Chinese President Xi Jinping said Beijing and Moscow “firmly support each other” after meeting virtually with Russian President Vladimir Putin today, Russian state broadcaster TASS reported. Kremlin official Yuri Ushakov told Reuters that Xi offered support for Russia’s push for security guarantees from the West, and that both leaders expressed a “negative view” of new alliances such as the so-called Quad partnership and the security pact comprising the United States, Australia, and United Kingdom.
 
Xi and Putin’s meeting came amid rising tensions between Russia and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries over Russia’s military buildup near its border with Ukraine. Russia gave the United States its proposals (Reuters) for security guarantees during a meeting with a senior U.S. official in Moscow today, Ushakov said.

The leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine attended (Reuters) the Eastern Partnership summit, where the latter three pressed the European Union (EU) to let them begin negotiations on joining the bloc. The leaders of France, Germany, and Ukraine met before the summit (AFP).

Armenia/Azerbaijan: European Council President Charles Michel announced that an EU expert mission will be created (TASS) to help delineate the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan.  

The vote was unanimous (WSJ), and the bill is expected to pass the Senate later this week.
 
This Backgrounder explains China’s repression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang.

Clean energy projects received 74 percent (Bloomberg) of funds from Indian financial institutions in 2020, compared to 26 percent for coal, according to New Delhi–based organizations Climate Trends and Centre for Financial Accountability.
 
Myanmar: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said President Biden invited leaders (Al Jazeera) from countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to a summit next year on issues including Myanmar’s crisis.

The suspension was a sign of the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) growing frustration (CNN) over U.S. efforts to stop it from using Chinese technology. The United States has pushed the UAE to drop Chinese firm Huawei from its telecommunications network.
 
Lebanon: The country’s public prosecutor ordered (Reuters) that former Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil be arrested on January 1 as part of investigations into last year’s Beirut port explosion. In October, a similar arrest warrant against Khalil prompted protests that turned violent.

Many of the world’s wealthy countries have already met the target (AP), while just twenty of Africa’s fifty-four countries have fully vaccinated at least 10 percent of their populations.
 
This article visualizes the global vaccination divide and other COVID-19 trends.
 
South Africa: A court ruled that former President Jacob Zuma’s medical parole is unlawful and that he must return to jail (BBC), where he was serving a sentence for failing to attend a corruption trial.

A far-right candidate in Sunday’s presidential election, Jose Antonio Kast Rist, has promised to restrict migration (AP) across Chile’s borders.
 
Haiti: A fuel tanker explosion in the northern city of ​​Cap-Haitien killed more than sixty people (BBC).

In a 222-208 vote, the House recommended (CNN) that the Justice Department pursue criminal charges against Mark Meadows, a White House chief of staff under President Donald Trump, for failing to appear at a deposition in a probe into the January 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol.