📢 🇨🇳 🇺🇸 China Says US Seizure of Ships ‘Serious Violation’ of International Law

China’s foreign ministry on Monday said the United States’ seizure of another country’s ships was a serious violation of international law, after the U.S. intercepted a China-bound oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast.

Venezuela has the right to develop relations with other countries, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a daily press briefing, adding that China opposes all “unilateral and illegal” sanctions.

On Saturday, the U.S. Coast Guard intercepted a second oil tanker in international waters off the Venezuelan coast, days after President Donald Trump announced a “blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela.

The tanker, Centuries, loaded in Venezuela under the false name “Crag” and was carrying some 1.8 million barrels of Venezuelan Merey crude oil bound for China, documents showed.

The crude was bought by Satau Tijana Oil Trading, one of many intermediaries involved in Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA’s sales to Chinese independent refiners, the documents showed.

A White House spokesperson said the “falsely flagged vessel” carried sanctioned oil and was part of Venezuela’s shadow fleet.

The Venezuelan government called the tanker interception a “serious act of international piracy.”

China is the biggest buyer of Venezuelan crude, which accounts for roughly 4% of its imports.

https://gcaptain.com/china-says-us-seizure-of-ships-serious-violation-of-international-law/

🇺🇸 🇬🇱 🇩🇰 Angering Denmark, Trump Appoints Special Envoy to Greenland

President Trump, who has long said he wants to “get” the semiautonomous Danish territory, tapped Louisiana’s governor for the new position. Officials in Greenland and Denmark expressed outrage.

Mr. Trump announced on social media on Sunday that he was appointing Governor Jeff Landry of Louisiana, a political ally, to the position. Denmark’s foreign minister quickly criticized the move as “totally unacceptable” and said he would summon the American ambassador in Copenhagen for an explanation.

It appeared to be the first time the United States had appointed a special envoy to Greenland. That gives the territory — a gigantic frozen island inhabited by fewer than 60,000 people — something in common with the war in Ukraine, the conflicts in the Middle East, and a handful of other issues; Mr. Trump has tapped someone close to him to manage all of these as priorities.

Mr. Landry quickly made it clear that he understood what Mr. Trump wanted from him, writing on X: “It’s an honor to serve you in this volunteer position to make Greenland a part of the U.S.”

In a post on Truth Social, Mr. Trump wrote that “Jeff understands how essential Greenland is to our National Security.”

“You cannot annex other countries,” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen of Denmark and Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen of Greenland said in a joint statement on Monday. “Not even by invoking international security. Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders, and the United States must not take over Greenland.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/world/europe/trump-special-envoy-greenland-denmark-landry.html

📢 🇹🇷 🇸🇾 Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said after talks in Damascus that the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) did not appear to have any intention to advance a process for the group to integrate into Syria's state structures.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Syrian counterpart Asaad al-Shibani, Fidan said it was important for the group to stop being an obstacle to Syria's unity, adding coordination between the SDF and Israel was posing an obstacle to implementing the integration agreement.

📎 Guy Elster

📢 🇸🇾 Director of Media at the Aleppo Governorate:

The Syrian state’s decision to preserve the unity of Syrian territory is irreversible. Restricting weapons to the hands of the state is a demand of the entire Syrian people.

There are forces within the SDF that reject the idea of a unified Syria. We are witnessing displacement in the city of Aleppo due to indiscriminate SDF attacks targeting civilians.

Source: Al Jazeera

📎 Levant24

🇨🇾🇬🇷🇮🇱⚡- "Against the backdrop of tensions with Turkey: Netanyahu with the leaders of Cyprus, Christodoulides, and Greece, Mitsotakis – Israel's new regional alliance," - Israel Hayom.

🇮🇱 🇬🇷 🇨🇾 In move to deter Turkey, Israel explores creation of rapid-response force with Greece, Cyprus

🇹🇷 The initiative is part of a broader effort to deter Turkey’s military and strategic activities in the eastern Mediterranean.

Senior officials from Israel, Greece, and Cyprus are discussing the possibility of establishing a rapid-response force composed of units from the armed forces of the three countries, three people familiar with the matter told The Jerusalem Post.

It is intended to strengthen strategic military cooperation among the three countries amid rising regional tensions. The force would not be a permanent standing unit but one that could be deployed quickly in times of crisis on land, at sea, or in the air.

🇸🇾 Ankara is seeking to turn Syria into a Turkish satellite state, including the deployment of air-defense systems aimed at aircraft and missiles in Syrian territory.

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-880714

🇮🇱 🇬🇷 🇨🇾 The planned "Xenophon" Rapid Response Force is about to shift the balance of power in the Eastern Mediterranean region.

📎 Alexandros Itimoudis

🇨🇾🇬🇷🇮🇱⚡- "Today we [Greece-Cyprus-Israel] agreed to deepen our defense cooperation as the [Turkish] threats we face are real," - Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister.

🏹 🇸🇾 Footage show Syrian Government Forces indiscriminately launching MLRS artillery strikes on the Kurdish neighbourhoods in Aleppo

📎 ScharoMaroof

📢 🇸🇾 Arab tribes call for general mobilization against the SDF.

📎 Cagatay Cebe

🇹🇷 🇸🇾 🇮🇱 Kurdish-led SDF cooperating with Israel in Syria, Turkish FM Hakan Fidan claims

Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are running operations "in coordination with Israel," Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Monday.

"The SDF is running some of its operations in coordination with Israel, (and this) is actually a major obstacle to ongoing negotiations with Damascus," he said.

The visit by Turkey's foreign and defense ministers and its intelligence chief comes amid efforts by Syrian, Kurdish and US officials to show some progress with the deal. But Ankara accuses the SDF of stalling ahead of a year-end deadline.

Turkey views the US-backed SDF, which controls swathes of northeastern Syria, as a terrorist organization and has warned of military action if the group does not honor the agreement.

Last week Fidan said Ankara hoped to avoid resorting to military action against the SDF but that its patience was running out.

https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-880986

📢 🇸🇾 Tribes of the Al‑Bakkara tribe and other Bedouins tribes from the Aleppo countryside have declared general mobilization to fight the Kurds in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods of Aleppo.

📌 Calls for jihad have been made from the pulpits of some mosques in popular neighborhoods across the Aleppo countryside.

📎 Syria Justice Archive