Behrouz Esbati said he partially blamed Russia for the fall of Assad's government, in a rare break from Iran's official line on Syria.

The Kremlin said Friday that President Vladimir Putin was open to talks with Donald Trump, after the incoming US president said a meeting between the pair was being set up.

Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev is demanding answers, saying Vladimir Putin's latest apology "isn't enough" and that Moscow must take responsibility.

A factory that produces acetone in Russia's Leningrad region was engulfed in flames on Friday morning with fire services working to extinguish the blaze, Russian news agencies reported.

Ukrainian transit gas deal to Europe ended on Jan. 1. For now, the most acute effects are being felt in a region called Transnistria, on the eastern edge of Moldova.

Joe Biden is expected to unveil new sanctions targeting Russia's economy as part of measures to bolster Kyiv's war effort before Donald Trump takes office.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu visited areas hit by rolling power cuts on Thursday and blamed Russian gas giant Gazprom for the energy crisis gripping the country's Transdniestria pro-Russian separatist enclave.

North Korea is gaining crucial military experience and equipment by sending troops to Russia, a U.S. official warned the United Nations, making the regime a growing threat to neighboring countries.

Russia's only known submarine in the Mediterranean Sea, the Kilo-class Novorossiysk, was spotted leaving the region last week.

Russia’s own data show its crude production in December fell below its OPEC+ target, according to people familiar with figures from the country’s Energy Ministry.

Ukraine targeted five of Russia's air defense systems worth an estimated $350 million in a single day, serving a blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin's exhausted military in the nearly three-year-old war.