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A Ukrainian drone attack targeted the Smolensk Aviation Plant in western Russia overnight on Jan. 21, starting a fire at the facility, the independent news channel Astra reported.
"He should make a deal. I think he's destroying Russia by not making a deal," U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters following his inauguration, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has urged Chancellor Olaf Scholz to avoid politicizing aid to Ukraine during Germany's election campaign, n-tv reported on Jan. 20.
"It is essential to provide Ukraine with the means to endure and to negotiate from a position of strength in the future," French President Emmanuel Macron said on Jan. 20.
Gas deliveries from Russia to Europe persist despite the EU's efforts, and Brussels is determined to halt this, Anna-Kaisa Itkonen, the EU’s spokesperson for energy and housing, said on Jan. 20.
China has emerged as Russia's largest supplier of goods, but Chinese imports have failed to fully replace Western equipment and raw materials lost due to sanctions, The Moscow Times reported on Jan. 20, citing data from the Gaidar Institute.
Defense Minister Rustem Umerov planned to merge the Defense Procurement Agency (DPA) and the State Logistics Operator (DOT) into one agency but changed his mind after a NATO statement said that the two agencies should be kept separate and two separate supervisory boards should be established.
"This is a false story being spread by the Russian media — probably with the aim of discrediting Denmark," Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said.
This comes as reported peace proposals, including freezing the front lines, have been publicly rejected by Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin previously stated that his country would begin peace negotiations if Kyiv agreed to withdraw from the four Ukrainian regions Moscow partly controls.
Russian forces launched 141 drones at Ukraine overnight from the Russian cities of Bryansk, Kursk, Orel, Millerovo, and Primosk-Akhtarsk, according to Ukraine's Air Force.