On December 20, as many as 235 combat engagements between the Ukrainian Defense Forces and Russian invaders were recorded along the front line, including 72 in the Pokrovsk sector. — Ukrinform.

Two days of talks between President Volodymyr Zelensky and allies have brought some progress on security guarantees, but Russia remains opposed to any foreign forces in Ukraine.

U.S. administration officials signaled Monday a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine may be closer than ever.

This incident once again underscores the continued fragility of nuclear safety conditions amid the conflict, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said today. In the early hours of 13 December,

A US peace proposal that became public last month was criticised for being tilted heavily toward Moscow because it granted some of the Kremlin's core demands that Kyiv has rejected as nonstarters. , World News,

Reporting his team's progress in Berlin, the US president stated that they are closer to a peace deal than “we have been ever”.

The United States just wrapped up two days of talks with Ukrainian and European negotiators in Berlin, followed by more discussions among leaders in Europe – all of which ended with positive signals about a future peace agreement.

Ukraine’s military says it is still fighting for partially occupied Pokrovsk and still has a foothold in northern districts of a small city that has been an important logistical hub for Kyiv’s forces since Russia began its all-out invasion in February 2022.

Gold price loses momentum below $4,300 during the early European trading hours on Tuesday, pressured by some profit-taking and weak long liquidation from the shorter-term futures traders. Furthermore, optimism around Ukraine peace talks could weigh on the safe-haven asset like Gold.

Follow live updates from NBC News as Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at his annual year-end news conference on Ukraine, peace, war and Trump.