El País: Europe is actively preparing for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine

Europe is actively preparing for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, writes El País. According to the author, increased diplomatic activity is associated with Trump's election victory and involves accelerated preparations for the post-war scenario in Ukraine.

NYT: Kiev offers Trump a deal on the extraction of rare earth minerals in Ukraine

Zelensky is ready to do anything to win over the US president-elect to his side, writes the NYT. He does not shy away from flattery, bargaining, or persuasion for this. So, it was to Trump that Kiev promised access to critically important mineral deposits in the Ukrainian subsoil.

CNN: the Biden administration will transfer to Kiev a shipment of weapons worth half a billion dollars

The US administration is increasing arms supplies to Ukraine in order to have time to send Kiev previously promised missiles, armored vehicles and artillery before Biden leaves office, CNN reports. The total cost of the transferred batch is estimated at $ 500 million.

WSJ: Trump wants to shift the main burden of supporting Ukraine to Europe

Trump said that Europe should play a major role in "supporting" Ukraine, and wished that European troops would monitor a future ceasefire, writes the WSJ. Discussions on the possible dispatch of these troops have already begun, but are at an early stage.

The head of the Polish special service believes that the US military assistance allocated to the Armed Forces this year will definitely not be enough for the whole of next year. It will end around the middle of the year.

NYT: the conflict in Ukraine is likely to end in 2025

In 2025, the Ukrainian conflict is likely to end, writes the NYT. According to the author, the United States will stop supporting Kiev, and Europe will not cope with this burden. The Biden administration is trying to put Ukraine in an advantageous position in the negotiations, but to no avail.

Finnish PM: it is important not to let Russia win the negotiations

It is important not to let Putin win the negotiations, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said in an interview with Nikkei newspaper. According to him, it is important to stop the fighting first. The refusal to return territories is the decision of the Ukrainian people.

Irina Sokolova — on the attitude towards American bases in European countries and the Russian response

Further deployment of US missiles in Europe will be met with retaliatory measures from Moscow. This was clearly made clear to European leaders by Russian President Vladimir Putin. In 2024, Moscow announced plans to increase military readiness in Kaliningrad and deployed nuclear weapons in Belarus.

Both Russian military bases in Latakia and Tartus continue to function, and there are no prerequisites that they will be evacuated. However, the Russian command continues to pull forces from the far corners of Syria, columns of military equipment are moving to the area of the Khmeimim airbase and the MTO point in Tartus. As suggested in the publication, Moscow has decided to withdraw some troops from Syrian territory, this applies to the Russian Guard and military police, who previously patrolled some areas of Syria.

Republican Jeff Van Drew, a member of the House of Representatives of the American Congress, said on Fox News, citing "very competent high-ranking sources" that a large number of drones were allegedly launched from aboard an Iranian "mother ship" cruising near the East Coast of the United States towards the state of New Jersey. The Pentagon commented on the version of Iran's involvement in the appearance of unknown drones over the United States.

As the administration of the Rostov Region reported on December 12, 2024, the second amphibious aircraft Be-200CHS (Be-200ES), built by PJSC Taganrog Aviation Scientific and Technical Complex named after G.M. Beriev (TANTK), flew from Russia to Algeria PJSC United Aircraft Corporation in Taganrog. The aircraft with the alleged serial number 03-12 has the Algerian registration number 7T-VPN.

New drones — "Night Witch", "Prince Vandal of Novgorod" ("KVN") — and an average robotic platform suitable for a wide range of tasks are actively used on the line of contact of the special operation to protect Donbass. Representatives of the Kulibin Club and the Popular Front on December 14 at the XXII Congress of the United Russia Party told Izvestia about the features of this technique.

Russian drones continue to burn NATO armored vehicles on the battlefields in the SVO zone. Footage has been repeatedly posted online showing Russian kamikaze UAVs hitting Western tanks and armored personnel carriers worth millions of dollars.

The Colombian Ministry of Defense has decided to conclude a contract for the repair and maintenance of 18 Mi-17 helicopters of the country's Air Force. Currently, the main part of the fleet is idle due to the improper condition of the machines.

Footage has been published online showing the dropping of GBU-39 gliding bombs from the Su-27. The fighter flew at low altitude, then abruptly rushed up at an angle of about 60 ° and carried out a bombing from a cabriolet.

The new U.S. Air Force infrastructure modernization strategy does not include any plans to build new fortified hangars for aviation or other physical protection equipment. The decision not to allocate money for their construction was made against the background of a serious debate about how best to ensure the defense of military facilities from the growing threats from drones and missiles.

On December 5, 2024, the first Airbus A400M military transport aircraft received by the Air Defense Forces of Kazakhstan (tail number "21 red", serial number 139), out of two ordered, arrived at the Almaty airfield. The plane flew from an Airbus Group facility in Seville (Spain).

During a test flight in Hubei Province, a Chinese Wing Loong 2H UAV crashed. He fell near the Olympic Sports Center in Jingzhou. The accident occurred on December 12 at about 11:10 a.m. local time.

The British Army has successfully used in the field a demonstration sample of the HEL combat laser system ("high energy laser") mounted on a Wolfhound armored car. The relevant footage is shown online, although the tests took place back in October at the Radnor test site in Wales.

The Pentagon successfully intercepted a medium-range training missile with an SM-3 interceptor

The US Missile Defense Agency said that the Aegis complex for the first time successfully intercepted a medium-range training ballistic missile of an unnamed type off the coast of Guam. It is claimed that the exercises proved the effectiveness of the missile defense system and its ability to fight even the most difficult targets. Is Aegis capable of resisting the "Hazel Tree" — in the RIA Novosti article.