Germany’s Scholz Visits Washington to Talk Ukraine War Options |
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is making a low-fanfare visit to Washington (NYT), where he and U.S. President Joe Biden will hold a confidential discussion (Reuters) on the state of the war in Ukraine and Western support for Kyiv ahead of a Russian offensive that is anticipated to begin in the coming weeks. During Scholz’s two-day visit, the leaders are also expected to address shared concerns about China’s support for Russia’s war effort, Iran’s increased uranium enrichment, and threats to the rule of law in Israel under the country’s new, right-wing government. In addition, the United States is set to announce an additional $400 million in military aid for Ukraine.
On the battlefield, Ukrainian forces are fighting to repel Russian advances around the city of Bakhmut. The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group called on them to withdraw (The Guardian), saying Wagner fighters have “practically surrounded” the city.
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“U.S. policymakers have a chronic concern that industrial European powerhouses like Germany will allow their commercial interests in China to temper their willingness to take tough positions on security and geopolitical issues,” the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Daniel Russel tells Reuters. “The Biden administration will use the Scholz visit to try to shift Germany’s balance in the direction of stronger pushback.”
“By all accounts, the Russians are settling in to defend the shorter front that their tactical defeats and retreats have produced—and doing so with newly reinforced combat units,” Barry R. Posen of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) writes for Foreign Affairs. “Moscow now seems reconciled to a simple war aim: to hold on to the land it has seized.”
CFR’s Liana Fix and Caroline Kapp explain how Russia miscalculated Germany’s reaction to the war.
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Xi Expected to Reshuffle Cabinet During Rubber-Stamp Congress Session |
China’s legislature will meet (FT) this weekend for the opening session of the National People’s Congress. Earlier in the week, President Xi Jinping said he is planning “far-reaching changes” to the country’s economic policy. The World Next Week podcast previews the opening of China’s parliamentary session.
Cambodia: Human rights groups and Western governments condemned (BBC) the twenty-seven-year treason sentence handed to Cambodian opposition leader Kem Sokha, calling it politically motivated.
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Quad Calls Threat of Nuclear Weapons Use ‘Inadmissable’ at New Delhi Meeting |
The foreign ministers of the United States, Australia, India, and Japan, a grouping known as the Quad, condemned threats to use nuclear weapons (Nikkei) during their discussion of the war in Ukraine today. They released a joint statement that did not name Russia but called for the respect of “sovereignty, territorial integrity, transparency, and peaceful resolution of disputes.”
India: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won elections (Reuters) in three northeastern border states.
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Middle East and North Africa |
UN Nuclear Chief Visits Iran |
The Iranian government invited (AP) International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi to visit after the agency reported that Iran was enriching uranium “particles” to 83.7 percent purity, nearly weapons grade.
U.S./Israel: U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark A. Milley arrived in Israel (Times of Israel) today for talks with military officials that are expected to cover tensions with Iran and violence in the West Bank. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will also begin a trip to the Middle East (Al-Monitor) this weekend.
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Macron: French Interference in African Affairs Is ‘Well Over’ |
French President Emmanuel Macron made the statement (RFI, AFP) during a speech in Gabon yesterday. He is currently touring four countries in Africa to highlight a new strategy that seeks to reduce France’s military presence on the continent.
Nigeria: The country’s Supreme Court ruled that old banknotes that had previously been banned from circulation can still be used (Reuters) through December 31. Their withdrawal sparked cash shortages and public outrage.
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Belarus Sentences Nobel Laureate to Ten Years in Prison |
Human rights activist and 2022 Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski had been jailed (France 24) on charges of cash smuggling after Belarus’s 2020 demonstrations against the disputed reelection of President Aleksandr Lukashenko. The country’s opposition leader called the sentence (Euronews) a “shameful injustice.”
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UN Human Rights Experts Say Nicaragua Committed Crimes Against Humanity |
A UN-appointed investigative team said that the government of President Daniel Ortega has tortured and murdered (NYT) political opponents. The findings could see Nicaraguan officials tried overseas. For Foreign Affairs, David Miliband writes that impunity for such crimes fosters instability.
Brazil/Ukraine: During a video call, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that he will encourage countries (Reuters) to support peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.
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Human Rights Groups Call for UN Intervention on U.S. Abortion Rights |
Nearly two hundred human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, called for the United Nations (WaPo) to communicate with Washington about recent curbs to abortion access, which the groups said are a violation of international human rights law.
This virtual roundtable discussed the international implications of the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that eliminated the constitutional right to abortion.
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Council on Foreign Relations |
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