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The United States and Russia agreed in Riyadh on Tuesday to press ahead with efforts to end the war in Ukraine, a US official said, as Kyiv and its European allies watched anxiously from the sidelines and Moscow raised a major new demand. US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the two sides agreed to appoint "respective high-level teams to begin working on a path to ending the conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible in a way that is enduring, sustainable, and acceptable to all sides".

A solemn ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the Nazi Auschwitz death camp’s liberation was attended by global leaders on Monday. The ceremony at the site of the camp, which Nazi Germany set up in occupied Poland during World War II to murder European Jews on a huge scale, was attended by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, King Charles, French President Emmanuel Macron, Polish President Andrzej Duda and many other leaders. The International Holocaust Remembrance Day commemorates the date when the Nazi Germany-run concentration camp in the Polish town of Oswięcim was liberated by advancing forces of the USSR in 1945.

In his first engagement with the international community after being sworn in as Secretary of State, Marko Rubio hosted the foreign ministers of India, Japan and Australia, for a meeting of the quad, the mechanism that unites the four countries and that is becoming increasingly important. At the end of the meeting the four foreign ministers issued a short statement:

Donald Trump aged 78 was sworn in as the 47th president of the US and pledged in his inauguration address to rescue America from what he described as years of betrayal and decline, prioritizing a crackdown on illegal immigration. Trump declared his intention to sign a number of executive actions in his first hours as president, including a number focused on border security and immigration, his top priority. Trump announced a "national emergency" at the US-Mexico border, declared drug cartels as terrorists, and will scrap government diversity programmes. His vice president, JD Vance, was sworn in just before him.

Donald Trump aged 78 was sworn in as the 47th president of the US and pledged in his inauguration address to rescue America from what he described as years of betrayal and decline, prioritizing a crackdown on illegal immigration. Trump declared his intention to sign a number of executive actions in his first hours as president, including a number focused on border security and immigration, his top priority. Trump announced a "national emergency" at the US-Mexico border, declared drug cartels as terrorists, and will scrap government diversity programmes. His vice president, JD Vance, was sworn in just before him.

Jimmy Carter the 39th president of the United States, died today at the venerable age of 100.  As reactions poured in from around the world, President Joe Biden mourned Carter’s death, saying the world lost an “extraordinary leader, statesman and humanitarian.” Biden cited Carter’s work to eradicate disease, forge peace, advance civil and human rights, promote free and fair elections and house the homeless as an example for others. Biden scheduled a state funeral in Washington, D.C. for Carter on Jan. 9. Biden also declared Jan. 9 as a National Day of Mourning and ordered U.S. flags to fly at half-staff for 30 days from Sunday. Carter governed amid Cold War pressures, turbulent oil markets and social upheaval over racism, women’s rights and America’s global role. His most acclaimed achievement in office was a Mideast peace deal that he brokered by keeping Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at the bargaining table for 13 days in 1978.That Camp David experience inspired the post-presidential center where Carter would establish so much of his legacy. In fact it was Carter's work at the Carter Centre after he left office that will be remembered as his most important legacy.

The editorial team of commonspace.eu extends its warmest Christmas and holiday greetings to all our contributors, supporters, readers and subscribers in the Caucasus region, Europe, North/South America, Asia and beyond. We are grateful for your continued commitment and support, and we wish you joy, health and prosperity in the coming year.

The United States has expressed support for the Georgian people saying that it has been a partner to Georgia and the Georgian people for more than 32 years.  In a statement on Wednesday, Secretary of State Anthony J.Blinken said that the partnership has been rooted in a shared love of freedom and democracy and a desire to see Georgia in the Euro-Atlantic family. 

China is a relatively new player in the South Caucasus but has growing interests, particularly in the economic domain. While Beijing established diplomatic ties with Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia in the early 1990s, it largely stayed out of the region’s geopolitics. Armenia acquired Chinese-made WM-80 multiple-launch systems in 1999, but they had little impact on the military balance with Azerbaijan. Chinese economic ties with the South Caucasus began to grow in the early 2000s, driven by the rapid expansion of its economy. Interest in the region deepened after President Xi Jinping announced the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013, with the South Caucasus envisioned as a potential land route connecting China to Europe.