INTREP360 INTELLIGENCE REPORT
12.03.2025
December 3rd, 2025
Greetings! As we and many others predicted – likely you too! – Team Trump’s meeting yesterday with Russian President Vladimir Putin went nowhere. We’d say nowhere fast, but apparently the meeting lasted 5 hours.
Per one unnamed Russian official, “There are three pillars on which we will not compromise. One is the territory of Donbas. The second is the limitation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The third is the recognition of the territory by the U.S. and Europe.”
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner returned to Washington empty handed, foregoing a planned follow-up meeting with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, likely at the request of Putin’s top foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov. Meanwhile, more Russians and Ukrainians keep dying.
Let’s get started!
Photo credit: Getty. Unidentified Woman, Witkoff and Kushner (left), Dmitriev, unidentified man, Putin and Ushakov (right).
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NORTH AMERICA
U.S. Central Command headquarter in Tampa, Florida, announced today the formation of Task Force Scorpion Strike.
Scorpion Strike will be based in the Mideast. Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM’s commander, noted that, “Equipping our skilled warfighters faster with cutting-edge drone capabilities showcases U.S. military innovation and strength.”
In making the announcement, CENTCOM noted that there is already one operational squadron of Low-Cost Unmanned Combat Attack System (LUCAS) one-way kamikaze drones on station in the Mideast.
The War Zone reports that two dozen U.S. soldiers oversee TFSS and that “the [Shahed-like] delta wing LUCAS drone, which is roughly 10 feet long and has a wingspan of eight feet, was developed by Arizona-based SpektreWorks in cooperation with the U.S. military.”
Each drone costs roughly $35,000.
Iran, if warranted, might see in the future a taste of its own medicine. Tehran used Shahed drones earlier this year to attack Israel and has sold them and the right to manufacture them to the Kremlin for use against Ukraine.
According to the War Department, the U.S. is seeking upwards of 300,000 drones of various builds and capabilities as part of President Trump’s “Unleashing U.S. Military Drone Dominance” initiative.
SOUTH AMERICA
Secretary of State Marco Rubio sharpened his attacks on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro during an appearance with Sean Hannity on Fox News. Rubio reiterated that “The Maduro regime is not a legitimate government” and that “What it is, is a transshipment organization. It allows cocaine and other drugs that are produced in Colombia to be trafficked through Venezuelan territory and – with the cooperation of elements of the regime – are allowed to… leave Venezuela on airplanes and ships headed towards the United States.”
Rubio continued by accusing Maduro of openly working with drug dealers transiting cocaine from Colombia on the high seas to the U.S.
He ended by declaring, “They [Venezuela] suckered Joe Biden. They’re not going to sucker Donald Trump.”
Earlier, on November 30th, Antonio María Delgado reported at the Miami Herald, Trump bluntly told Maduro that “You can save yourself and those closest to you, but you must leave the country now.”
Trump’s actions are receiving some blowback on Capitol Hill. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MASS) announced on X today that he can Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) are “partnering to introduce a bipartisan War Powers Resolution blocking military action against Venezuela.”
EUROPE
In today’s most underreported story, Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, announced today during a press conference that under the terms of a new provisional agreement, the European Union would ban all imports of Russian liquified natural gas (LNG) by the end of 2026 and all Russian pipeline natural gas imports by the Fall of 2027.
Predictably, Hungary announced that it will legally challenge the decision. Further proof that Viktor Orbán is not a man of reason, as Putin’s stooge Kirill Dmitriev claimed, but rather as we pushed back on X on Dmitriev that Orbán is a man of treason.
By the end of 2021, according to the IEA, “More than half of Russia’s oil exports went to Europe, which received about one- third of its oil imports from Russia. Germany was the largest European buyer of Russian oil, followed by the Netherlands and Poland.”
Bravo Europe!
Meanwhile, nearly all of NATO’s foreign ministers met today in Brussels. Rubio, breaking precedent, chose not to attend. Putin seized on the issue by accusing European allies of sabotaging U.S.-led efforts to end the war.
Perhaps, the most notable statement of the day came from NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. He pointedly pushed back at Putin’s boast that Russia was ready for war With Europe by defiantly declaring, “We [NATO] are ready and willing to protect our 1 billion people and secure our territory.”
Rutte also warned that NATO would respond to Russian hybrid attacks on member-states in its own hybrid biblical eye-for-an-eye fashion.
Bravo Rutte!
MIDDLE EAST
The ceasefire between Hamas and Israel remains tenuous. Joe Truzman, a Mideast analyst for The Foundation For The Defense of Liberties (FDD) reported today that the IDF conducted a strike against Hamas fighters in Rafah who targeted IDF troops patrolling the city. Truzman noted on X that “A senior Hamas figure in the group’s Rafah battalion was targeted by the IDF.”
Trump’s peace appears to be going nowhere fast.
Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, Israel and Lebanon are holding unprecedented direct talks in Naqoura, Lebanon. Technically, the two countries have been in a state of war since 1948.
AFRICA
China’s much-vaunted Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is no more evident than in Africa. But Chinese investment is coming at a high cost.
We’ve previously warned about Chinese efforts to raid Africa of its natural resources and influence democracies to gain United Nations votes.
Now, one of the costs is ecological. The BBC is reporting that a “tailings dam - used to store toxic by-products from the copper mining process, including heavy metals like arsenic, mercury and lead - had collapsed into a tributary connected to the Kafue, Zambia’s longest river and a major drinking water source.”
More than 50,000 tons of toxic waste has spilled into the river. Experts warn it could take ten years to clean-up.
Beware of Chinese dictators offering easy money in the guise of investment.
INDO-PACIFIC
The standoff over Beijing and Tokyo continues. Two weeks ago, Japan’s new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, told Chinese President Xi Jinping, “that Japan could respond with its own self-defense force if China attacked Taiwan.”
Japan’s first woman to serve as prime minister is serving Xi notice that she is not intimidated by his bullying of Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was not happy. He accused the Japanese of crossing “a redline that should not have been touched.”
Bravo Takaichi!
Stay tuned!
WHAT WE ARE READING!
How Venezuela’s Maduro became Washington’s most persistent hemispheric adversary. Samuel Ben-Ur and Krystal Bermudez analyzing for the FDD.
The Middle East’s moment of opportunity is slipping away. David Ignatius opining for the Washington Post.
Putin launches massive drone attack after rejecting peace deal. The Telegraph.
Ukraine rejects three key points, Russia accepts some initial points as peace talks advance. Ben Aris reporting for INTELLINEWS.
ICMYI!
Mark appeared on Saturday on the TVP World’s Main Edition. His interview begins around the 20-minute hash mark.
Episode 10 of our weekly national security show went live earlier this morning on War & Politics.
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Jon & Mark
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Copyright 2025 by Jonathan E. Sweet and Mark C. Toth. All rights reserved.