Switzerland adopted the latest EU sanctions package on Russia and Belarus, the government said on Monday. The move came one week after the European Union targeted Moscow's vessels and Chinese entities found to have traded with the Russian military.

The Swiss government decided to join the European Union's 15th package of sanctions against Russia, which was adopted on 16 December, as well as the measures against Belarus. Source: European Pravda,

Russia has held several rounds of tactical nuclear weapons drills this year, and regularly carries out military exercises for its strategic nuclear forces.

Europe cannot survive without Russia and Belarus, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he met with Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin on , BelTA has learned.

Trade between Belarus and Moscow is on track towards $7 billion this year, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he met with Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin in Minsk.

Switzerland has enforced the EU's latest sanctions package targeting Russia and Belarus. This includes freezing the assets of 54 individuals and 30 entities, and banning 52 Russian-affiliated ships. These sanctions aim to restrict Russian military activities and punish those bypassing trading limits on Russian crude oil.

Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko says his country is hosting dozens of Russian nuclear weapons and will prepare facilities for the planned deployment of Moscow’s newest hypersonic ballistic missile.

MINSK. Dec 23 (Interfax) - Belarus and Russia will combine efforts to develop automobile enterprises, Belarusian Industry Minister Alexander Yefimov said. "We are reaching agreement with our Russian colleagues and combining efforts to develop our automotive enterprises," Yefimov was quoted as saying by the state agency BelTA.

Seoul, Washington and Kyiv have said there are around 12,000 North Korean troops in Russia. The JCS said at least 1,100 of them had been killed or wounded, in line with last week’s briefing by South Korea’s spy agency which reported some 100 deaths with another 1,000 wounded in the Kursk region.

Belarus’ authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko has pardoned 29 political prisoners amid what human rights groups describe as renewed oppression in the country.

Ukraine and Russia have exchanged parcels and letters for prisoners of war (POWs). The Ukrainian Parliamentary Human Rights Commissioner's Office has also provided lists of prisoners of war during the exchange.

Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus with an iron hand for over 30 years and has relied on Kremlin subsidies and support, allowed Russia to use his country’s territory to send troops into ...