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Morning Headlines
AP News: After Sunday’s talks in Berlin between U.S. envoys and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian and European officials are set to continue a series of meetings in an effort to secure the continent’s peace and security in the face of an increasingly assertive Russia.
Reuters: The head of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, the foreign spy service known as MI6, will warn that Russia poses an "aggressive, expansionist, and revisionist" threat, in her first speech since taking office.
The Guardian: A year after his regime was toppled in Syria, the Assad family are living an isolated, quiet life of luxury in Moscow and the UAE. A friend of the family, sources in Russia and Syria, as well as leaked data, helped give rare insight into the lives of the now reclusive family who once ruled over Syria with an iron fist.
ISW: The Kremlin is setting conditions to reject the Ukrainian and European peace plan drafts after it previously rejected key points of the US-proposed 28-point peace plan that overwhelmingly benefitted Russia.
14.12.2025
AP News: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday voiced readiness to drop his country’s bid to join NATO in exchange for Western security guarantees, but rejected the U.S. push for ceding territory to Russia as he held talks with U.S. envoys on ending the war.
Bloomberg: Next week, a group of European Union countries closest to Russia will start work on concrete measures for how to boost the bloc’s defenses against their belligerent eastern neighbor, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said (archive).
Politico: Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz compared Putin to Hitler in a speech Saturday evening, warning that the Kremlin leader’s ambitions won’t stop with Ukraine.
The Kyiv Independent: Russian forces attacked a supermarket in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Dec. 14, injuring at least 14 people, including a six-year-old child, Governor Ivan Fedorov reported.
The Kyiv Independent: Ukrainian forces launched a large-scale attack against Russian military and oil facilities, striking assets in Russia and in occupied territories, including Crimea. The Afipsky Oil Refinery in Russia's Krasnodar Krai, the Uryupinsk oil depot in Vologograd Oblast, and two fuel depots in Crimea were struck, the military reported.
ISW: Ukrainian forces continue to advance within and near Kupyansk, and more details have emerged about the counteroffensive effort.
13.12.2025
The Moscow Times: Belarus has released 123 prisoners, including protest leader Maria Kalesnikava, Nobel Peace Prize-winning rights activist Ales Bialiatski and ex-presidential candidate Viktar Babaryka, in exchange for the United States lifting some of its sanctions on Minsk.
The Kyiv Independent: The Russian army has deployed additional reserves to the Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad sectors of the front line in Donetsk Oblast, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Dec. 13.
Reuters: The Czech Republic will not take on any guarantees for Ukraine financing, incoming Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, who will take power on Monday, said on Saturday, adding that the European Commission must find alternative ways of supporting the country.
ISW: The Ukrainian advances in and near Kupyansk show that Ukrainian forces are capable of conducting successful counterattacks and making tactically significant gains, particularly when Russian forces are overstretched.
Reuters: Ukraine's southern port city of Odesa and the surrounding region suffered major blackouts on Saturday after a large overnight Russian attack on the power grid that left more than a million households without power. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia had attacked Ukraine with more than 450 drones and 30 missiles.
12.12.2025
Reuters: Russia attacked two Ukrainian ports on Friday, damaging three Turkish-owned vessels including a ship carrying food supplies, Ukrainian officials and one ship owner said, days after Moscow threatened to cut "Ukraine off from the sea".
Ukrainska Pravda: The Security Service of Ukraine has launched a second drone attack on Russian oil rigs in the Caspian Sea, forcing production processes to be suspended.
Reuters: Ukraine's military said on Friday it attacked a major Russian oil refinery in Yaroslavl, north-east of Moscow, and industry sources said the facility had suspended output.
AP News: The European Union on Friday indefinitely froze Russia’s assets in Europe to ensure that Hungary and Slovakia, both with Moscow-friendly governments, can’t prevent the billions of euros from being used to support Ukraine.
A joint investigation by Bellingcat and Lloyd’s List has identified Saudi Arabia as the newest country to import grain directly from a Western-sanctioned port in occupied Crimea, as Russia attempts to secure recognition of the Ukrainian territory via a US-led peace plan.
Reuters: The administrator of Google's defunct Russian business has obtained a temporary freeze on some 110 million euros of the Alphabet-owned company's assets in France. The move represents a rare attempt by Russian authorities to use legal channels to target assets of western companies overseas.
The Moscow Times: A senior Kremlin official has proposed a post-war arrangement that would see Russian National Guard and police forces replacing Russian troops in contested Ukrainian territories should Kyiv agree to a U.S.-backed peace proposal.
BBC: Germany has accused Russia of a cyber-attack on air traffic control and attempted electoral interference, and summoned the Russian ambassador.
Reuters: The European Commission is open to include guarantees that Belgium wants in the plan to use immobilised Russian central bank assets for a loan to Ukraine, European Economic Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said on Friday.
Reuters: Ukrainian forces said they had retaken parts of the northeastern town of Kupiansk and had encircled Russian troops there as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited the area and praised the operation, saying it strengthened Ukraine diplomatically.
Reuters: Russian state oil and gas revenue is likely to almost halve in December compared with a year ago to 410 billion roubles ($5.17 billion) as a result of lower crude prices and a stronger rouble, Reuters calculations showed on Friday.
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