"Kyiv and Washington made "real progress" toward peace in Ukraine during two-day talks in Berlin, top security official and negotiator Rustem Umerov said on Dec. 15, even as other officials signal that a final agreement on territorial issues remains elusive.
The statement comes after a delegation led by President Volodymyr Zelensky held two rounds of discussions with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on a plan for ending the Russia-Ukraine war.
Zelensky later commented on the talks, providing his assessment of the negotiations and outlining Kyiv’s priorities.
He acknowledged that while the Washington is pushing for a rapid end to the war, Kyiv is more focused on ensuring the quality of any agreement." KI
"China continues to squabble and get in maritime incidents with US allies in regional waters of the Western Pacific. Lately it has been locked in a heightening dispute with Japan over Tokyo's pro-Taiwan stance, but there's been a new recent incident with The Philippines.Beijing on Monday accused Manila of staging a "deliberate" provocation and carrying out hazardous and aggressive actions near a contested reef in the South China Sea following a tense weekend incident. China has further blamed Washington for issuing what it labeled as misleading statements that have set the region on edge.
The Philippines said Chinese coast guard vessels used water cannons against Filipino fishing boats near Sabina Shoal during an incident Friday. This led to a weekend of tit-for-tat accusations and denunciations." ZH
"Ukraine's air defense forces neutralized 57 out of the 69 drones launched by Russia against Ukraine starting in the evening....., the invaders launched 69 attack UAVs, including Shahed-type drones, Gerberas, and other types of drones, from the directions of Oryol, Primorsko-Akhtarsk, Millerovo (Russia), and Hvardiiske (temporarily occupied Crimea). About 40 of them were Shahed-type drones." Ukrin
"A strong magnitude 5.1 earthquake occurred in the North Pacific Ocean 117 km (73 mi) from Aomori, Japan, in the early afternoon at 2.38 pm local time (GMT +9). The depth of the quake could not be determined, but is assumed to be shallow." VD
"A strong magnitude 5.6 earthquake occurred in the North Pacific Ocean 345 km (214 mi)
from Russia in the morning at 7.33 am local time (GMT +12). The quake had a very shallow depth of 34 km (21 mi) and was felt by many near the epicenter. The shallow depth of the quake caused it to be felt more strongly near the epicenter than a deeper quake of similar magnitude would." VD
"A strong magnitude 5.7 earthquake occurred in the North Pacific Ocean near the coast of
Northern Mariana Islands in the morning at 9.06 am local time (GMT +10). The quake had a moderate depth of 100 km (62 mi) and was felt over a large region." VD
"Ukraine's Defense Forces engaged in 151 combat clashes with Russian invaders along the front lines.
The Russian army carried out airstrikes on the areas of Ryzhivka in the Sumy region, Havrylivka in the Dnipropetrovsk region, and Huliaipole and Zaliznychne in the Zaporizhzhia region.Ukrainian aircraft, missile troops, and artillery units struck two concentrations of enemy personnel and equipment, one artillery system, and two Russian command posts.
One combat engagement occurred on the Northern Slobozhanshchyna and Kursk axes. The enemy carried out 121 shelling attacks, including two from MLRS.
On the Southern Slobozhanshchyna axis, Ukrainian forces repelled four Russian attacks near Prylipky and toward Obukhivka.
On the Kupiansk axis, Ukrainian forces repelled one Russian assault near Pishchane.
On the Lyman axis, the enemy attacked Ukrainian positions 12 times, attempting to break into Ukrainian defenses near Novoselivka, Serednie, Zarichne, and toward Drobysheve and Lyman.
On the Sloviansk axis, Ukrainian defenders repelled seven Russian attacks near Serebrianka, Dronivka, Siversk, and toward Sviato-Pokrovske.
On the Kramatorsk axis, the enemy conducted no offensive operations.
On the Kostiantynivka axis, Russian forces carried out 20 attacks near Oleksandro-Shultyne, Pleshchiivka, Kleban-Byk, Rusyn Yar, and toward Kostiantynivka, Novopavlivka, Ivanopillia, and Sofiivka.
On the Pokrovsk axis, Ukrainian defenders repelled 40 Russian assault operations near Rodynske, Myrnohrad, Pokrovsk, Kotlyne, Udachne, Molodetske, Filiia, and toward Hryshyne, Toretske, Bilytske, and Novopavlivka.
On the Oleksandrohrad axis, the invaders carried out 24 attacks near Yalta, Sichneve, Sosnivka, Verbove, Zlahoda, Pryvilne, Rybne, Zelenyi Hai, Andriivka-Klevtsove, Oleksandrohrad, Solodke, Yehorivka, and toward Oleksiivka.
On the Huliaipole axis, Ukrainian forces repelled 13 Russian attacks toward Huliaipole, Dobropillia, and Varvarivka.
On the Orikhiv axis, the enemy made three unsuccessful attempts to break through the defenses toward Novoandriivka, Pavlivka, and near Shcherbaky.
On the Dnipro River axis, one attempt by the invaders to approach Ukrainian positions near Antonivka ended in failure." Ukrin
