Why Vladimir Putin has not been invited to Donald Trump's inauguration

Vladimir Putin has not been invited to attend Donald Trump's inauguration next month, Moscow has said.

The Kremlin said it had not received an invitation for the Russian president to attend the US president-elect's swearing-in ceremony on 20 January.

Meanwhile Mr Trump has invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to attend the inauguration in Washington DC, despite him threatening massive tariffs on Chinese goods.

Mr Trump's incoming press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, confirmed he invited Mr Xi but said it was "to be determined" if he would attend.

"This is an example of President Trump creating an open dialogue with leaders of countries that are not just our allies, but our adversaries and our competitors too," Ms Leavitt said during an interview on Fox News.

"We saw this in his first term. He is willing to talk to anyone and he will always put America's interest first."

In an interview with NBC News last week, Mr Trump said he "got along very well" with Mr Xi and said they "had communication as recently as this week".

It would be unprecedented for either of the presidents of Russia or China, US rivals, to attend the inauguration.

Mr Trump's impending inauguration has seen US President Joe Biden rush to get billions of dollars more in military aid to Ukraine and attempt to bring Israel's war on Hamas in Gaza to a close.

The president-elect has insisted Moscow and Kyiv reach an immediate ceasefire, and has said Ukraine should likely prepare to receive less in the way of US military aid.

Both Mr Biden's outgoing and Mr Trump's incoming administrations have said they hope to end the Israel-Hamas war before the president-elect's inauguration in January, but months of ceasefire talks have stalled repeatedly and no end appears to be in sight.