The Evening: Ukraine-Russia Talks, Suspect Charged with Hate Crime, My Brother Esau, and More

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Good Evening,

It's Monday, June 2nd.

Ukraine-Russia Peace Talks Raise Hopes but Yield Little Progress

Russia and Ukraine met in Istanbul on Monday for peace talks, a day after trading some of the most intense air attacks of the war, but the discussions produced little result beyond an agreement to exchange prisoners and the bodies of fallen soldiers, as the NYT reports

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Suspect in Colorado Flamethrower Attack Charged With Federal Hate Crime

The man accused of using a flamethrower in an attack on a Jewish group in Boulder, Colo. told investigators he had been planning it for a year because he “wanted to kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead,” according to new court documents, as the WSJ reports

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China Calls Trump’s Trade Deal Accusations “Groundless”

China on Monday said Trump administration accusations that it had broken the terms of a trade war truce by holding back key materials were “groundless,” saying that it was in fact the United States that had “seriously damaged” the agreement with its restrictions on Chinese microchips and students, as The Washington Post reports

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Executive Education

Sharpen your ability to lead, manage, and communicate in high-stakes environments with the CSIS Accelerator Series

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. Over six months, participants build critical skills in hands-on seminars led by CSIS experts and top coaches. For the 2025 program, CSIS is offering a reduced tuition rate for displaced federal employees. Learn more and apply by June 4

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Audio Briefs

CSIS now offers audio versions of our latest analysis. Listen to the latest Commentary by CSIS's Benjamin Jensen, "Relative Superiority in the Drone Age: McRaven’s Playbook Meets Ukraine’s Airfield Assaults

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In That Number

1,200

Ukraine and Russia agreed to hold a new exchange of up to 1,200 prisoners of war and swapped memorandums on a possible ceasefire to end the war, despite a gulf remaining between the two sides’ positions at a meeting in Istanbul on Monday.

Source: FT

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Critical Quote

“We aim to take the talks about ceasefire conditions, humanitarian discussions, and the exchange of prisoners of war a step further.”

—Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan

iDeas Lab

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New satellite imagery analysis of Hambuk Shipyard in Chongjin, North Korea shows the ongoing salvage operation of the country's second Choe Hyon-class guided missile destroyer, which failed during launch last week. Read more from the CSIS Korea Chair here.

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The Andreas C. Dracopoulos iDeas Lab at CSIS enhances our research with the latest in cutting-edge web technologies, design, and multimedia.

Optics

(Photo credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images.) Karol Nawrocki, presidential candidate of the conservative Law and Justice Party, stands on stage with his wife Marta and their children as they gesture to supporters following the Polish presidential runoff election on June 1, 2025, in Warsaw, Poland.

Recommended Reading

"Relative Superiority in the Drone Age: McRaven’s Playbook Meets Ukraine’s Airfield Assaults

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" by CSIS's Benjamin Jensen.

This Town Tomorrow

At 11:00 a.m.

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, CSIS Renewing American Innovation spotlights the role of creativity and ownership in the U.S. patent system.

Then, at 4:30 p.m.

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, the CSIS Korea Chair discusses South Korea’s new president, the foreign policy challenges facing the incoming administration, and the implications of the election for U.S.–ROK relations and the broader Indo-Pacific region.

Also, at 2:00 p.m.

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, Brookings hosts a conversation on how the United States and China might influence the trajectory of the war in Ukraine.

Video

CSIS Korea Chair experts discussed the failed launch and damage of North Korea's second guided missile destroyer, including what caused the failure at the Hambuk Shipyard in Chongjin, what we know about the ongoing salvage operations to recover the destroyer, and this means for the future of North Korea's naval forces. Watch the full video here.

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Podcasts

Seth G. Jones, director of the CSIS Defense and Security Department and Harold Brown Chair, joins the podcast to discuss the state of the war in Ukraine and break down the data on Russia’s battlefield performance, which is included in an upcoming CSIS report.

Listen on Spotify

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& Apple Podcasts

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Smiles

As many of you know, I have been anticipating the release of the Grateful Dead’s 60th anniversary album, “The Music Never Stopped.” As of last Friday, it is now streaming everywhere. The album is chock full of superb renditions of some of the best loved songs in the Dead’s cannon. But one of the more obscure tracks in this anniversary collection is a live version of “My Brother Esau,”

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culled from an August 1983 show at Stanford. This tune is one of many that underscore the Grateful Dead’s singularity.

I invite you to email me at [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

and follow me on Twitter @handrewschwartz

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The Evening is my daily guide to key insights CSIS brings to the events of the day. It is composed by Lauren Adler, Ava Rose, and the External Relations team.

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