Editor’s note: There will be no Daily Brief November 22–24, in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. |
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Senior U.S. And European Officials Visit Kyiv, Pledge Continued Support |
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and European Council President Charles Michel are visiting Kyiv (AP) today, following a trip by U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin yesterday that included an announcement of $100 million in new military aid. Pistorius said he came “to pledge further support” for Ukraine’s war effort in the conflict as it nears twenty-one months, while Michel is observing the tenth anniversary of pro-Western Euromaidan protests in Kyiv and meeting with senior Ukrainian officials (Euractiv). The visits come as Ukraine struggles to regain territory in its counteroffensive against Russia. Overnight, Russian shelling in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk and Kharkiv regions killed three people (Reuters) and wounded eight, Ukrainian officials said today.
Michel’s meetings in Kyiv are expected to discuss European Union (EU) preparations for a mid-December summit that will consider the opening of talks on Ukraine’s accession to the bloc, as well as new military support. Earlier this month, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen recommended the start of accession talks. |
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“Europe will, like it or not, have to step up and take on more responsibility for supporting Ukraine. That means providing more cash as direct financial assistance, but also investing much more heavily in military kit so that Europe can arm Ukraine without leaving itself defenceless. It can also help by speeding up Ukraine’s integration with the EU itself,” the Economist’s Christopher Lockwood writes.
“The time has come for Washington to lead efforts to forge a new policy [in Ukraine] that sets attainable goals and brings means and ends into alignment,” CFR President Emeritus Richard Haass and CFR expert Charles A. Kupchan write in Foreign Affairs. “The United States should begin consultations with Ukraine and its European partners on a strategy centered on Ukraine’s readiness to negotiate a cease-fire with Russia and to simultaneously switch its military emphasis from offense to defense.”
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North Korea Announces Plan to Launch Spy Satellite By End of Month |
The plan follows two failed launch attempts (Reuters) earlier this year. With the launch, Pyongyang could remotely monitor U.S., South Korean, and Japanese troops. Meanwhile, a South Korean spy satellite due to launch by the end of November would reduce Seoul’s dependence on U.S. intelligence systems. This episode of the Why It Matters podcast explores spycraft technology.
South Korea/UK: South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will kick off bilateral trade talks (Reuters) with the United Kingdom (UK) as part of a state visit to the country that begins today. He is also due to address both houses of the UK Parliament.
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Japan’s PM Hosts Kyrgyzstan’s President, Promises Increased Cooperation |
Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio pledged cooperation (Nikkei) with Kyrgyzstan in infrastructure and decarbonization efforts after a meeting yesterday with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov in Tokyo. The meeting aimed to reduce Kyrgyzstan’s dependence on China and Russia for economic and security needs.
China/Myanmar: Myanmar authorities have handed over thirty-one thousand suspects (Reuters) in telephone fraud scams to China since the start of a binational crackdown on online and telecommunications scams in September, China’s Ministry of Public Security said.
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Middle East and North Africa |
U.S. Energy Security Envoy Visits Israel For Talks on Containing War, Offshore Gas |
Amos Hochstein, energy security advisor to U.S. President Joe Biden, is visiting Israel today to discuss efforts to guarantee the Israel-Hamas war does not spill into a second front on Israel’s border with Lebanon, Axios reported. He is also expected to discuss plans to revitalize (Haaretz) the Palestinian economy by allowing a Palestinian government access to an offshore gas field off the coast of the Gaza Strip.
Egypt/Palestinian territories: Palestine Red Crescent ambulance teams evacuated twenty-eight premature babies (NYT) from northern Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital into Egypt yesterday for medical care, the United Nations and an Egyptian state television network said. Supplies at al-Shifa have dwindled after Israeli troops surrounded the hospital and raided it last week.
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Germany Pledges $4.4 Billion for Green Energy Projects in Africa |
Germany will make the investments by 2030 (Bloomberg) as part of an Africa-EU Green Energy Initiative, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said. He added that Germany anticipates importing “a large proportion” of its green hydrogen needs from Africa. This article by CFR’s Noah Berman and Clara Fong unpacks global climate finance goals.
Zambia: Zambia’s ongoing debt restructuring was halted (Bloomberg) after official creditors led by China and France rejected a deal that Zambia had reached with private bondholders. The rejection marks a roadblock for a Group of Twenty framework for debt restructuring created during the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the Follow the Money blog, CFR expert Brad W. Setser explains the importance of getting Zambia’s debt restructuring right.
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Italian Court Sentences More Than Two Hundred People in Trial of ‘Ndrangheta Crime Group |
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Dominican Republic Undergoes ‘Largest Rainfall Event Ever’ |
President Luis Abinader called on climate change doubters to “start believing” after the country experienced its “largest rainfall event ever,” which killed twenty-one people (AFP). Some thirteen thousand people have been evacuated across the country, while several areas are facing electricity and drinking water outages.
Argentina: President-Elect Javier Milei said that he aims to privatize (Buenos Aires Herald) state oil company YPF, energy group Enarsa, and state news agency Télam after taking office.
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Ruling on Arkansas Case Threatens Ability to Enforce Voting Rights Act |
An appeals court upheld a ruling that private citizens and groups cannot sue (NPR) over violations to Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits blocking the right to vote based on race. Many legal watchers say the case could go to the Supreme Court. Private citizens and groups have brought the majority of Section 2 cases to court in recent decades.
This CFR webinar discusses the landscape of voting rights in the United States.
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