Click to see the full-size image On December 19 th ,  a resolution was introduced in the US Senate  called for a international freedom of navigation military operation in the Kerch Strait and the Sea of Azov, in addition to urging the cancellation of Nord Stream 2 and for EU to refuse access of Russian vessels to their ports. Approximately 40 Senators introduced the bill, spearheaded by Senators Ron Johnson (R) and Dick Durbin (D). “The United States and our allies need to rapidly counter Russia’s military aggression in the Kerch Strait with strong and resolute action,” Johnson said in a statement. Initially, on December the 19 th ,  the Hill reported that  in the bill Senators are “calling for the pipeline’s cancellation due to its threat to European energy security, and calling on the Russian Federation to guarantee freedom of navigation in the Kerch Strait.” However, in the final draft of the resolution it rather calls for “a prompt multinational freedom of navigation

On December 19,  the administration of US President Donald Trump announced that it’s withdrawing troops from Syria.  Further media reprots on this issue said that State Department personnel had been set to be evacuated within 24 hours while the timeframe for troops pull-out is between 60 and 100 days. On December 20, local Syrian sources reported that the State Deparment had already withdrawn all diplomats from the country. While the White House has provided no details on the troops withdrawal process,  there are signals  that Washington is emergently withdrawing its military personnel and equipment. On the same time, there are reports that the US has started withdrawing its diplomats and the most combat-effective units from Afghanistan. This follows  a significant increase of US intelligence gathering missions  along the Russian borders during the past 10 days. On December 18,  British reconnaissance ship HMS Echo entered the Black Sea  in order to collect fresh data about w