The President's Daily Brief - December 6th, 2024: Ukraine Opens Talks With Trump To End War, Hezbollah Joins Syrian Civil War, & Moscow's Billion-Dollar Money-Laundering Network

Episode Date: December 6, 2024

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief:     First, senior members of the incoming Trump administration have begun holding high level talks with leaders from Kyiv, seeking to narrow large differences in their visions for how to bring the war in Ukraine to a close ahead of Trump’s return to the White House in January. Later in the show, Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants have declared their intention to fight against rebel insurgents in Syria on behalf of the Assad regime, as Israel warns that the regime’s defenses are at risk of collapse. Plus, authorities in the U.K. have taken down a sprawling billion-dollar Russian money-laundering network used by foreign spies and Russian elites seeking to bypass international sanctions. In our 'Back of the Brief' segment, a tragic update out of Israel, as a long awaited probe by the Israeli Defense Forces has found that six hostages whose bodies were recovered from Gaza in August were likely killed by their Hamas guards back in February as Israeli forces closed in. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief.     YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief  Patriot Gold: Call 1-888-870-5457 for a free investor guide. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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they've been the top-rated gold IRA dealer for seven years in a row, and that's quite a few years in a row, frankly. Go to Patriotgoldgroup.com or call 1-88-621-3856 for a free investor guide. It's Friday, 6 December. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, senior members of the incoming Trump administration have begun holding high-level talks with leaders from Kyiv, seeking to narrow large differences in their visions for how to bring the war in Ukraine to a close ahead of Trump's return to the White House in January. Later in the show, Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants have declared their intention to fight against rebel insurgents in Syria on behalf of the Assad regime, as Israel warns that the regime's

defenses are at risk of collapse. Plus, authorities in the U.K. have taken down a sprawling billion-dollar Russian money laundering network used by foreign spies and Russian elites seeking to bypass international sanctions. And in today's back of the brief, a tragic update out of Israel as a long-awaited probe by the Israeli Defense Forces, the IDF, has found that six hostages whose bodies were recovered from Gaza back in August were likely killed by their Hamas guards back in February as Israeli forces closed in. But first, today's BDB spotlight. We'll start with Russia's war on Ukraine as officials in Kiev begin holding high-level talks

with senior members of the incoming Trump administration on how to bring an end to the brutal conflict. Now, according to an exclusive report from the Wall Street Journal, retired Army Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg, Trump's choice for special envoy to Russia and Ukraine, and Mike Walsh, his incoming national security advisor, met with a top aide to Ukrainian president Zelensky on Wednesday. They're seeking to narrow what remain wide differences, frankly, regarding Trump and Zelensky's respective visions for how to achieve a lasting settlement. The trip by Zelensky's closest advisor is part of an effort to forge relationships with Trump

aides who will likely play a pivotal role in determining what Ukraine's future looks like. He met with incoming White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles in Florida earlier Wednesday before heading to Washington to meet with Kellogg and Waltz to communicate keeps readiness for a just peace. According to the journal report, Vice President-elect J.D. Vance also joined the discussions, though details of the conversations were not immediately available. The foundation of Trump's vision reportedly includes ceding large parts of Ukraine's eastern territories to Russia, areas that Moscow's forces currently occupy. as well as blocking Ukraine from joining the NATO alliance, but there are apparently multiple proposals being floated by his advisors at this time. Zelensky, meanwhile, recently broke from his past statements vowing that Kiv would not relinquish control of any territory to Russia.

As we discussed on Monday's PDB, Zelensky suggested last Friday that he would be willing to consider temporarily ceding Russian-occupied territories to Moscow, but only if Ukraine has offered NATO membership. Under Zelensky's strategy, Keev would not permanently turn over the roughly 20% of Ukrainian territory occupied by Russia, but would seek to restore it through a diplomatic path after the, quote, hot phase of the war has concluded, and Ukraine is brought under the NATO umbrella. For now, Ukrainian officials are holding firm to this demand.

On Tuesday, Ukraine's foreign minister said Keev would reject any security guarantees that do not include NATO membership, stating, quote, we won't accept any alternatives, surrogates, or substitutes, end quote. Russia, meanwhile, has previously ruled out peace talks entirely, unless Kiev bends to a slew of, well, let's call them unrealistic demands, that heavily favor the Kremlin's interests. Many national security analysts have said that Trump may find that Vladimir Putin is unwilling to engage, as he currently has Ukrainian forces on the back foot and may try to pursue further land grabs, to strengthen his negotiating hand. So what are some of the potential strategies being considered by Trump's team to bring both parties

to the negotiating table? Kellogg, who has taken the lead on these efforts, reportedly favors a, quote, Karen and Stick approach, advocating boosting military aid to Kiev if Russian President Putin refuses to engage and cutting off support to Ukraine if leaders in Kiev balk it participating in discussions. But as Ukrainian leaders appear eager to move forward, with negotiations, the current focus is on upping the pressure on Russia. Kellogg is backing the outgoing Biden administration's efforts to rush weapons to Ukraine, arguing that it will give Trump leverage over Moscow and strengthen his position as a mediator. In a recent interview with Fox News,

Kellogg said, quote, the more that the Biden administration does this, well, it creates a greater opportunity for the president-elect to do what he wants to do. It's all based on leverage. The The president understands that, and he's going to use that to his advantage, end quote. All right. Coming up next, Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants have declared their intention to fight against rebel insurgents in Syria on behalf of the Assad regime. And authorities in the UK take down a sprawling billion-dollar Russian money laundering network used by foreign spies and Russian elites. I'll have those stories when we come back. Some follow the noise.

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as reports from Israel suggests that the Syrian military's defenses are at risk of collapsing under the pressure of the militant Islamic rebel onslaught. Chzbollah chief Naim Qasem delivered a rare televised address on Thursday, denouncing the Syrian rebels as, quote, terrorist groups intent on destroying Syria and sowing regional chaos. While it's true that the groups opposing Assad are recognized internationally as terrorist organizations, well, it's, I suppose, a bit rich seeing Hezbollah get on their high horse to say they're fighting terrorism. The Iranian-backed Lebanese-based terror group just spent more than a year attacking Israel, helping fuel instability across the Middle East.

But it's hardly a surprise, given that the Assad regime is a key ally of Hezbollah's backers in Iran, with Syria serving as a critical smuggling route for getting weapons to Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. According to a report from the Times of Israel, Qasem said his Hezbollah militants will soon join with Assad's forces to help him quell the Islamist-led uprising, which has so far led to the rebels seizing large parts of northern Syria, including the critical cities of Aleppo and Hamas. Qasem said, quote, they will not be able to achieve their goals despite what they have done in past days, and we as Hezbollah will be by Syria's side in throading the goals of this aggression as much as we can, end quote. But the Hezbollah leader provided little detail on how they will support their

allies in the Assad regime. The once mighty militant army is a shell, frankly, of its former self, suffering heavy losses to their personnel and losing most of their senior leadership in targeted operations by the IDF over the past year. The group agreed to a ceasefire with Israel on November 27th, and that's the very same day the Islamist rebels in Syria launched their offensive, reigniting the country's long dormant civil war. Despite Kassam's pledge, whatever remaining fighters he sends to Syria will likely have little impact on the outcome of the conflict.

Israeli intelligence said Thursday that the Assad regime's defensive lines were falling to the rebels far faster than expected and were at risk of collapsing entirely as the rebels continue to push south toward the capital Damascus, and that, of course, is Assad's seat of power. In Israeli official told Axios,

quote, the Syrian military forces are not really fighting. We don't think the regime is in immediate danger, but this is the biggest challenge for the Assad regime in the last decade. While Israel, alongside the U.S., as long opposed the Assad regime and sought to undermine Iranian and Russian interests in the country, this particular conflict poses a dilemma for Western governments. While the insurgents have put Assad and his allies on the back foot, their victory would mean Syria falling into the hands of hardline Islamic radicals, and that is what could be called a conundrum. I want to shift to the United Kingdom, where in a sweeping crackdown on international crime, law enforcement agencies dismantled a billion-dollar Russian money laundering network

that operated across the West, linking cybercriminals, drug cartels, and sanctioned elites. Dubbed Operation Destabilized, the investigation was spearheaded by the UK's National Crime Agency, the NCA, in collaboration with the FBI, as well as French and Irish authorities. The NCAA has called it one of the most consequential anti-money laundering efforts in recent years. So, what exactly was the aim of this network? I'm glad you asked. The scheme laundered vast sums of cash and cryptocurrency for Russian hacking groups,

drug cartels, and sanctioned individuals. Investigators revealed that the network's illicit funds were tied to ransomware attacks, drug trafficking, including drug money made on the streets of the UK, and also espionage activities. Additionally, it served as a workaround for Russian elites evading UK sanctions. The NCAA-led effort of Operation Destabilized resulted in a whopping 84 arrests, and yes, I did say whopping, and the seizure of over $25 million in cash in cryptocurrency. The NCAA's Director General of Operations hailed the effort, stating,

for the first time, we've been able to map out a link between Russian elites, crypto-rich cyber criminals and drug gangs on the streets of the UK, end quote. At the core of the network were two entities, Smart and TGR. Those were the names of the two entities, Smart and TGR. Notably, the head of Smart was previously sanctioned by the U.S. for aiding ransomware groups, so that could have been a clue that they were engaged in criminal activity. Both Smart and TGR exchanged millions in cryptocurrency for cash, enabling crime bosses in the West to fund narcotics purchases directly from South America, bypassing traditional banking systems. According to the NCA, between late 2022 and mid-20203, the smart network reportedly funneled money

into unspecified Russian espionage operations while helping sanctioned individuals move funds into the UK. But the web of corruption extended further. Investigators discovered connections to Russia today, the state-funded media network, whose sanctioned owner has propagated disinformation, about Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The laundering process relied on, well, complex layering, with couriers conducting cash handovers at 55 locations across England, Scotland, Wales, and the Channel Islands over just four months. These couriers worked on behalf of a minimum of 22 organized crime groups,

making the operation one of a staggering scale. While the dismantling of this network is a landmark achievement for the NCAA, authorities acknowledge the challenges ahead. The NCAA's Director General stated, quote, of course, there's always somebody in the wings, adding, quote, we really understand this system now, as people fill this void, we'll get after them, end quote. Okay.

Coming up next in the back of the brief, a long-awaited probe by the Israeli defense forces, the IDF, has found that six hostages whose bodies were recovered from Gaza in August were likely killed by their Hamas guards back in February as Israeli forces closed in. I'll have those details. when we come back. Not loving your AT&T or T Mobile Bill.

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Your trip can earn rewards which you can use towards your next eligible stay. Soon people will be doom scrolling you. You'll be that friend's friend, but with rewards. What are you waiting for? The one place you go to go places, terms apply. In today's back of the brief, an IDF's probe has determined that six hostages whose bodies were recovered from Gaza in August were executed by Hamas captors, rejecting earlier suspicions that they were killed by IDF air strike operations. For background, the six hostages, who were part of a larger group, of course, kidnapped by Hamas terrorists, were initially held in an underground command center in one of the Iran-backed

terror group's most secure facilities. As the IDF advanced its ground operations into Con Unis in December of 2023, Hamas relocated the hostages to a residential neighborhood distancing them from senior commanders. In mid-February, the IDF conducted airstrikes targeting Hamas commanders in the area, killing six militants and unaware of the hostages' location. Initial speculation suggested that the hostages might have died in those strikes, but the IDF also suspected that Hamas executed them beforehand. On August 20th, the IDF's Elite 98th Division led a recovery operation for the bodies of the slain hostages. Now, more than three months later, the investigation revealed on Wednesday that all six hostages had gunshot wounds confirming their execution, while according to forensic

analysis, the Hamas commander's wounds aligned with airstrike impacts. The hostage family's forum, advocating for relatives of the roughly 100 hostages still held captive in Gaza, issued a statement in the wake of the findings, calling for immediate international action, stating, quote, time is of the essence. Many of the hostages are still alive and enduring impossible conditions of abuse, starvation, and isolation. As we've been tracking on the PDB, President-elect Donald Trump has echoed these concerns urging for their release before his January inauguration. Efforts to negotiate the hostages' return are reportedly ongoing, involving Trump's team, the outgoing Biden administration, and international mediators. The findings of the IDF investigation

underscore the urgency, of course, of resolving the hostage crisis finally. As negotiations continue, families remain in anguish, of course, waiting for any news of their loved ones and hoping for a resolution. All right. And that, my friends,

is the president's daily brief for Friday, 6th December. Now, if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. And if it's Friday, and I'm pretty sure it is Friday, well, that means that the PDB team is busy producing the next extended weekend show that we call the PDB Situation Report. Always great guests, solid insight, excellent news, and brought to you every Friday evening at 10 p.m. on the first TV. And of course, on our YouTube channel, please check that out. That's at President's Daily Brief.

And, of course, every podcast platform where you might get your podcast stuff. And to listen to the show ad-free, well, it's simple. Become a premium member of the president's daily brief by visiting PDB premium.com. I'm Mike Baker. I'll be back later on with the PDB afternoon bulletin. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool. Tocovus is the go-to for premium handcrafted Western boots. Stop by any store location for a warm welcome, a cold drink in hand,

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