The US has informed EU sanctions chief David O'Sullivan of its decision to return frozen Russian assets to Russia after a peace plan is finalized.
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︀︀Trump's plan: Russia destroys Ukraine, Europe has to pay for the reconstruction, and he does business with the Russians.
Phase Three: Profit!
In December 1941, when the U.S. entered World War II, 250 American firms owned more than $450 million of German assets.[17] Major American companies with investments in Germany included General Motors, IT&T, Eastman Kodak, Standard Oil, Singer, International Harvester, Gillette, Coca-Cola, Kraft, Westinghouse, and United Fruit.[17]
After the war, some of those companies reabsorbed their temporarily detached German subsidiaries, and even received compensation for war damages from the Allied governments.[17]
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s theory of victory and negotiating tactics assume that Russia can outlast the West and Ukraine in a war of attrition. Rubio stated on December 2 in an interview with Fox News that Putin appears to be the “most difficult” party in the peace negotiations process.[1] Rubio amplified Putin’s recent statement that Russia will “achieve its objectives” no matter the cost or timeline and noted that this is Putin’s “actual mentality” about his war in Ukraine. Putin’s long held theory of victory for the war in Ukraine is predicated on the assumption that the Russian military and economy can outlast and overcome both Western support for Ukraine and Ukraine’s own ability to continue defending itself against Russian aggression.[2] Rubio stated that it is not realistic for Russia to continue its war for another “four or five years” and emphasized that Russia holds less Ukrainian territory currently than it did in the first few months of the full scale invasion in early 2022. Ukrainian forces have notably retaken over 50 percent of the territory that Russian forces have seized since 2022, and Russia’s economy is facing several issues that will likely continue to affect its ability to continue a war of attrition in the medium to long term.[3]
Russian officials continue to falsely frame recent Russian advances on the battlefield as an indication that a Russian victory is imminent and inevitable. Russian Presidential Aide Yuriy Ushakov stated on December 3 that Russian forces’ successes had a “positive impact” on the December 2 meeting between Putin and a US delegation in Moscow and that Russian advances have given the West a “more accurate assessment” of the “paths to achieving” peace in Ukraine.[4] Russian State Duma International Affairs Committee Chairperson Leonid Slutsky claimed on December 3 that Western officials are changing their negotiating positions given Russia’s successes on the front.[5] The Kremlin’s claims about, and overinflation of, Russian battlefield gains and their impact on the negotiating process support Putin’s theory of victory for a protracted war. Putin and other high ranking Kremlin officials have recently intensified their cognitive warfare efforts that aggrandize battlefield claims to convince the United States that Russia is winning in Ukraine, such that Ukraine and the West should acquiesce to Russian demands now during negotiations.
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Kremlin officials continued to refuse to publicly discuss the outcomes of the December 2 US-Russia meeting, as ISW previously forecasted. Russian State Duma International Affairs Committee First Deputy Head Alexei Chepa stated on December 3 that Russia is holding the talks with the United States “confidentially” to prevent outside forces from “exerting pressure” on the negotiations.[6] Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov similarly stated that Russia will conduct the negotiations “in silence” and claimed that the negotiations will be more successful if they are private.[7] Peskov also claimed that Russia hopes the United States will adhere to Russia’s preference not to divulge information about the negotiations. ISW previously assessed that the Kremlin was preparing to refrain from publicly discussing the outcomes of the December 2 US-Russia meeting, to obfuscate Russia’s rejection of the US-Ukrainian peace proposal.[8]
Russian forces conducted a series of drone strikes against Ukraine on the night of December 2 to 3.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russian forces launched 111 Shahed-type, Gerbera-type, and other drones, of which more than 60 were Shahed-type drones, from the directions of Kursk City; Millerovo, Rostov Oblast; Primorsko-Akhtarsk, Krasnodar Krai; and occupied Cape Chauda, Crimea.[112] The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Ukrainian forces downed 83 drones, that 27 drones struck 13 locations, and that drone debris fell on one location. Ukrainian officials reported that Russian forces struck residential and energy infrastructure in Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia, Kharkiv, and Odesa oblasts.[113]
The Ukrainian Energy Ministry and Ukrainian state energy operator Ukrenergo reported on December 3 that Ukrainian officials are implementing measures to limit residential and industrial energy consumption on December 4 due to ongoing Russian missile and drone strikes against Ukrainian energy infrastructure.[114] Ukrainian Deputy Energy Minister Mykola Kolisnyk stated on December 3 that Russian strikes and shelling have limited Ukraine’s ability to transmit electricity between oblasts, especially between central oblasts and eastern Ukraine.[115] ISW has observed reports that Russia aims to disrupt the Ukrainian power system on a large scale by creating a power deficit in eastern Ukraine, where consumption is typically higher and where Russian forces have destroyed almost all local generation capabilities, while gradually stopping the flow of electricity from west to east.[116]
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Overnight on December 3, Russia launched 111 attack drones, mostly Shaheds, across Ukraine. Air defenses shot down or jammed 83 of them. Strikes hit 13 locations, with significant damage to civilian infrastructure and homes in Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, and Odesa regions. Sadly, there are civilian casualties.
Ukrainian forces continued their long-range strike campaign against Russian oil infrastructure on the night of December 2 to 3. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Ukrainian forces struck an oil refinery in Dmitriyevka, Tambov Oblast, overnight, causing several fires.[37] Footage published on December 3 shows explosions and fires at the Nikiforovsky Oil Refinery “Tambovnefteprodukt” in Dmitriyevka.[38] The Ukrainian General Staff noted that the oil refinery supplies Russian forces fighting in Ukraine. The Ukrainian General Staff also reported that Ukraine’s strike against the Livny Oil Depot in Oryol Oblast on the night of December 1 to 2 caused fires to two RV-5000 tanks. A source within Ukraine’s Main Military Intelligence Directorate (GUR) told Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne on December 3 that unspecified actors used a remotely detonated explosive and additional combustible mixtures to destroy a section of the Druzhba oil pipeline near Kazinsky Vysilky, Tambov Oblast, on the Taganrog-Lipetsk oil pipeline section on the night of December 1 to 2.[39] Footage published on December 3 shows explosions and fires near Kazinsky Vysilky.[40]
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Ukraine has no connection to the incident involving the Russian tanker Midvolga-2 and officially denies any accusations spread by Russian propaganda, said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tykhyi. He added that the supposed route from Russia to Georgia via Turkey’s free economic zone makes little sense.
- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s theory of victory and negotiating tactics assume that Russia can outlast the West and Ukraine in a war of attrition.
- Kremlin officials continued to refuse to publicly discuss the outcomes of the December 2 US-Russia meeting, as ISW previously forecasted.
- The Kremlin is reigniting narratives that Odesa City is a Russian city.
- Russian forces achieved the tactical breakthrough northeast and east of Hulyaipole in mid-November 2025, likely in part by concentrating and committing a force grouping comparable in size to the one operating in the Pokrovsk-Dobropillya direction.
- The 5th CAA’s tactical breakthrough north and northeast of Hulyaipole could enable Russian forces to achieve operational successes in both the Hulyaipole and Orikhiv directions. Russia’s ability to exploit such a breakthrough, however, largely depends on Ukrainian resistance and denial of Russian river crossings.
- High ranking Kremlin officials continue to set conditions to justify potential future Russian aggression against Moldova and the Baltics.
- The Kremlin is attempting to mobilize Russian and Belarusian civil societies, including Belarusian organizations and the Russian Orthodox Church, to garner support for the war in Ukraine and influence campaigns globally.
- Ukraine’s European allies continue to provide military aid and support to Ukraine.
- Ukrainian forces recently advanced near Vovchansk, Pokrovsk, Novopavlivka, and in the Kostyantynivka-Druzhkivka tactical area. Russian forces recently advanced near Siversk and Pokrovsk.
https://t.co/iKvFyhR7P3
**General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine**
*Operational information as of 22:00 on December 3, 2025, regarding the Russian invasion*
Since the beginning of this day, there have been 158 combat clashes.
Today, the occupiers launched one missile and 39 air strikes, using one missile and dropping 99 guided bombs. In addition, the Russians used 3,409 kamikaze drones and carried out 3,447 shelling attacks on the positions of our troops and populated areas.
- - In the North-Slobozhansky and Kursk directions, Ukrainian defenders repelled four Russian attacks. Since the beginning of the day, the enemy has carried out 162 shellings, including one from a multiple launch rocket system.
- - In the South Slobozhanskyi direction, our troops stopped 15 enemy attacks in the areas of the settlements of Starytsia, Vovchansk, Synelnykove, Ambarne, Prylipka, and in the direction of Kolodiazne, Kutkivka, with two more combat engagements currently ongoing.
- - In the Kupiansk direction, the Defense Forces repelled two enemy attacks in the areas of Pishchane and Petropavlivka.
- - In the Lyman direction, Russian invaders attacked Ukrainian positions nine times during the day in the areas of the settlements of Nadiya, Derylove, Hrekivka, Novoyegorivka, Zarichne, Mirne, and in the direction of the settlement of Stavy. Two clashes are currently ongoing.
- - In the Sloviansk direction, the Defense Forces repelled nine enemy attacks near Yampil, Dronivka, Serebryanka, and Siversk. One battle is still ongoing.
- - In the Kramatorsk direction, there were three clashes with the enemy in the Chasovoy Yar area.
- - In the Kostyantynivka direction, the Russians attacked the positions of the Defense Forces 29 times. The occupiers concentrated their main offensive efforts in the areas of the settlements of Kostiantynivka, Oleksandro-Shultyne, Pleshchiivka, Shcherbinivka, Kleban-Byk, Rusyn Yar, and in the directions of Novopavlivka, Stepanivka, and Torske. One combat engagement is currently ongoing.
- - In the Pokrovsk direction, the invading units attempted 36 times to break through our defenses in the areas of the settlements of Nove Shakhov, Chervonyi Lyman, Myrnohrad, Novoekonomichne, Nikanorivka, Rodynske, Pokrovsk, Kotlyne, Udachne, Molodetsk, Novopavlivka, Filiya, and in the direction of Sofiivka, Bilytske, and Hryshyne.
Today, Ukrainian soldiers have already neutralized 78 occupiers in this direction, 48 of them irrevocably. Thirteen unmanned aerial vehicles, three ground-based robotic complexes, six communication devices, one motorcycle, two units of special equipment, and six electronic warfare devices were destroyed, and an artillery system and a vehicle were damaged. In addition, 16 enemy infantry shelters were hit.
- - In the Oleksandrivka direction, the enemy attacked 14 times in the areas of the settlements of Yalta, Sosnivka, Verbove, Oleksandrograd, Rybne, Krasnogirske, Vyshneve, and Pryvilne.
- - In the Huliaipole direction, 12 combat engagements were recorded in the areas of the settlements of Zatyshshya, Huliaipole, and in the direction of Pryluky, Dobropillia, and Varvarivka.
- - In the Orikhiv direction, no enemy offensive actions were recorded.
- - In the Dnipro region, Ukrainian units repelled three attempts by the occupiers to advance in the area of the Antonivsky Bridge.
- - In other areas, the situation has not changed significantly.
Glory to Ukraine!
Support the Ukrainian army!
Together we will win!
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