U.S. President Donald Trump, speaking at an event in Palm Beach, Florida on Dec. 22, said talks on ending Russia's war in Ukraine are ongoing, but offered few specifics on progress, next steps, or deadlines.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Dec. 18 that he hopes Ukraine will move quickly amid ongoing diplomatic efforts to end Russia's war.

A Ukrainian Mi-24 helicopter crew was killed in combat, the 12th Separate Army Aviation Brigade reported Dec. 18. "This is an irreparable loss for our aviation, for our country, and for the families who were waiting for their loved ones at home," the brigade said.

Democratic members of the U.S. Congress released additional photos from the Jeffrey Epstein estate on Dec. 18, including images of a Ukrainian woman's passport.

Russia's central bank has filed a lawsuit seeking 18.2 trillion rubles ($229 billion) in damages from Euroclear, escalating Moscow's dispute with the Belgium-based securities depository as the EU considers how to use frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine.

In a joint statement issued Dec. 15, European leaders outlined a six-point security and recovery framework for Ukraine, committing to long-term military support, a European-led and U.S.-supported multinational force operating inside Ukraine, and legally binding measures to respond to any future attack.

Ukrainian forces hit the Astrakhan gas processing plant on Dec. 15, targeting what Kyiv described as a "key enterprise in Russia's oil and gas industry," the General Staff reported.

Explosions were reported in Russia's Saratov Oblast overnight on Dec. 13 as officials warned of a possible drone attack, with unverified local reports indicating the Saratov oil refinery had been targeted.

Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) carried out a second drone strike this week on Russia's Vladimir Filanovsky oil production platform in the Caspian Sea, also hitting the nearby Korchagin platform, an SBU source said Dec. 12.

U.S. President Donald Trump is "extremely frustrated" with both Russia and Ukraine amid ongoing diplomatic efforts to end the war, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a Dec. 11 press briefing, as the United States weighs whether to join Ukraine and European partners for talks this weekend.

Polish authorities have detained Alexander Butyagin, a Russian archaeologist accused of causing extensive damage to historical sites in occupied Crimea, at the request of Ukraine's prosecutor general, Polish media reported Dec. 11.

Ukraine has recaptured 13 square kilometers (5 square miles) of territory in Pokrovsk after previously having no troops left in the city, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said during a Dec. 9 press briefing.

Russia's Syzran oil refinery halted operations on Dec. 5 after sustaining damage in a Ukrainian drone attack, Reuters reported on Dec. 9, citing industry sources.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Dec. 7 he was "disappointed" that President Volodymyr Zelensky allegedly had not yet reviewed a U.S. peace proposal to end the war in Ukraine.

The U.S. Treasury Department on Dec. 4 fined New York-based property manager Gracetown Inc. more than $7 million for accepting payments linked to a company owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska.