Latest news for 10 December 2025

UKRAINE

Ready your ballot.

Responding to President Trump’s suggestion that President Zelensky is clinging to power, the Ukrainian leader has announced he’ll hold elections within three months if the US and others guarantee security. (BBC)

Comment: Zelensky still polls slightly ahead of Zaluzhny, the star general / rival he sent away to London as ambassador. But Zelensky’s aim here seems less about any election, which is constitutionally prohibited during martial law and practically impossible without either a ceasefire (something Putin rejects) or US security guarantees (something Trump rejects). Rather, Zelensky seems to be reminding everyone that the root issue here is not Ukraine’s democracy, but Putin’s invasion.

CHINA

Not so fast.

Beijing authorities are reportedly now planning to limit China’s access to Nvidia’s advanced H200 chips, just after President Trump’s shock decision to allow their export to China. (FT $)

Comment: If true, this could mean at least three things: first, whether the US sells these top chips or not, it suggests China wants to be the master of its own tech destiny; second, that potentially undermines one of DC’s pro-sale arguments about keeping China hooked on US tech to undermine its self-sufficiency push; but third, reports of rampant chip smuggling and other work-arounds suggest China’s end-users still want and need US chips no matter what signals come out of Beijing or DC. It’s a reminder US chips are still ahead. We just don’t know for how long.

KAZAKHSTAN

Mission accomplished.

An American astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts have landed in Kazakhstan after their eight-month mission aboard the International Space Station. (Times of Central Asia)

Comment: Space is one of the few areas of US-Russia cooperation that’s survived Putin’s invasion — that’s partly out of operational necessity, but also partly a historic, symbolic reminder of our shared humanity, and our ability to step back from the brink.

FRANCE

Yeah, about last weekend.

Perhaps feeling a little jeally at all the attention Nigeria got for helping thwart Benin’s recent coup attempt, Paris has now revealed it also played a role in the former French colony, offering both logistical and intelligence support. (Reuters)

VIETNAM

We’re out.

Japan has cited unfeasibly tight timeframes in its decision to withdraw from plans to build Vietnam’s Ninh Thuan 2 nuclear power plant, complicating Vietnam’s efforts to avoid the energy shortages that’ve hit its standing as a manufacturing alternative to China. (The Star)

Comment: Japan’s ‘timeframe’ reasoning, while plausible, likely also obscures the reality of Vietnam’s tricky regulatory environment, Japan’s post-Fukushima rethink, and (relatedly) limited interest from Japan’s risk-averse firms. Of course, that potentially opens doors for others like Russia, already slated to build the other plant (though construction hasn’t started on that one yet either).

PERU

Tanks a lot.

Seoul has signed a big deal to supply Peru with 54 K2 battle tanks and 141 wheeled armored vehicles, in South Korea’s largest LatAm defence deal to date. (Chosun)

Comment: Beyond Peru’s desire for military modernisation and a bit of heft amid a rapidly changing world, this also looks like an attempt to diversify its traditional defence partnerships beyond its old Soviet kit and today’s US-China race.

BURKINA FASO

He said, he said.

Burkina Faso has released 11 Nigerian military personnel, rejecting their claims of an emergency C-130 landing and instead alleging they unlawfully violated the West African nation’s airspace. (Guardian)

Comment: The sensitivity here is over the fact regional powerbroker Nigeria deployed forces to block last week’s attempted coup in Benin. And that’s clearly rattled the region’s other juntas who all came out against Nigeria’s emergency landing. So one takeaway is how we might now just be a miscalculation away from outright conflict.