A series of policies introduced by Vladimir Putin show he is "worried" about mounting problems likely to hit Russia next year, a leading think tank says. Meanwhile, RAF fighter jets were scrambled to monitor Russian military aircraft near UK airspace,

The leaders of Russia and Germany spoke for the first time in nearly two years on Friday as the Kremlin repeated a demand that Ukraine accept the “new territorial realities” created by its invasion and abandon its hopes of Nato membership forever.

Germany's government says that Chancellor Olaf Scholz had a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the first such conversation in two years.