🇷🇺🎣🇩🇰 Russia refutes Western media claims of fishermen threatening Denmark's security

Western media reports about the threat posed by Russian fishermen to the security of Denmark are a part of the large-scale campaign of the West against Russia and are aimed at destroying the Moscow-Torshavn relationship, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has told Sputnik.

Media have earlier reported that the extension of a fisheries agreement between Russia and the Faroe Islands, which are part of Denmark on the rights of autonomy, would allegedly allow Moscow to "spy on the West" through this territory.

"The basis for the multi-year cooperation between Russia and the Faroe Islands is the agreement between the government of the Soviet Union, on the one hand, and the government of Denmark and the local government of the Faroe Islands, on the other, on mutual relations in fisheries between the Soviet Union and the Faroe Islands of 1977," the spokeswoman clarified.

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🇨🇳 Xi Jinping tells Biden Beijing will reunify Taiwan with China

Xi Jinping told US President Joe Biden during an encounter on the sidelines of the APEC summit in San Francisco that mainland China would reunite with Taiwan, NBC reported, citing three incumbent and former US officials.

🔸 According to the article, the Chinese leader told the US president at a meeting attended by American and Chinese officials that Beijing favors peaceful, not forceful, reintegration of the island.

🔸 Additionally, Xi Jinping denied the claims made by the US military that China plans to "invade" Taiwan in 2025 or 2027.

🔸 Officials familiar with the content of the conversation between Biden and Xi Jinping characterized the Chinese leader as "sharp and outspoken but not confrontational," NBC wrote.

Beijing considers Taiwan as an unalienable part of China’s sovereign territory and opposes any official contacts between the island and other countries.

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🇯🇵 On Wednesday, the Fukuoka High Court Naha branch ordered Okinawa to approve the central government’s construction plan for a key US base. The decision will move forward a construction plan that has been suspended amid legal proceedings, protests of residents and opposition for years.

The branch told Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki to improve the plan within three weekdays. If Tamaki fails to do so, then Tetsuo Saito, the land minister, will approve the plans by proxy.

Saito filed this latest lawsuit in October after Tamaki failed to clarify whether or not he would accept the order to move ahead with the plans. In response to the ruling, Tamaki has said that the ruling undermines the will of residents. The governor can still appeal the decision, but the local government will be unable to stop the construction unless the top court overturns the decision completely.

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🇮🇩 Indonesia understands the Ukraine conflict was caused by NATO's ambitions, Hasto Kristiyanto, the secretary-general of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, told Sputnik.

"For Indonesia, respecting the sovereignty of countries is one of the fundamental principles of foreign policy. That is why we are able to understand the situation with Russia and Ukraine - after all, it is a sovereignty problem caused by NATO's ambitions," Kristiyanto stated.

The secretary-general believes that Indonesia also pays more attention to protecting its own sovereignty.

"We need to prove our independence anew, to let the world know that we have our own sovereignty," Kristiyanto said, adding that it would improve the state of the art of Indonesian diplomacy.

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📹 Russian paratrooper drones destroyed three Ukrainian military motorboats and personnel on the Dnepr River in the Kherson region.

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Australia assures US: Red Sea not our strategic priority

Australia has refused to participate in the US-led Operation Prosperity Guardian in the Red Sea to protect commercial vessels from Houthi attacks, stressing that it wants to focus on the Indo-Pacific.

Instead of sending warships to the Red Sea, Canberra pledged to provide additional personnel to the US-led coalition.

Earlier this week, the Biden administration announced a multinational effort to secure maritime commerce after Houthi rebels stepped up drone and missile attacks on Israeli-allied ships in a bid to force Tel Aviv to halt the Gaza war.

About 12% of global trade passes through the Red Sea, including 30% of global container traffic, including 20% of the world's container traffic, about 10% of oil seaborne transport and 8% of liquefied natural gas.

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📹💥 Footage of the Tornado-G operation of the Zapad group of troops in the Kupyansk region. According to the Ministry of Defence, the MLRS crews destroyed the stronghold and concentration point of the Ukrainian forces.

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🇮🇱🇵🇸 Latest updates on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict:

▪️The IDF stormed the town of Seida, northeast of Tulkarm in the West Bank, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported;

▪️Israel announced the evacuation of civilians from some areas of the city of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, Agence France-Presse reported, citing the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs;

▪️IDF Air Force struck the operational command center of the Shiite Hezbollah movement in Lebanon;

▪️Negotiations between Israel and the Hamas movement on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip have resumed, but the positions of the parties differ, Palestinian Ambassador to Vienna Salah Abdel-Shafi told Sputnik.

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Ukraine's accession to the European Union would cost the bloc 150 to 190 billion euros ($164 billion to $208 billion), and the member states would receive less money, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.

"It is certain that if Ukraine were admitted [to the EU], all the support that the countries of central Europe, including Hungary, have received so far, would be for them," Orban said in an interview with the TV2 broadcaster.

Orban added that the Hungarian government's goal is to "remove most of the tension during the background conversations" and focus on finding "a solution that satisfies everyone" at a summit in Brussels. The prime minister also said that Hungary offers European counterparts to resolve the issues of support for Ukraine outside the EU budget.

"Not only thunder but also sulfur lightning" is expected at the next EU summit on financial aid to Kiev, Orban said.

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❗️Russia will react symmetrically to the possible use of income from Russian funds frozen in the EU, Russian Finance Minister Siluanov asserted.

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the freezing of Russian assets in Europe theft, noting that the EU is targeting not only private funds, but also Russian state assets.

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Voter support for US military aid to Israel waning

US public support for Israel's war against Hamas is waning, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll.

The number of those who support the US sending "additional military aid to Israel for its efforts in the war" has dropped from 54% in November to 45% in December.

The erosion in support has been most pronounced among Democratic and independent voters. While Republicans are largely in favor of providing military aid to Tel Aviv, 58% of Democrats and 48% of independents say they oppose more aid for Israel's war effort in Gaza.

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🎁💸 Funds on freeze - Ukraine's Christmas unease

Congress has left for the holidays without approving new spending for Ukraine, reports the Washington Post, one of the leading US newspapers.

The newspaper says that the reasons are obvious - "many disproportionately vocal House Republicans are wary of continuing to send money, and so the party insists that it be paired with changes to immigration policy".

According to the report, the money will dry up by the new year, which makes it more difficult for Ukraine to win the battle.

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