Turkey
Turkish police killed a man who took seven employees of a Procter & Gamble factory near Istanbul hostage for eight hours to protest Israel's war in Gaza.
Turkish banks have begun to close the accounts of an increasing number of Russian companies and impose stricter requirements on individuals as they tighten their policies toward Russian clients amid sanctions imposed in connection with the war in Ukraine.
Ukraine is actively developing partnerships in the defense industry, having concluded dozens of agreements on joint arms production with more than two dozen countries.
The United States is ready to sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey as soon as it gets rid of the Russian S-400 air defense systems in its service.
The Ukrainian government has decided to lease a part of the Sukhoi Estuary in Odesa region for mariculture, allowing entrepreneurs to grow clams, shrimp and other seafood. This will help to provide the domestic market with healthy seafood, drawing on the experience of mariculture leaders such as Norway and Chile.
In 2023, Ukraine was ranked 104th out of 180 countries in the Global Corruption Perceptions Index, improving its position by 3 points and receiving 36 points out of 100. Over the past 10 years since the Revolution of Dignity, Ukraine has added 11 points, the largest increase among the current EU candidate countries.
The Kremlin has announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to visit Turkey in February. According to Putin's aide, Yuri Ushakov, preparations for the visit are underway.
Canada and Turkey have reached an agreement to resume Canadian exports of drone components to Turkey in exchange for greater transparency in their use. This happened after Ankara finalized the ratification of Sweden's accession to NATO.
The US State Department has authorized a potential $23 billion sale of 40 new F-16 fighter jets and modernization kits for Turkey's existing F-16 fleet. This happened shortly after Turkey ratified Sweden's accession to NATO. At the same time, Greece will receive 40 F-35 fighter jets in order to balance relations between the two NATO allies.
Since the invasion, Taiwan has become the largest supplier of metalworking machines to Russia, delivering $29 million worth of equipment through Turkey, despite Taiwan's pro-Ukrainian stance. These machines are vital to Russia's military industry for the production of precision weapons, but sanctions do not restrict the export of most Taiwanese machines.