Here's the latest
• Trumps offer prayers: President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump both mourned this weekend’s mass shootings in Rhode Island and Australia during remarks at a White House Christmas reception today. “I want to pay my respects to the people,” the president said, noting those who remain hospitalized and the two deceased, who he said are “looking down on us right now from heaven.”
• Syria retaliation: Trump said there will be “a lot of damage done” in retaliation after two US soldiers and one civilian interpreter were killed in an ambush in Syria.
• Ukraine talks: Delegations led by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US special envoy Steve Witkoff met today in Berlin as the Trump administration’s push for a peace deal has run up against some of the most intractable issues for ending Russia’s war.
• Health care costs: With Obamacare recipients facing skyrocketing costs in the new year, the latest health care plan from GOP lawmakers does not fulfill Trump’s call to send federal funds directly to enrollees.
“Progress was made” in US-Ukraine peace talks in Berlin, special envoy Witkoff says
Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s special envoy, said Sunday that progress was made during lengthy US-Ukraine talks in Berlin and that discussions will continue Monday.
The special envoy’s office said on X that the meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and US and Ukrainian delegations lasted more than five hours.
The talks come as the Trump administration intensifies its push for a peace deal, an effort that has run up against some of the most intractable issues in ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.
US-Ukraine talks in Berlin lasted over 5 hours and will resume Monday, Ukrainian presidency says
Talks in Berlin between US negotiators and a Ukrainian delegation lasted more than five hours today and are set to continue Monday morning, the Ukrainian presidency said.
The discussions, which are being led on the Ukrainian side by President Volodymyr Zelensky, have ended for the day, presidential adviser Dmytro Lytvyn told reporters.
Lytvyn said Zelensky would comment on the talks Monday once they were completed.
Syria arrests 5 suspects after Americans killed in ambush
Five suspects were arrested by Syrian forces Sunday in connection with an ambush in central Syria that killed two US soldiers and a US civilian interpreter, the country’s Interior Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said its forces carried out a “qualitative and decisive” operation in the city of Palmyra in coordination with the international coalition fighting ISIS following the Saturday attack, which left three others wounded.
The arrested suspects were “immediately placed under investigation,” the statement added.
The statement came as President Donald Trump said Sunday there will be “a lot of damage done” in retaliation after the Americans were killed.
“I can tell you, in Syria, there will be a lot of damage done to the people that did it,” Trump said at the White House.
US Central Command and the Department of Defense said the attack was carried out by a single ISIS gunman.
