Iran has suggested isolating the US by ditching the dollar during a meeting yesterday with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Tehran. Remonstrating against US threats to impose new sanctions and cancel the nuclear agreement, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said: “We can nullify US sanctions, using methods such as eliminating the dollar and replacing it with national currencies in transactions between two or more parties; thus, isolate the Americans.” Source Middle East Monitor
The bankruptcy of Yukos Oil in Russia will not be recognized in the Netherlands, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled on Friday, upholding a decision in 2017 by a lower appeals court. Source: The Moscow Times
Vladimir Putin has said that Russia finds the Kosovo authorities’ decision to create their own army regrettable and sees it as another risk of destabilization of the situation in the Balkans.
“Regrettably, Kosovo’s authorities took a series of provocative steps lately, thus greatly aggravating the situation. In the first place I have in mind their decision of December 14 to form a so-called army in Kosovo,” Putin told a news conference. “It goes without saying that this is a direct violation of the UN resolution, which does not allow for the creation of any paramilitary forces except for the international UN contingent.”
“Such irresponsible steps by Kosovo’s authorities may cause destabilization in the Balkans,” he warned. Source: Tass
The German government is debating whether to follow the United States and allies such as Australia in restricting China’s Huawei Technologies from accessing its next-generation mobile networks on national-security grounds.
Some Western countries have barred Huawei from their markets after US officials briefed allies that Huawei is at the beck and call of the Chinese state, warning that its network equipment may contain “back doors” that could open them up to cyberespionage. Huawei says such concerns are unfounded. Source: The Irish Time
