Russia joins China, Iran for naval drills in South Africa

Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary traveled to Russia on Jan. 30 for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington.

Kremlin negotiator Kirill Dmitriev will meet with members of the Trump administration in Florida on Jan. 31, a White House official confirmed to the Kyiv Independent on Jan. 30.

"I can just as well invite him to Kyiv, let him come. I'm openly inviting him, if he dares," Zelensky said during a briefing with journalists.

The Shadow Fleet Sanctions Act, introduced by Senators Jim Risch and Jeanne Shaheen in September 2025, expands Washington's authority to penalize shadow fleet vessels and slaps new penalties on Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) and other energy sector projects.

If approved, the measure would prevent European companies from providing key services for transporting Russian oil.

The comment from Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov came a day after Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to his request not to strike Kyiv as well as other Ukrainian cities and towns for a week.

"The terrorist attacks were to be carried out by remotely activating homemade bombs," the SBU said on Jan. 30.

The Kyiv Independent’s Alisa Yurchenko investigates why China is buying Russian weapons, what Moscow gains from the deal, and what the deepening Russia–China military cooperation could mean for future conflicts.

"They do not feel that it gives them anything," Zelensky said.

"We have close to 1 million combatants in Russia. They're mainly criminals; they are very dangerous people," Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said. "We have information that most of them will come to Europe after the war."