NATO Foreign Ministers Weigh Wars in Ukraine, Syria at Brussels Meeting |
The United States and Germany approved new rounds of military support to Kyiv worth hundreds of millions of dollars before the two-day summit kicked off today. Ukraine’s foreign minister requested a full North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) membership invitation in a letter late last week, but the alliance lacks consensus on the issue; Secretary-General Mark Rutte said the meeting will focus on “how to make sure Ukraine, whenever it decides to enter into peace talks, will do so from positional strength.” NATO has called Ukraine’s path to membership “irreversible” without specifying a timeline. Officials are also due to discuss the surge in fighting in Syria, where NATO member Turkey backs rebel fighters and where the United States has nearly a thousand troops stationed as part of an anti-terror mission.
As the inauguration of U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump—who has pledged a quick deal to end the war in Ukraine—approaches, Rutte traveled to Florida to meet with Trump late last month. Rutte emphasized that pushing Ukraine into a bad deal would pose a “dire threat” to the United States given the increased cooperation of U.S. adversaries, he told the Financial Times. (VOA, Reuters, Hurriyet Daily News, CNN, AFP, FT)
|
|
|
“If the Trump team comes in and says we want to prioritize China over Russia, we want to focus on Taiwan not Ukraine, we need to keep in mind that what happens in Ukraine is going to be hugely significant to what happens in East Asia, because China and Taiwan, everybody else is watching what happens in Ukraine. And if [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is allowed to get away with winning in Ukraine, that is going to encourage China to attack Taiwan,” CFR Senior Fellow Max Boot said in this media briefing.
“Europeans—including Ukrainians—cannot be left out of the discussions that will determine their future,” the French Institute of International Relations’ Elie Tenenbaum and the New Europe Center’s Leo Litra write for Foreign Affairs. “To start, the European coalition must insist that the inclusion of credible and effective security guarantees to Ukraine is a nonnegotiable precondition to any serious talks.”
|
| |
China Tightens Controls on U.S.-Bound Exports of Some Materials Used in Chipmaking |
China’s move comes after Washington’s announcement yesterday of new tech export controls, which Beijing called “unreasonable.” China’s government will increase controls on the export of gallium, germanium, antimony, and superhard materials and increase its end-use review of graphite headed to the United States, citing potential military applications. (WSJ)
In this YouTube Short, former Prime Minister of Australia Kevin Rudd outlines three strategies to manage competition with China.
Brussels/China: The European Union is restricting access to its subsidy program for green hydrogen to exclude equipment that contains a certain threshold of Chinese components. Projects in which electrolyzer stacks sourced from China account for more than 25 percent of output will not be eligible. (Nikkei)
|
| |
Indian FM: China Border Rapprochement Opens Door to Other Policy Changes |
The countries will consider “other aspects” of their bilateral ties now that they have completed a military pullback from areas of tension along their border, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar told parliament. Unnamed Indian officials told Reuters that such progress would likely be slow but could include the resumption of flights and fast-tracking visa approvals. (Reuters)
U.S./Afghanistan: The U.S. Senate approved the promotion of a general who oversaw the withdrawal from Afghanistan after a Republican senator removed his hold. The senator did not specify the reason for his hold but it came as Trump threatened to fire officials involved in the exit from Afghanistan. Lieutenant General Christopher Donahue will lead the U.S. Army forces in Africa and Europe. (NBC, Politico)
CFR expert Linda Robinson offers what the United States can learn from its errors in Afghanistan.
|
| |
Middle East and North Africa |
France, Saudi Arabia Call for Mideast De-Escalation, Lebanese Elections |
French President Emmanuel Macron is on a multi-day state visit to Saudi Arabia where the two countries signed a new partnership designed to boost cooperation in defense, the energy transition, and cultural affairs. They called for regional de-escalation and for new presidential elections in Lebanon. The French leader’s visit comes as his less-than-three-month-old government faces the possibility of getting pushed out by a no-confidence vote; Macron did not comment on the political crisis at home, which is due to hold a vote as soon as tomorrow. (RFI)
Israel/Palestinian territories: Israel has built or expanded twelve military bases in the central Gaza Strip since early September, the New York Times reported based on satellite images and interviews with Israeli military members. Israeli leaders have said they aim to maintain security control in Gaza after the war, but have not specified what that might entail. (NYT)
|
|
|
Brussels Court Rules Belgian State Committed Crimes Against Humanity During Colonization
|
The Belgian government’s kidnappings of mixed-race children in Congo during colonization amounted to a crime against humanity, a Brussels appeals court ruled yesterday. The state was ordered to pay five plaintiffs in the case, all of whom are women born to Congolese mothers and Belgian fathers before independence. Their lawyer said it was the first time a crime of colonization was ruled a crime against humanity. (FT)
U.S./Angola: U.S. President Joe Biden is addressing the two countries’ shared history in the transatlantic slave trade in remarks at Angola’s National Museum of Slavery today. The United States is announcing a $229,000 grant to support the museum’s restoration. Biden is also holding a bilateral meeting today with Angolan President João Lourenço that weighs security and trade cooperation. (Reuters)
CFR expert Michelle Gavin questions whether Washington is wooing Angola. |
| |
ICJ Begins Hearings in Case on Governments’ Responsibilities Regarding Climate Change |
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is due to issue a non-binding advisory opinion in a case brought by the UN General Assembly. The case asks the court to consider “the obligations of states in respect of climate change.” The small island state of Vanuatu is the first among more than one hundred countries and organizations that are presenting evidence in the case. (The Guardian, AP, Reuters, AFP)
|
|
|
Barbados Completes Debt Swap for Climate Adaptation |
Barbados plans to use the projected $125 million in savings from the debt swap—an operation that involves multiple Caribbean and international banks—to make its water and sewage systems more resilient to climate change. Barbados called it the world’s first debt swap that directly funded climate adaptation. (Bloomberg, Reuters)
Canada: The government is planning a multilingual online ad campaign emphasizing that earning asylum in the country is “not easy.” It comes after the country’s immigration minister testified last month in the legislature about the asylum system not working the way it should due to volume and inefficiency. (Toronto Star)
Amelia Cheatham and CFR’s Diana Roy take a look at Canada’s immigration policy.
|
| |
Trump Reiterates Intent to Block Nippon Steel’s Acquisition of U.S. Steel |
U.S. Steel has argued the takeover by Japan’s Nippon Steel is needed for the company’s financial health, but Trump said yesterday that his tax incentives and tariffs would help the company. His comments yesterday were his first on the planned acquisition since winning the election; they come as a deadline approaches later this month for the U.S. government to review the transaction. (NYT)
CFR expert Matthew P. Goodman probes at whether blocking Nippon is a matter of policy or politics. |
|
|
58 East 68th Street, New York, NY 10065 |
1777 F Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006 |
|
|
|
