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Finland, Sweden to Send Teams to Turkey to Discuss NATO Bids, Haavisto Says

Pekka Haavisto, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland of Finland, addresses a panel session during the 51st annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, 24 May 2022. (EPA)
Pekka Haavisto, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland of Finland, addresses a panel session during the 51st annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, 24 May 2022. (EPA)
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Finland, Sweden to Send Teams to Turkey to Discuss NATO Bids, Haavisto Says

Pekka Haavisto, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland of Finland, addresses a panel session during the 51st annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, 24 May 2022. (EPA)
Pekka Haavisto, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland of Finland, addresses a panel session during the 51st annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, 24 May 2022. (EPA)

Finland and Sweden will send delegations to Ankara on Wednesday to try to resolve Turkish opposition to their applications for membership of the NATO military alliance, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said on Tuesday.

"We are sending our delegations to visit Ankara, actually both Sweden and Finland. This will happen tomorrow, so the dialogue is continuing," Haavisto said during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who has objected to Sweden and Finland joining NATO, held phone calls with the leaders of the two Nordic countries on Saturday and discussed his concerns.

Turkey says Sweden and Finland harbor people linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group and followers of Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara accuses of orchestrating a 2016 coup attempt.

"We understand that Turkey has some of their own security concerns vis a vis terrorism ... We think that these issues can be settled. There might be also some issues that are not linked directly to Finland and Sweden but more to other NATO members," Haavisto said.

Erdogan told Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson on Saturday that Ankara expected concrete steps to address its concerns, according to the Turkish presidency. He also said an arms exports embargo imposed on Turkey after its Syria incursion in 2019 should be lifted, it added.

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said on Saturday he had held "open and direct" talks on the phone with Erdogan.

"I stated that as NATO allies Finland and Turkey will commit to each other's security and our relationship will thus grow stronger," Niinisto tweeted after the call.

Erdogan spoke also with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Saturday, telling him that Ankara would not look positively on Sweden and Finland's NATO bids unless they clearly show cooperation in the fight against terrorism and other issues.

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World

Trump Says Will Meet Venezuelan Opposition's Machado 'Next Week'

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado addresses supporters during a protest called by the opposition on the eve of the presidential inauguration in Caracas on January 9, 2025. (AFP)
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado addresses supporters during a protest called by the opposition on the eve of the presidential inauguration in Caracas on January 9, 2025. (AFP)
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Trump Says Will Meet Venezuelan Opposition's Machado 'Next Week'

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado addresses supporters during a protest called by the opposition on the eve of the presidential inauguration in Caracas on January 9, 2025. (AFP)
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado addresses supporters during a protest called by the opposition on the eve of the presidential inauguration in Caracas on January 9, 2025. (AFP)

US President Donald Trump said Thursday that Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado will be in Washington next week, indicating he planned to meet with the Nobel Peace Prize winner.

"I understand she's coming in next week sometime, and I look forward to saying hello to her," Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity in an interview.

The meeting would be the first between the US president and Machado and comes just over a week after US forces captured Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and his wife and whisked them to New York to face trial on drug and weapons charges.

Trump said last week that Machado does not have the respect or support within Venezuela to lead the country and has since suggested the US could effectively control Venezuela for years.

He told Fox News on Thursday that the South American country, currently led by interim President Delcy Rodriguez, was not in a position to hold fresh elections.

"We have to rebuild the country. They couldn't have an election," he said.

"They wouldn't even know how to have an election right now."

Machado has offered to share her Nobel Prize with Trump, who has said he deserved the award.

On Thursday, Trump said it was a "major embarrassment" for Norway that he did not win the prize, which is awarded by a Norwegian committee.

He indicated Machado might give him her Nobel Prize when they meet.

"I understand she wants to do that. That would be a great honor," Trump said.

World

Russia Says It Used New Oreshnik Ballistic Missile against Ukraine

Smoke rises from an apartment building that was hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine January 9, 2026. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
Smoke rises from an apartment building that was hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine January 9, 2026. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
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Russia Says It Used New Oreshnik Ballistic Missile against Ukraine

Smoke rises from an apartment building that was hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine January 9, 2026. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
Smoke rises from an apartment building that was hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine January 9, 2026. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

Russia said Friday it has used the new Oreshnik ballistic missile along with other weapons in a massive strike on Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials said four people were killed and at least 22 wounded in the capital overnight. Russia didn’t say where Oreshnik hit, but Russian media and military bloggers said it targeted a huge underground natural gas storage in Ukraine’s western Lviv region, The Associated Press said.

Russia's Defense Ministry said the attack was a retaliation to what Moscow said was a Ukrainian drone strike on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residence last month. Ukraine and US President Donald Trump have rejected the Russian claim of the attack on Putin’s residence.

Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadoviy said that Russia struck critical infrastructure with a ballistic missile, but didn't give details. He said the missile traveled at a speed of 13,000 kilometers (more than 8,000 miles) per hour, and that the specific type of rocket was being investigated.

Russia first tested the Oreshnik — Russian for hazelnut tree — to strike a Ukrainian factory in November 2024. Putin has bragged that Oreshnik’s multiple warheads plunge at speeds of up to Mach 10 and can’t be intercepted, and that several of them used in a conventional strike could be as devastating as a nuclear attack. Oreshnik can also carry nuclear weapons.

The Russian leader has warned the West that Russia could use the Oreshnik next against allies of Kyiv that allowed it to strike inside Russia with their longer-range missiles.

After the overnight strike on Ukraine's capital, those killed included an emergency medical aid worker, said Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko. Five rescue workers sustained injuries while responding to the site of ongoing attacks, said Ukraine's security service.

Several districts in Kyiv were hit in the attack, said Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko. In the Desnyanskyi district a drone crashed onto the roof of a multi-story building. At another address in the same district the first two floors of a residential building were damaged.

In Dnipro district, parts of a drone damaged a multistory building and a fire broke out.

Running water and electricity were disrupted in parts of the capital as a result of the attack, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

The attack took place just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy alerted the nation about Russia’s intentions for a large-scale offensive. He said that Russia aimed to take advantage of the frigid weather in the capital, making roads and streets perilously icy.

World

Trump Says ‘My Own Morality’ Is Only Restraint on Global Power

President Donald Trump speaks to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP)
President Donald Trump speaks to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP)
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Trump Says ‘My Own Morality’ Is Only Restraint on Global Power

President Donald Trump speaks to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP)
President Donald Trump speaks to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP)

US President Donald Trump said in an interview published Thursday that his "own morality" was the only constraint on his power to order military actions around the world.

Trump's comments to The New York Times came days after he launched a lightning operation to topple Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, and threatened a host of other countries plus the autonomous territory Greenland.

"Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It's the only thing that can stop me," Trump told the newspaper when asked if there were any limits on his global powers.

"I don't need international law," he added. "I'm not looking to hurt people."

The Republican president then added that "I do" need to abide by international law, but said "it depends what your definition of international law is."

The United States is not a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which tries war criminals, and it has repeatedly rejected decisions by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN's top court.

Trump himself has had his own run-ins with domestic law, having been impeached twice, faced a slew of federal charges including conspiring to overturn the 2020 election -- which were eventually dropped after his re-election -- and convicted for covering up a hush money payment to a porn star.

While proclaiming himself as "peace president" and seeking the Nobel Prize, Trump has launched a series of military operations in his second presidential term.

Trump ordered attacks on Iran's nuclear program in June and in the past year has also overseen strikes on Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria, Yemen -- and most recently on Venezuela.

Since Maduro's capture, an emboldened Trump has threatened a string of other countries including Colombia, as well as Greenland, which is administered by fellow NATO member Denmark.

Asked whether his priority was preserving the NATO military alliance or acquiring Greenland, Trump told the Times: "It may be a choice."

Some members of Congress, including a handful of Republicans, are trying to check Trump's power.

On Thursday the Senate advanced a measure to rein in presidential military action in Venezuela. But even if it reaches his desk, Trump would likely veto it.

Billionaire Trump, who made his fortune as a property developer, added that US ownership of Greenland is "what I feel is psychologically needed for success."

Trump said separately that he had no problem with his family conducting foreign business deals since his return to office.

"I prohibited them from doing business in my first term, and I got absolutely no credit for it," Trump told the daily. "I found out that nobody cared, and I'm allowed to."