‘A CRITICAL MOMENT’: Negotiations have reached a furious pace in Berlin, where for a third day Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been trying to hammer out a response to the U.S.-proposed peace plan that would be acceptable to President Donald Trump and the Ukrainian people.
The latest negotiations went about five hours, with Zelensky reportedly offering to trade Ukraine’s desire for NATO membership for an ironclad pledge from the United States — ratified by Congress — to protect Ukraine if Russia ever attacks again.
“It is crucial that this is supported by the U.S. Congress,” Zelensky told reporters Sunday in a WhatsApp chat. “Legally binding guarantees are mandatory — not the Budapest Memorandum, but real, legally binding guarantees,” Zelensky said, referring to the 1994 agreement in which the U.S., U.K., and Russia guaranteed Ukraine’s sovereignty in return for Kyiv giving up its Cold War arsenal of Soviet-era nuclear weapons. “We are holding these consultations with the United States. When they mention something mirroring NATO’s Article 5, we understand how the U.S. should respond to renewed Russian aggression.”
After yesterday’s session with special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, Witkoff posted on X, “A lot of progress was made.”
I think we are at a critical moment for the negotiations for peace,” Finnish President Alexander Stubb, said in an interview. “And at the same time, we are probably closer to a peace agreement than we have been at any time during these four years.”
“We are working right now on three documents. One is a framework document of a 20-point peace plan. The second one is security guarantees for Ukraine, and the third one is the reconstruction of Ukraine.”
RUSSIA POISED TO REJECT THE COMPROMISE: While Zelensky’s latest compromise is aimed at mollifying the U.S. and showing flexibility in response to U.S. demands, Ukraine’s refusal to give up any territory to Russia that Russian forces have been unable to capture in nearing four years of fighting, are prompting signals from Moscow that President Vladimir Putin is intent on fighting on to achieve all of the original goals of the 2022 invasion.
“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,” the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War wrote in its latest assessment. The ISW cited comments by Yuriy Ushakov, a key Putin aide in a TV interview, who said that Russia will have “strong objections” if Ukraine and Europe make amendments to the peace plan.
“Ushakov also stated that Russia will not accept provisions related to various ‘territorial issues,’ including any discussions of a demilitarized ‘buffer’ zone in Donbas.”
Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov “emphasized that the Kremlin is uninterested in reviewing the European position on the peace deal,” the ISW said, noting that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov “effectively rejected seven points of the US-proposed 28-point peace plan on December 11, including the original plan’s points on territorial swaps based on the line of contact and the provision of reliable security guarantees for Ukraine.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Good Monday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Christopher Tremoglie. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow me on Threads and/or on X @jamiejmcintyre.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP OR READ BACK ISSUES OF DAILY ON DEFENSE
NOTE TO READERS: Daily on Defense will be on holiday break beginning the week of Monday, Dec. 22, and continuing through Jan. 1, 2026. We’ll be back in the new year.
HAPPENING TODAY: US VOWS RETALITION FOR SYRIA ATTACK: War Secretary Pete Hesgeth is vowing to hunt down and ruthlessly kill any future attackers who target U.S. troops in the wake of a Saturday ambush that killed two U.S. soldiers, an American civilian translator, and wounded three other soldiers who were part of an Iowa National Guard unit deployed to Syria.
“The savage who perpetrated this attack was killed by partner forces,” Hegseth posted on X. “Let it be known, if you target Americans — anywhere in the world — you will spend the rest of your brief, anxious life knowing the United States will hunt you, find you, and ruthlessly kill you.”
“This was an ISIS attack against the U.S., and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria, that is not fully controlled by them. The President of Syria, Ahmed al Sharaa, is extremely angry and disturbed by this attack,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform. “There will be very serious retaliation.”
The attacker was identified as a “newly employed security guard under investigation over suspected links to Islamic State,” according to a report in the Daily Telegraph. The gunman was reportedly “among 5,000 recruits to a new division in the internal security forces in the desert region known as the Badiya, one of the places in Syria where remnants of the Islamic State extremist group have remained active.”
SENATE DEMOCRAT SAYS US MUST BE ‘VERY AGGRESSIVE’ IN WORKING WITH SYRIA TO DEFEAT ISIS
WILL KELLY BE COURT MARTIALED? The Navy, as requested, has submitted a report to Secretary Hegseth about whether Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), a retired Navy Captain and former astronaut, should be recalled to active duty to face discipline for his comments in a video urging members of the U.S. military to refuse to carry out unlawful orders.
Kelly has argued that he and his fellow lawmakers were simply stating a well-known provision of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and says the threat of prosecution for alleged “seditious acts” is simply an effort to muzzle political opponents.
“If I was to take a step back because of Donald Trump’s intimidation of me, that diminishes everybody’s First Amendment rights,” Kelly said in a post on X. “ I said something he didn’t like, he wanted to shut me up. I’m not gonna back down from him or anybody else. I’ve served this country for decades.”
“He exercised his rights as an American citizen and a United States Senator to plainly repeat what the law is,” Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) said on Fox News. “Pam Bondi, the current Attorney General, has also stated that it is not appropriate for an American fighting man or woman to execute an illegal order. They must refuse to do that. And if Pam Bondi can say it, then I think a sitting United States senator can say it.”
“This is more of retribution and attacks on not only Sen. Kelly, but the Senate itself,” said Reed, who is the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee. “There are other members who might fall in that category of retired, and they have to clear everything they say with the President of the United States or the Secretary of the Army or the Navy.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
THE RUNDOWN:
Washington Examiner: New national security strategy a throwback to 1823
Washington Examiner: Hugo Gurdon Opinion: Seizing the tanker was the Monroe Doctrine in action
Washington Examiner: Editorial: An active, engaging, and honest National Security Strategy
Washington Examiner: Mark Warner concerned remnants of Chinese Salt Typhoon hack ‘still inside’ government: ‘Conflicting information’
Washington Examiner: Bolivian foreign minister says ‘arms are open’ to US and approves of Trump strategy in South America
Washington Examiner: Two US soldiers killed by ISIS gunman in Syria, others wounded
Washington Examiner: Trump promises ‘serious retaliation’ after ISIS kills three Americans including two soldiers
Washington Examiner: Senate Democrat says US must be ‘very aggressive’ in working with Syria to defeat ISIS
Washington Examiner: Rubio says US will ‘take action’ after Rwanda’s ‘clear violation’ of Trump-brokered peace deal
Washington Examiner: Belarus frees over 100 political prisoners including US citizen after Trump begins lifting sanctions
Washington Examiner: Machado says Venezuelan military members reaching out to opposition: ‘They are scared’
Washington Examiner: Israel kills top Hamas commander hours after terrorists attacked Israeli soldiers
Washington Examiner: Trump says Thailand-Cambodia conflict will ‘cease’ as both sides ‘are ready for peace’
Washington Examiner: Trump’s show business homecoming
Washington Examiner: Trump administration ends temporary protected status for Ethiopians
Washington Examiner: Trump awaits court decisions on National Guard deployments even as protests fade
Washington Examiner: Venezuela’s long war against the USVenezuela’s long war against the US
Washington Examiner: Secretary of Navy Phelan touts getting ‘hulls in the water’ at Army-Navy game
Financial Times: Ukraine Offers to Drop NATO Membership Demands
AP: JetBlue Flight Near Venezuela Avoids ‘Midair Collision’ with US Air Force Tanker
Wall Street Journal: US Forces Raid Ship, Seize Cargo Headed to Iran from China
Washington Post: Admiral’s Top Military Lawyer to Be Summoned in House Boat Strike Inquiry
Financial Times: Trump assault opens EU rift as leaders split on US strategy
New York Times: Israel Says It Killed Senior Hamas Commander, Despite Cease-Fire
Politico: Trump Enlists 5 Allies to Counter China on Rare Earths and Tech
AP: Former Hong Kong pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai convicted in landmark national security trial
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Hegseth Visits Alabama to Cement Redstone Arsenal as Future Home of Space Command
Defense One: There’s a Divide Within the Space Force. Congress Is Forcing the Service to Address It
Bloomberg: US Sets New Air Force One Delivery Date for Mid-2028
Reuters: Swiss to Reduce F-35 Fighter Jet Order from US as Costs Rise
Breaking Defense: France, Spain Reassert Faith in Europe’s Next-Gen Future Fighter, but Germany Stays Mum
Air Force Times: GAO: Services Aren’t Sharing Information on Longtime Osprey Problems
DefenseScoop: Marine Corps Continues Pathway for Troops to Switch Their MOS and Become Drone Operators
Task & Purpose: Congress Wants to Screen Drone Operators for PTSD, Depression
Air & Space Forces Magazine: New B-52 Radar Makes First Flight
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Space Force Accepts Meadowlands SATCOM Jammers
THE CALENDAR:
MONDAY | DECEMBER 15
9 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual discussion: “Actualizing the ‘Arsenal of Freedom,” with Jerry McGinn, director, CSIS Center for the Industrial Base https://www.csis.org/events/actualizing-arsenal-freedom
12 p.m. — Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies virtual discussion: “Not as Weak as We Hope? Not as Strong as We Fear? Russia Four Years into the War,” with Elizveta Fakht, reporter for BBC Russian Service; Alexander Gabuev, director, Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center; Max Seddon, Financial Times Moscow bureau chief; and Sergey Radchenko, professor, Johns Hopkins SAIS Europe https://sais.jhu.edu/campus-events
1 p.m. — Information Technology and Innovation Foundation virtual discussion: “Crafting a National Power Industry Strategy in Response to China Industrial War,” with former White House national security adviser retired Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, senior fellow, Stanford University Hoover Institution; Michael Brown, partner, Shield Capital; and Robert Atkinson, ITIF president https://itif.org/events/2025/12/15/crafting-a-national-power-industry-strategy
2:30 p.m. — Atlantic Council virtual discussion: “How the U.S. and Taiwan Can Deter Chinese Coercion by Shoring up Taiwan Partners,” with Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL); Samantha Custer, fellow in cooperative security, University of Maryland School of Public Policy; Parsifal Dola, nonresident senior fellow, Atlantic Council Global China Hub; Nik Foster, nonresident fellow, Atlantic Council Global China Hub; Kitsch Liao, associate director, Atlantic Council Global China Hub; and Melanie Hart, senior director, Atlantic Council Global China Hub https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/how-the-us-and-taiwan-can-deter-chinese-coercion
TUESDAY | DECEMBER 16
9:30 a.m. 106 Dirksen — Senate Judiciary Border Security and Immigration Subcommittee and Crime and Counterterrorism Subcommittee joint hearing: “Biden Afghan Parolee Program – A Trojan Horse with Flawed Vetting and Deadly Consequences” http://judiciary.senate.gov
10 a.m. 2172 Rayburn — House Foreign Affairs Europe Subcommittee hearing: “Hybrid Warfare in Europe Against U.S. Interests: Moscow and Beijing Playbook,” with testimony from: Craig Singleton, China Program senior director and senior fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies; Christopher Walker, vice president, Center for European Policy Analysis; and Laura Cooper, adjunct assistant professor, Georgetown University http://foreignaffairs.house.gov
1 p.m. Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual book discussion: beginning at 1 p.m., on “The Great Heist: China Epic Campaign to Steal America Secrets,” with author David Shedd, former deputy director and acting director, Defense Intelligence Agency https://www.csis.org/events/chinas-campaign-steal-americas-secrets-talk-david-r-shedd
2 p.m. 2167 Rayburn — House Transportation and Infrastructure Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee hearing: “Changes in Maritime Technology: Can the Coast Guard Keep Up?” http://transportation.house.gov
WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 17
9 a.m. — International Institute for Strategic Studies virtual discussion: “The Future of New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaties): Implications for the U.S. and Europe,” with Lukasz Kulesa, senior associate at the European Leadership network; Robert Peters, senior research fellow for strategic deterrence at the Heritage Foundation Center for National Security; Nikolai Sokov, senior fellow, Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation; and Mallory Stewart, executive vice president, Council on Strategic Risks https://www.iiss.org/events/2025/12/the-future-of-new-start
10:30 a.m. 1400 L St. NW — Atlantic Council discussion: “Revitalizing the Defense Industrial Base,” with Michael Cadenazzi, assistant secretary of defense for industrial base policy; Jenna Ben-Yehuds, executive vice president, Atlantic Council; and Steven Grundman, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Forward Defense Program https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/the-pentagons-michael-cadenazzi
10:30 a.m. 2799 Richmond Hwy., Arlington, Va.— Satellite Industry Association and U.S. Space Command “Commercial Satcom Workshop,” with Rear Adm. Tracy Hines, deputy director of operations (J3), U.S. Space Command RSVP: [email protected]
11 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual discussion: “Are We Running Out of Missile Defense Interceptors?” with Tom Karako, director, CSIS Missile Defense Project; and Wes Rumbaugh, fellow at the CSIS Missile Defense Project https://www.csis.org/events/are-we-running-out-missile-defense-interceptors
1:30 p.m. — American Security Project virtual discussion: “Defending Against AI-Powered Threats from Cyberspace,” with Edward Wittenstein, director, Yale University Schmidt Program on Artificial Intelligence, Emerging Technologies and National Power; Emelia Probasco, senior fellow, Georgetown University Center for Security and Emerging Technology; and Courtney Manning, director, AI Imperative 2030 at the American Security Project https://www.americansecurityproject.org/event/defending-against-ai-powered-threats
2:30 p.m. 1763 N St. NW — Middle East Institute discussion: “U.S.-Saudi Relationship in the Wake of MBS (Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman) Visit,” with former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Michael Ratney; Karen Young, MEI senior fellow; F. Gregory Gause III, MEI visiting scholar; and Kenneth Pollack, MEI vice president for policy https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register
THURSDAY| DECEMBER 18
9 a.m. — Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies virtual discussion: “Europe at War,” with Nathalie Tocci, professor, practice at Johns Hopkins SAIS Europe and director at Isituto Affari Internazionali https://sais.jhu.edu/campus-events
10 a.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW,— Brookings Institution Center on the U.S. and Europe virtual discussion: “Ukraine: Pressure on Zelenskyy and prospects for peace,” with Fiona Hill, senior fellow, Brookings Foreign Policy Program and Brookings Center on the U.S. and Europe; Thomas Wright, senior fellow at the Brookings Foreign Policy Program and Brookings Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology; Mariana Budjeryn, nonresident senior fellow, Brookings Foreign Policy Program and Brookings Center on the U.S. and Europe; and Anton Troianovski, global affairs correspondent at the New York Times https://www.brookings.edu/events/ukraine-pressure-on-zelenskyy
10:30 a.m. 2799 Richmond Hwy, Arlington, Va. — Satellite Industry Association and the U.S. Space Command “Commercial Satcom Workshop,” with Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) [email protected]
11 a.m. 222 Russell — Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe hearing: “Bosnia and Herzegovina at a crossroads, focusing on 30 years after Dayton,” with former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues Clint Williamson, senior director for international justice, Georgetown University; and Christopher Chivvis, director, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace American Statecraft Program; https://www.youtube.com/live/58JLQOFZOqM
FRIDAY | DECEMBER 19
10 a.m. — National Institute for Deterrence Studies virtual seminar: “Strategic Perspective on Nuclear Modernization,” with Dave Hoagland, acting National Nuclear Security Administration administrator for defense programs https://thinkdeterrence.com/events/strategic-perspective-on-nuclear-modernization
