Putin snubs top world leaders in his New Year's greetings for second year in a row
It is a tradition for Putin to send New Year's and Christmas greetings to his foreign counterparts in the final days of December. On December 30th, the Kremlin published a list of leaders who had received such telegrams from the Russian President. So, who wasn't on the list?
10:26 AM EST, December 31, 2023
The political leaders of Great Britain, Germany, the United States, France, Japan, and other "large countries hostile to Russia" were missing. This is the second year that Putin hasn't sent them holiday messages.
From European leaders, Viktor Orban, the Prime Minister of Hungary, a notable adversary of Ukraine and foe of liberal democracy, and Aleksandar Vucic, the President of Serbia, were the only ones to receive Putin's greetings.
Included in the list: sports activists and Merkel
Once again, no leaders of international organizations or leading sports federations were on the list.
Angela Merkel, the former Chancellor of Germany, failed to feature on the list of former heads of state and governments which Putin usually congratulates. She is missing for the second consecutive year.
