Russia

• In his annual epic press conference, Pres. Putin batted down suggestions that Russia has been weakened by nearly three years of war in Ukraine, saying the war has made Russia "much stronger."
• Putin also said he was "ready" for possible talks with incoming U.S. President Trump, who has said he will encourage Russia and Ukraine to end their war quickly.

• The Times of Israel reported that Hebrew media are "slightly more optimistic" than Arab diplomats about a ceasefire deal in Gaza in 2024.
• Hamas officials told Hezbollah-linked media that there are two outstanding sticking points. First, Hamas wants to start with a one-week ceasefire to buy time to coordinate with other militant factions on Israel's demand for a definitive list of remaining hostages (living and deceased); Israel wants all hostages released before a full ceasefire takes hold.
• The second remaining gap to a peace deal is reportedly over the order in which hostages are to be released: Israel wants its soldiers released with other hostages upfront, but Hamas probably prefers to hold some soldiers as possible bargaining chips.
• Despite these remaining issues, Hamas officials seem cautiously hopeful a deal will come "very soon."

• The Pentagon published its annual report on China's military this week, and you can read the full file here: https://www.defense.gov/Spotlights/2024-China-Military-Power-Report/.
• One key takeaway from this year's report is that the Pentagon believes China's military capabilities remain strong, despite an anti-corruption purge that many analysts believe concealed a deeper rot within the senior ranks. There are still some who think corruption scandals have set the People's Liberation Army's capabilities back significantly, though.

• Chainanalysis published its annual crypto hacking report, and it's juicy. Hackers stole an estimated $2.2 billion from 303 recorded attacks in 2024. That's around 22% more than was stolen in 2023 - but less than the $3.3 billion and $3.7 billion stolen in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
• The report attributed over half the value stolen in 2024 - $1.3 billion - to North Korean hackers, who curiously halved their daily haul in the second half of the year after Kim Jong Un's meeting with Vladimir Putin.
• Chainanalysis suggests Kim may have become less desperate for proceeds from hacking after that meeting because he was able to secure Putin's agreement to release frozen North Korean assets and share advanced weapons technology (thus sparing Kim the expense of developing it in-house).