Putin sends New Year’s greetings to four new world leaders, drops two others from list

Vladimir Putin updated the list of world leaders he sent holiday greetings to this year, adding four new leaders while removing two others, according to Agentstvo Media.

The 26 figures who received his New Year wishes included the leaders of Myanmar, North Korea, Ethiopia, and Mongolia. Meanwhile, the leaders of Syria and the Russian-backed breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia were dropped from the list.

Other leaders who received Putin’s holiday greetings included those from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Venezuela, Nicaragua, South Africa, China, India, and Hungary.

The official list of countries whose leaders received New Year’s greetings from Putin was published on the Kremlin’s website on Monday.