By Darya Korsunskaya, Guy Faulconbridge and Gleb Stolyarov MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin has grown increasingly concerned about distortions in Russia's wartime economy, just as Donald Trump pushes for an end to the Ukraine conflict,

On Jan. 22, posts on the social media platform X alleged that Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted to extradite Dr. Anthony Fauci, the chief medical adviser to the U.S. president from 2021 to 2022, to Russia as part of a deal to stop the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The posts provided no evidence to support the claim.

Russia’s president flattered his American counterpart as “smart” and “pragmatic,” and repeated Mr. Trump’s baseless claim that the 2020 election was stolen.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has had a call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, emphasizing the two countries’ close ties, a day after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th U.S. president.

In an interview with Russian state television, Putin praised Trump as a “clever and pragmatic man” who is focused on U.S. interests.

Putin ‘ready’ for Trump negotiations as Kyiv sets oil refinery ablaze with drone strike - Comes as South Korea’s military says North Korea is preparing to send more troops to join Russia’s war in Ukra

We'd better meet and have a calm conversation on all issues of interest to both the US and Russia based on today's realities,” Putin said in a TV interview. View on euronews

President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, a close ally of Russia’s leader, Vladimir V. Putin, has been making signs of reaching out to the West. He is all but certain to win an election on Sunday.

In our news wrap Friday, Hamas announced the names of four Israeli hostages it intends to release as part of the ceasefire deal, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said Israeli forces might not withdraw from Lebanon by the deadline set in an agreement with Hezbollah and President Trump ended the government-funded protection detail for Dr.

Trump launches second term quickly with dozens of efforts on immigration, government process and hiring, international affairs and some quirky policies.