EU Agrees to Use Profits From Frozen Russian Assets to Arm Ukraine |
The European Union (EU) formal decision yesterday regarding windfall profits from Russia’s frozen assets is expected to yield (WaPo) around $3 billion in the first year of the plan’s operations. It will use 90 percent of the profits generated to buy weapons and ammunition and the remaining 10 percent for nonlethal aid. While some Western countries such as the United States have also supported confiscating Russian assets for use to support Ukraine, others in Europe said this could bring long-term financial stability risks. Additionally, U.S. officials have proposed that Group of Seven (G7) nations could use future profits from frozen assets to issue loans to Ukraine.
The EU funding deal came as Russia began drills (AP) yesterday involving the potential use of battlefield nuclear weapons in an apparent reaction to Western countries discussing the possibility of deploying forces in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking to the New York Times in an interview published yesterday, proposed that North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries shoot down Russian missiles over Ukrainian airspace and said he had appealed to U.S. officials for approval to be able to aim U.S.-supplied weaponry at military targets inside Russia.
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“Ukraine and its Western backers are still struggling, in the third year of the war, to keep up with Russia’s advantages in troop and weapon numbers,” CFR Senior Fellow Max Boot writes in this Expert Brief. “Stepping up to save Ukraine is the smart strategy, since Ukrainian resistance protects NATO from Russian aggression at relatively low cost to the West.”
“Even more can be done to develop a coherent long-term security strategy for Ukraine. Deterring Russian aggression will require three elements: denial, punishment, and credibility,” the Carnegie Endowment’s Eric Ciaramella writes for Foreign Affairs.
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French President Travels to New Caledonia Amid Unrest |
Emmanuel Macron is due to hold talks (NYT) with pro-independence leaders in the French overseas territory after violent protests broke out against a measure to open up voter registration. Independence activists are concerned the move could tip a referendum on self-determination in France’s favor.
Vietnam: The National Assembly elected (FT) Public Security Minister Tô Lâm as president today. Lam supervised a sweeping anticorruption crackdown that shook up senior levels of politics in Vietnam in recent years. Two presidents have resigned and hundreds of other officials have been arrested since January 2023.
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Washington Adds Former Bangladesh Army Leader to Visa Blacklist |
Former General Aziz Ahmed took part (Bloomberg) in “significant corruption” and actions that “contributed to the undermining of Bangladesh's democratic institutions,” a U.S. State Department spokesperson said earlier this week. Washington criticized Dhaka’s elections earlier this year that extended the rule of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Afghanistan: UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo concluded (UN News) a four-day visit to Afghanistan yesterday, during which she held talks with Taliban officials, diplomats, and civil society in preparation for a meeting of special envoys on Afghanistan in late June. The upcoming meeting aims to improve international engagement with Afghanistan.
This Backgrounder by Lindsay Maizland looks at the Taliban in Afghanistan.
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Middle East and North Africa |
UN Halts Food Distribution in Southern Gaza’s Rafah |
The United Nations said a lack of supplies and an untenable security situation led to yesterday’s halt (AP). Some four hundred thousand people are thought to still be in Rafah after around nine hundred thousand departed over the past two weeks, the Israeli military office in charge of Palestinian affairs said. A U.S. Department of Defense spokesperson said yesterday that none of the aid unloaded from a U.S.-built pier near the Gaza Strip had been delivered to the broader Palestinian population. Crowds looted several UN World Food Program trucks carrying aid from the pier on Saturday, prompting the agency to suspend deliveries. The aid is being taken to warehouses for further distribution.
In this CFR Media Briefing, experts discuss humanitarian concerns in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian territories: Officials from Ireland, Norway, and Spain said today that they will recognize (NYT) an independent Palestinian state. More than 140 countries have made this call, but most Western European countries do not hold this recognition. In response, Israel’s foreign minister said the recognition sends the message that “terrorism pays,” and Israel recalled its ambassadors from the three countries for consultations.
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Kenyan President Arrives in Washington |
President William Ruto arrives (NYT) in Washington today for the first state visit by an African leader since 2008. The multiday visit is expected to showcase military partnerships with the United States in Africa as the U.S. military presence across the continent has been increasingly questioned by African leaders. Ruto and U.S. President Joe Biden will also discuss (Reuters) Kenyan debt relief and the details of an upcoming Kenya-led security mission to Haiti.
For the Africa in Transition blog, CFR expert Michelle Gavin previews Ruto’s visit.
Chad: Opposition leader Succès Masra announced his resignation (Reuters) as prime minister today. Masra was appointed to the position for the country’s transitional government in a move to appease Chad’s opposition; his resignation comes after he lost the May 6 presidential vote to incumbent Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno.
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World Oceans Court Rules Countries Are Responsible for Harmful Emissions |
The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg, Germany, issued its first climate-related ruling (Reuters) yesterday, unanimously voting (NYT) that greenhouse gases constitute marine pollution and countries have a duty to curb their emissions. Small island states celebrated the nonbinding decision, which experts say will likely serve as precedent for future lawsuits against polluting countries.
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NYT: Some Haitian Gangs Have Acquired Automatic Weapons |
Gangs in Haiti are growing in force and some have gained automatic weapons since February, increasing their firepower against an incoming multinational security mission, two unnamed U.S. Justice Department officials told the New York Times. The groups have also changed their posture on social media, acting more like militias with countrywide ambitions than groups concerned with small-scale turf wars.
Colombia: The government is considering (Reuters) fully suspending a cease-fire with guerrilla group Estado Mayor Central after the group carried out two bombings in the country’s southeast, Colombia’s defense minister said yesterday.
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Energy Department to Sell Off One Million Barrels of Gasoline From Northeast Reserve |
The fuel will be gradually sold (AP) by July 4 in an effort to control gasoline prices over the summer as the Energy Department predicts there will be an uptick in driving. The release was mandated by Congress and is part of plans to close the ten-year-old Northeast reserve. |
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