Situation Reports

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner concluded two days of negotiations on a security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a potential Russia-Ukraine peace framework, the Financial Times reported on Dec. 15.

Venezuelan state-owned oil company PDVSA claimed it suffered a cyberattack orchestrated by the United States and conspirators in a statement published on Dec. 15, Reuters reported the same day.

A Hong Kong national security court found Jimmy Lai, the 78-year-old founder of shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, guilty on two counts of conspiring to collude with foreign forces under the 2020 National Security Law and one count of sedition under a colonial-era law, Hong Kong Free Press reported on Dec. 15.

Taiwanese Premier Cho Jung-tai announced that he had refused to counter-sign a recent bill passed by the opposition-led legislature that would have reallocated significant funding from the central government to opposition-dominated local governments, Reuters reported on Dec. 15.

Spokesperson for South Africa's presidency Vincent Magwenya said the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry's interim report, which is due by Dec. 17, would not be made public because some witnesses had not finished their testimonies or forwarded all of their evidence, the South African Broadcasting Corp. reported on Dec. 14.

The Economic Community of West African States rejected the 12-month military transition plan proposed by Guinea Bissau's junta following the Nov. 26 coup that ousted President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, Reuters reported on  Dec. 14.

The Thailand-Cambodia border conflict continued to widen on Dec. 13-15, with Thailand signaling it would sustain military operations and Cambodia formalizing and expanding cross-border movement restrictions, Channel News Asia reported on Dec. 15.

France is pushing to delay a European Council vote scheduled for the week of Dec. 22 to approve the long-awaited EU-Mercosur free trade agreement, with Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu arguing safeguards proposed by the European Commission to address farmers' concerns remained incomplete, Reuters reported on Dec. 14.

Two armed men, a father and son, opened fire on crowds attending a Hanukkah event near Bondi Beach in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, Australia, on Dec. 14 in what authorities deemed an antisemitic terrorist attack, according to multiple sources.

Far-right candidate Jose Antonio Kast was elected president of Chile after winning 58.3% of the vote in the Dec. 14 runoff, La Tercera reported on the same day.