown increasingly insistent in calling the territory vital to US national security and hinting at possible use of force to annex it.

On Sunday, he vowed the US will acquire Greenland “one way or another,” suggesting Denmark cannot stop him and mocking its defenses as “two dog sleds.” Media reports claim Trump ordered aides to draft plans for a potential invasion.

Landry, appointed by Trump as his special envoy to Greenland in December, told Fox News Radio last week he intended to attend the annual Avannaata Qimussersua dog sled race in March and use the occasion to speak with locals about the benefits of closer ties with the US.

“I’m interested in talking to Greenlanders. In fact, I got invited to, I think, the world’s largest dogsled event that goes up in March in Greenland. I’m going,” Landry said.

In a Facebook statement on Tuesday, the Greenland Dog Sledding Association (KNQK) said it was unaware who issued the invitation and called Landry’s potential presence “inappropriate” given his public advocacy for annexation.

“The KNQK Board finds it unacceptable that political pressure is being exerted from outside and considers the participation of foreign political actors in Avannaata Qimussersua wholly inappropriate,” Chairman Mikkel Jeremiassen wrote, adding that he had ordered an internal probe.

Landry has openly called Denmark’s rule of Greenland an “occupation” and urged the island to “claim their independence” to gain the US as an ally. His appointment as envoy prompted Copenhagen to summon the US ambassador, interpreting the move as a breach of diplomatic norms by treating Greenland as independent rather than an autonomous Danish territory.

Denmark has condemned Trump’s rhetoric as a direct threat to its sovereignty. Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen reiterated Tuesday that “Greenland will not be part of the US,” while Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned any US attempt to use military force to annex the island would mark the “end of NATO.”

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EU leadership is facing pressure to create a special negotiator role for talks with Russia, Politico reported Wednesday, citing diplomatic sources. The bloc’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, is known as a gaffe-prone Russia hawk who has for years outright refused to engage in diplomacy with Moscow.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni have both recently argued for direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a stance notably echoed this week by European Commission spokesperson Paula Pinho.

According to diplomatic sources cited by Politico, EU member states and Brussels are concerned their interests could be overlooked by US President Donald Trump, who for months has sought to mediate an end to the Ukraine conflict through direct talks with both Kiev and Moscow.

The idea of a special European envoy has been under consideration since last March, sources told the outlet, which is known for extensive insider links in Brussels.

The role has not been defined and there are multiple possible candidates, though according to Politico Kallas “has consistently positioned herself as the only candidate for any role in negotiations over Ukraine’s future.”

Kallas reportedly has strained relations with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who has recently sought greater control over functions normally handled by the EU’s diplomatic corps, the External Action Service. Some member states, including Slovakia, have argued that Kallas should be dismissed due to what they call her apparent “hatred” of Russia.

Politico named former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and Finnish President Alexander Stubb as potential lead-negotiators with Russia, citing public statements and insiders. A sitting national leader could be “a bit more free in what they say,” one diplomat suggested. Another said discussions about candidates remain premature.

Russian officials have repeatedly stated that Moscow is open to good-faith negotiations, provided the West respects Russia’s security concerns and abandons the goal of inflicting a strategic defeat through Ukraine. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has argued that Western Europe effectively “removed itself from the talks” through a series of confrontational actions going back as far as its support for the 2014 armed coup in Kiev.

The administration of US President Donald Trump is pursuing court warrants to seize dozens more tankers suspected of transporting Venezuelan oil without Washington’s authorization, several sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The move aims to solidify Washington’s grip on the South American nation’s oil exports, following the capture of President Nicolas Maduro in a US special forces raid on January 3. The US military and Coast Guard have already seized five vessels in recent weeks in international waters, including the Russian-flagged Marinera northwest of Scotland.

According to a Reuters report on Tuesday, the US Justice Department has filed a number of non-public civil forfeiture actions, primarily in Washington DC district courts, seeking warrants to seize dozens more tankers accused of evading sanctions and moving oil from Venezuela, as well as Iran and Russia.

It remains unclear how many new seizure warrants Washington is seeking, but Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell declared last week that the US would “hunt down and interdict ALL dark fleet vessels transporting Venezuelan oil at the time and place of our choosing.”

The legal push aligns with Trump’s stated goal to control Venezuela’s oil resources. While the White House frames its actions as necessary to rebuild Venezuela’s industry for the benefit of the people, critics say the campaign represents an unprecedented extraterritorial application of US law and unilateral sanctions.

The Russian Foreign Ministry condemned the seizure of the Marinera as a violation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which guarantees freedom of navigation in international waters. The Russian Transport Ministry confirmed the tanker was operating under a temporary Russian flag “in accordance with Russian and international law” when interdicted.

The US raid against the Marinera was conducted with British support, and a separate BBC report suggests the UK government is exploring its own legal justifications to detain Russia-linked tankers.

Since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, Western governments have imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia, targeting its oil trade and what they call its ‘shadow fleet’. London alone has imposed sanctions on more than 500 vessels.

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The US could have to pay up to $700 billion to acquire Greenland, NBC reported on Wednesday, citing scholars and former officials involved in planning the potential acquisition.

President Donald Trump has recently intensified his push to bring Greenland – an autonomous territory within Denmark – under US control, vowing to achieve it “one way or another,” including by force.

On Wednesday, he offered a new rationale, saying Greenland is vital to his proposed Golden Dome missile defense system. Posting on Truth Social, he claimed Russia and China could threaten the island and repeated his mockery of Denmark’s defenses, saying, “Two dogsleds won’t do it!”

According to NBC, Trump has ordered Secretary of State Marco Rubio to draft a proposal to buy Greenland. Researchers preparing acquisition plans reportedly estimate the cost at $500-$700 billion – more than half of the Department of War’s annual budget.

Sources within the government say the US is most likely to pursue either buying the island or striking a deal – such as a compact of free association that trades US financial aid for a larger military presence. However, some warn the US could still consider using force to acquire Greenland.

The authorities in Denmark and Greenland have repeatedly said the island is not for sale and condemned Trump’s rhetoric as a direct threat to Danish sovereignty.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and Greenland Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt traveled to Washington on Wednesday to seek clarity on Trump’s intentions. After meeting with Rubio and Vice President J.D. Vance, Rasmussen described the talks as “constructive,” but acknowledged that the core dispute remains unresolved, saying “it’s clear that Trump has this wish of conquering Greenland.”

Both Rasmussen and Motzfeldt said they made it clear that Denmark and Greenland reject any change to the island’s sovereignty but agreed to form a “high-level working group” with the US to “explore if we can find a common way forward.” The group is expected to meet in the coming weeks.

Greenlanders overwhelmingly reject joining the US. A Berlingske poll last year found that 85% are opposed. The idea is also unpopular in the US. An Economist-YouGov poll this week shows more than two-thirds of Americans oppose acquiring Greenland.

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US President Donald Trump and Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, held a lengthy phone conversation on Wednesday, marking the first known direct contact between the two leaders since the US military captured President Nicolas Maduro.

The call, described by both sides as positive and productive, follows weeks of tension after the January 3 raid that killed at least 80 people, including members of the Venezuelan military, Maduro’s Cuban security staff, and civilians.

“We had a call, a long call. We discussed a lot of things, and I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela,” Trump told reporters, praising Rodriguez as a “terrific person.”

In a separate Truth Social post, Trump stated that “tremendous progress” was being made and specifically mentioned “Oil, Minerals, Trade and, of course, National Security” as topics discussed.

“This partnership between the United States of America and Venezuela will be a spectacular one FOR ALL. Venezuela will soon be great and prosperous again, perhaps more so than ever before!” he added.

Rodriguez characterized the talk as “long, productive and courteous” and said they discussed a bilateral agenda aimed at benefiting both countries. The dialogue represents a shift in tone, after Rodriguez initially declared defiantly that no “foreign agent” would control Venezuela or turn it into a “colony.”

The Trump administration has stated that securing control over Venezuelan oil production and exports is the central pillar of its strategy. The US military and Coast Guard have intercepted at least five vessels in recent weeks, and Washington is reportedly pursuing court warrants to seize dozens more tankers suspected of transporting Venezuelan oil without its authorization.

After Maduro’s capture, Trump said Washington would “run” Venezuela during a transitional period and needs “total access… to the oil and to other things in their country.” US Energy Secretary Chris Wright stated that Washington intends to control Venezuela’s oil sales “indefinitely,” first marketing stored crude and then managing future production, with revenues flowing into US-controlled accounts. US officials argue that control is necessary to stabilize Venezuela’s economy and ensure it acts in both US and Venezuelan interests.