Overview
- Belarus publicly confirmed participation by publishing President Alexander Lukashenko’s signed letter to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio accepting the Council’s statute effective January 20.
- Russia said it has the draft statute but lacks key specifics, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov indicating Moscow will seek clarifications from U.S. counterparts.
- Financial Times reported that Prime Minister Keir Starmer plans to refuse participation, with sources saying London will not sign on, though he remains open to a proposed G7 discussion in Paris.
- U.S. and Russian envoys, including Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and Kirill Dmitriev, held constructive talks in Davos, while separate reporting indicated no immediate breakthrough is expected on Ukraine-related agreements.
- European leaders escalated criticism of President Trump’s Greenland claims and tariff threats, as Ursula von der Leyen called the tariffs a mistake and Denmark’s foreign minister urged Europe to show strength.