Daily News Brief

June 9, 2023

Top of the Agenda

Ukraine used advanced Western weapons to launch attacks on Russian forces in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, military analysts told the New York Times. Pushing back Russian fighters in the area could sever the route (WaPo) through which Russia moves military supplies to Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014. Kyiv has long said the goals of its counteroffensive are to retake Crimea and regions that Russia has occupied since its February 2022 invasion.

Ukrainian forces have conducted probing operations for weeks at other locations along Russia’s front line, the Economist reported. Moscow has fortified its front line with hundreds of miles of razor wire, trenches, and weapons systems.

Analysis

“There is good reason to think that [Ukraine’s counteroffensive] could succeed beyond what skeptics believe. Ukraine’s military leaders have proved wily, agile, and resourceful to a degree that their Russian counterparts have not, and the cumulative effect of incoming Western armaments will increase the firepower at their disposal in multiple ways,” Defense Priorities’ Rajan Menon writes for Foreign Affairs.  

“[Russia’s front line includes] the most extensive defensive system that we’ve seen in Europe since World War II,” the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Seth G. Jones told the Washington Post.

Sub-Saharan Africa

Ethiopian government officials appeared to have orchestrated the widespread theft (NYT) of food aid, a coalition of foreign donors including the United States said. U.S. contributions feed an estimated 12 million people in Ethiopia, where  20 million people depend on food aid amid civil conflict and drought.

Guinea-Bissau: A coalition of opposition parties won the majority (AP) in parliamentary elections in results announced yesterday. Current President Umaro Sissoco Embaló has cracked down on civic freedoms in the country since taking office in 2020.

Pacific Rim

A bill passed today by the Japanese parliament adds a new avenue (Nikkei) for people fleeing conflict to seek protection in Japan, but migrants rights advocates criticized the law for allowing the government to deport people who repeatedly apply for refugee status.

China/Honduras: Honduran President Xiomara Castro arrived in China (AP) to inaugurate the Honduran embassy in Beijing. It is her first visit since Honduras switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China earlier this year.

This Backgrounder by CFR’s Diana Roy examines China’s growing influence in Latin America.

South and Central Asia

Refugees called to be sent back to Myanmar, where a brutal military crackdown caused many Rohingya to flee in 2017. Communities in Bangladesh have grown more hostile to the refugees as international aid organizations have reduced their support, leaving refugee camps in harsh living conditions, Reuters reported.

India/China: At a briefing to reporters yesterday, India’s foreign minister said the country’s relations with China could not improve (The Wire) unless border tensions are assuaged. He said India’s ties with all major powers other than China have progressed under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

Middle East and North Africa

After U.S. President Joe Biden publicly criticized Saudi Arabia’s move to slash oil production last fall, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman privately threatened to inflict “major economic consequences” on Washington, a U.S. intelligence document said. The Washington Post obtained the document after it was leaked on the social media platform Discord.

At this webinar, CFR experts Steven A. Cook and Martin S. Indyk discuss U.S.-Saudi relations.

Israel: Investigators at a UN human rights commission accused Israel (AP) yesterday of “delegitimizing and silencing civil society” for its ban on Palestinian human rights groups, and said that Hamas and the Palestinian authority had also committed rights violations. Israel accused the commission of being biased.   

Europe

The country’s energy ministry is preparing to submit its proposal to parliament in the next two weeks for a vote this fall, the Financial Times reported. Norway claims its mining rights extend over a larger area than Russia, the United Kingdom, and the European Union recognize. If approved, Norway would be the first country to extract battery metals from the ocean floor. 

Americas

Vice President Kamala Harris said on a visit to the Bahamas yesterday that the funding would go to (Miami Herald) climate change and security projects. She said Washington will collaborate with security officials in the region to track shipments of illegal firearms and ammunition.

For CFR’s Renewing America initiative Will Freeman looks at how American-made guns flow through Florida to fuel crime in the Caribbean.

U.S./Cuba/China: Officials from the three countries pushed back against a Wall Street Journal report (Reuters) that said China had reached a deal to set up an eavesdropping facility in Cuba. A White House security spokesperson said the report was “not accurate,” Cuba’s vice foreign minister called it “totally mendacious and unfounded,” and China said “spreading rumors” was a common U.S. tactic.

United States

A lawyer for former President Donald Trump said yesterday that Trump has been charged on seven counts (CNN) related to the Espionage Act for his handling of classified White House documents taken to Florida after he left office. Trump denied wrongdoing. It is the first time a former U.S. president has faced federal charges.

A Reuters investigation examines how wealthy countries have spent money earmarked for fighting climate change, and finds several projects seemingly unrelated to climate action.

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