Europe

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis warned Vatican bureaucrats on Thursday to beware the devil that lurks among them, saying it is an “elegant demon” that works in people who have a rigid, holier-than-thou way of living the Catholic faith.

Francis used his annual Christmas greeting to the Roman Curia to again put the cardinals, bishops and priests who work in the Holy See on notice that they are by no means beyond reproach and are, in fact, particularly vulnerable to evil.

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — In homes and schools around Bosnia, youngsters this December have been preparing gift boxes they hope will put a smile on the faces of their peers living through war in Ukraine — just as such gifts did for many of their parents a generation ago.

Responding to an appeal launched by a small Sarajevo museum, hundreds of Bosnian children have been filing small boxes with warm clothes, toys, candies and other simple gifts to be delivered to the children of Ukraine in time for the New Year.

21 Dec 2022; MEMO: Greece lags behind Turkiye in strategic communication, a major Greek daily argued on Tuesday.

Greece deals with the process of the synthesis, formulation, and promotion of the main national positions at the international level very amateurishly, said Kathimerini daily.

MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/: Russia has a certain margin of safety in the military field, President Vladimir Putin pointed out, addressing an expanded board meeting of the Russian Defense Ministry on Wednesday.

"The state of our armed forces, as well as the fact that we have advanced weapons and equipment that other countries don’t have create a certain margin of safety. We do have it," Putin noted.

MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/: The role of the Black Sea region in the world economy will continue growing as the multipolar world takes shape, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday at the 45th meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC).

MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/: The Russian Armed Forces performed all their scheduled operational and combat training activities this year, including 14 international exercises, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Wednesday at a Defense Ministry board meeting attended by President Vladimir Putin.

"In 2022, all scheduled operational and combat training activities, including 14 international exercises at various levels, have been carried out," Shoigu said.

MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin backed the Defense Ministry’s initiative to increase the size of the Army and raise the conscription age. Speaking at the Defense Ministry’s end-of-the-year board meeting, the head of state said that the Russian authorities would not repeat mistakes of the past and would not engage in the militarization of the country and the economy.

MOSCOW, Dec 21 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said that nothing good would come from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's trip to Washington on Wednesday and that Russia saw no chance of peace talks with Kyiv.

In a call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that continued Western arms supplies to Ukraine would lead to a "deepening" of the conflict - something which could backfire on Kyiv, he warned.

Dec 21 (Reuters) - Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has undertaken a surprise trip to Beijing and held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping during which he said they discussed the Ukraine conflict.

Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, posted a video on his Telegram channel showing him meeting Xi, smiling for photos and a meeting between Chinese and Russian officials.

Medvedev said he and Xi had discussed the two countries' "no limits" strategic partnership, as well as Ukraine. He did not provide further details.

Dec 21 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin presided over the launch of a major new Siberian gas field on Wednesday to help drive a planned surge in supply to China.

The Kovykta gas field will feed into the Power of Siberia pipeline carrying Russian gas to China. With recoverable reserves of 1.8 trillion cubic metres, it is the largest in eastern Russia.

The launch is part of Russia's strategy to shift gas exports to the east as the European Union cuts reliance on Russian energy in response to the war in Ukraine.