The Bell

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said he saw no linkage in president-elect Donald Trump’s offer to remove sanctions if Russia reduced its nuclear weapons.

US President Barack Obama extends sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine. The Kremlin deferred a response to president-elect Donald Trump’s offer to trade an end to sanctions for Russia’s nuclear cuts.

Russia-backed fighters shelled Ukrainian positions 34 times all along the front line, with one Ukrainian soldier killed and two wounded.

Three Ukrainian soldiers were wounded today on the front line in 38 attacks, the ATO reported. One civilian woman was also injured in shelling by Russia-backed forces in Maryinka.

A number of stories in Chechnya this week indicate that Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov is bringing further control over the Islamist insurgency remaining in the republic and cracking down on the independent press to prevent public criticism of his harsh methods.

LIVE UPDATES: Trump denies allegations that he’s being blackmailed by the Kremlin. The Interpreter investigates

One Ukrainian soldier was killed and three wounded in the last day of battles; one was also “traumatized.” OSCE monitors were denied access to Ukrainian-held areas.

US Pilots complain about ‘near misses’ with Russian planes over Syria. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu characterizes the work of the International Coalition in Syria as “null”.

With yet another sports competition just moved out of Russia and attention to former sports minister Vitaly Mutko’s role in the doping scandal intensifying, many in Moscow now fear that Russia could be stripped of the 2018 World Cup.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zakharov scorns US intelligence report on Moscow’s breach of US cybersecurity, says Russian hackers ‘hacked Obama’s brain’. Caucasian Knot editor Grigory Shvedov threatened by Chechen parliamentary speaker.