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☆ Republicans Agree on Foreign Policy — When It Comes to China - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Peter Beinart | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Understanding why Republicans prioritized China then helps explain why they’re prioritizing it now. Many of America’s most influential Asia Firsters — like the Time magazine publisher Henry Luce — were either the children of American missionaries in China or had served as missionaries there themselves. The John Birch Society, whose fervent and conspiratorial brand of anti-Communism foreshadowed the right-wing populism of today, took its name from an Army captain and former missionary killed by Chinese communists at the end of World War II. It boasts much of the world’s economic, political and military power, which is why the Biden administration focuses on the region, too. In March, a Gallup poll found that while Democrats were 23 points more likely to consider Russia a greater enemy than China, Republicans were a whopping 64 points more likely to say the reverse.

Persons: Robert Taft, “ Mr, H, Alexander Smith, Truman, William Knowland, Joyce Mao, Chiang Kai, shek, Asia Firsters, Henry Luce —, John Birch, Biden, Mao, fixate, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping Organizations: Republican, NATO, Foreign Policy, Armed Services Committee, Nationalist, Republicans, Communist, Time, John, John Birch Society, Army, Gallup Locations: Europe, Formosa, ”, Taiwan, China, Asia, United States, Pacific, Washington, Beijing, Russia

☆ Russia and North Korea in ‘Actively Advancing’ Talks on Weapons, U.S. Says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( Constant Méheut | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

The White House has accused North Korea of supplying rockets and missiles to Russia for use in Ukraine, which Pyongyang has denied. North Korea and Iran are largely cut off from international commerce because of American and international sanctions, meaning neither country has much to lose by making deals with Russia. “What we’re seeing in this counteroffensive is it’s a gunfight and both sides are blazing away with artillery,” Mr. Kirby said. Putin has achieved — let me count it — zero of his strategic goals in Ukraine,” Mr. Kirby said. Also on Wednesday, North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea, apparently a reaction to joint military drills by the United States and South Korea.

Persons: John F, Kirby, Vladimir V, Putin, Kim Jong, ” Mr, “, Mr, Kirby’s, Iran —, Biden, Kim, “ Mr, Linda Thomas, Greenfield, ” Organizations: National Security Council, North Korean, ”, United, United States, Slovakian, United Nations Locations: States, Russia, North Korea, Moscow, Ukraine, Pyongyang, United States, Iran, U.S, Korea, China, Beijing, Ukrainian, South Korea, Japan, Britain

☆ Russia Officially Confirms Prigozhin’s Death
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-27 | by ( Constant Méheut | More About Constant Méheut | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Russian authorities have officially confirmed the death of the Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, with investigators saying on Sunday that genetic testing showed that the victims of a plane crash last week matched all the names on the jet’s manifest. Mr. Prigozhin was presumed to have died in the crash on Wednesday, an incident that came two months after he launched a failed mutiny against Russia’s military leadership and which U.S. and Western officials believe was the result of an explosion on board. However, the Russian authorities had said they were awaiting the results of an investigation before confirming the identities of those on board. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Thursday, in his first comments on the crash, spoke obliquely of Mr. Prigozhin’s death, referring to him in the past tense, but did not confirm it. “He made some serious mistakes in life, but he also achieved necessary results,” Mr. Putin said.

Persons: Wagner, Yevgeny V, Prigozhin, Svetlana Petrenko, Vladimir V, Putin, Prigozhin’s, ” Mr Locations: Russia

☆ Russian Confirms Prigozhin’s Death: Live Updates
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-27 | by ( Constant Méheut | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Image An informal memorial for Wagner leader Yevgeny V. Prigozhin next to the former ‘PMC Wagner Centre’ in St. Petersburg, Russia. However, the Russian authorities had said they were awaiting the results of an investigation before confirming the identities of those on board. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Thursday, in his first comments on the crash, spoke obliquely of Mr. Prigozhin’s death, referring to him in the past tense, but did not confirm it. “He made some serious mistakes in life, but he also achieved necessary results,” Mr. Putin said. Some European leaders, many Western news outlets and people close to Mr. Prigozhin’s Wagner paramilitary force have speculated that Mr. Putin had Mr. Prigozhin killed in retaliation for his brief mutiny in June — suggestions the Kremlin on Friday dismissed as an “absolute lie.”Show more

Persons: Wagner, Yevgeny V, Prigozhin, Anton Matrosov, Svetlana Petrenko, Vladimir V, Putin, Prigozhin’s, ” Mr, Prigozhin’s Wagner, Mr Organizations: PMC Wagner Locations: St . Petersburg, Russia

The Kremlin is considering options on bringing the private military group Wagner under its direct control after the presumed death of its leader, Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, according to U.S. and Western officials. Among those possibilities, officials say, are absorbing Wagner into the Defense Ministry or its military intelligence arm. The Kremlin could also install a Russian general or other government ally as its new chief, according to people briefed on the preliminary intelligence. Still, U.S. officials said the Kremlin believes the organization’s military prowess, experienced operators and ties to African governments are too valuable to give up or allow to wither away. A plane believed to be carrying Mr. Prigozhin crashed on Wednesday, Russian, U.S. and European officials have said.

Persons: Wagner, Yevgeny V, Prigozhin, Vladimir V, Putin, Prigozhin’s Organizations: Defense Ministry, Kremlin, U.S Locations: Russian, Russia, Ukraine, U.S, Moscow

Just as the news broke on Wednesday of the presumed death of the mercenary chief Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia was presiding over a televised World War II anniversary ceremony on a dark stage lit dramatically in red. He held a moment of silence, flanked by service members in dress uniforms, while a metronome’s beats sounded, like the slow ticking of a clock: Tock. The eerie split screen — the reported fiery demise of the man who launched an armed rebellion in June and the Russian president telegraphing the state’s military might — may have been coincidental. But it underscored the imagery of dominance and power that Mr. Putin, 18 months into his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, appears more determined than ever to project. His internet “troll farm” helped the Kremlin interfere in the 2016 American presidential election, while his mercenary empire helped Russia exert influence across Africa and the Middle East.

Persons: Yevgeny V, Prigozhin, Vladimir V, Putin, telegraphing Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Bakhmut, Africa

☆ Yevgeny Prigozhin, Renegade Mercenary Chief Who Rattled Kremlin
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( Valerie Hopkins | More About Valerie Hopkins | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Although his death has not been officially declared by the Russian authorities or confirmed by family members or business associates, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia spoke of Mr. Prigozhin in the past tense on Thursday and offered condolences to the families of the crash’s 10 victims. And Pentagon officials for the first time openly said they believe that Mr. Prigozhin did not survive the crash, in which all on board were killed. Mr. Prigozhin had long leveraged a close relationship with the Kremlin to gain lucrative government construction and catering contracts, and he built up the paramilitary force, known as Wagner, in close cooperation with Russia’s military intelligence services. For years he kept a low public profile. Even as Wagner conducted operations on Moscow’s behalf in Syria and in several African countries, he denied any affiliation.

Persons: Yevgeny V, Vladimir V, Putin, Russia, Prigozhin, Wagner Organizations: Pentagon, Kremlin Locations: Ukraine, Africa, Russia, Syria

☆ Spin. Pilates. Prigozhin? Presidential Business Follows Biden on Vacation.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( Erica L. Green | More About Erica L. Green | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It is a dynamic that seems to come with the job: A crisis will almost certainly unfold during any presidential holiday. The only occasion when Mr. Biden was spotted doing a recreational activity so far was on Wednesday, holding a banana-blueberry smoothie after his workout at PeloDog, a Pilates and cycle studio. He was asked by reporters whether he believed President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia was behind the plane crash. It looked that way, the president said, but he needed to find out more. (White House officials said the president was renting the house for “fair market value” but did not disclose details.)

Persons: Biden, Vladimir V, Putin, I’ve, ”, Theodore Roosevelt, Tevi Troy, George W, Bush Organizations: White House Locations: Russia, Maui, Steyer’s, Glenbrook, Nev, Lake Tahoe, Sagamore Hill, Long, Tahoe, Rehoboth

An explosion on a plane believed to be carrying the Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny V. Prigozhin likely brought down the aircraft on Wednesday, killing all the passengers aboard, according to U.S. and other Western officials citing preliminary intelligence. A definitive conclusion has not yet been reached, but a blast is the leading theory of what caused a private plane to crash in a field between Moscow and St. Petersburg. The explosion could have been caused by a bomb or other device planted on the aircraft, though other theories, like adulterated fuel, were also being explored, the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter, said. U.S. officials sounded increasingly certain, both publicly and privately, that Mr. Prigozhin was dead, and that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia had ordered the killing, intent on removing a figure who had led a short-lived mutiny in June that was seen as the gravest challenge to Mr. Putin’s rule in decades. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said the initial U.S. assessment, based on a “variety of factors,” was that Mr. Prigozhin had likely been killed in the crash.

Persons: Yevgeny V, Prigozhin, Vladimir V, Putin, Putin’s, Patrick Ryder, ” Organizations: Pentagon Locations: Moscow, St . Petersburg, Russia, Brig

A cameraman films a wreckage of the private jet linked to Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin near the crash site in the Tver region, Russia. Neither referenced the plane crash in which 10 people were said to have been killed. A Reuters reporter at the crash site on Thursday morning saw men carrying away black body bags on stretchers. Unnamed sources told Russian media they believed the plane had been shot down by one or more surface-to-air missiles. SECOND PLANE LINKED TO PRIGOZHINFlightradar24 online tracker showed that the plane had dropped off the radar at 6:11 p.m. (1511 GMT).

Persons: Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Marina Lystseva, Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin, Sergei Lavrov, Anatoly, Putin, WAGNER, Dmitry Utkin, Abbas Gallyamov, Gallyamov, Bill Browder, Browder, Joe Biden, I’m, Biden, Sergei Shoigu, Valery Gerasimov, Andrew Osborn, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Marina, Defence Ministry, Embraer, SA, Reuters, Telegram, Kremlin, Twitter, General Staff, Thomson Locations: Tver, Russia, MOSCOW, Ukraine, South Africa, Moscow, St, Petersburg, Kuzhenkino, Russian, St . Petersburg, Grey, Africa, Belarus

The plane that listed Mr. Prigozhin as a passenger left Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport on Wednesday at about 6 p.m. local time, bound for St. Petersburg. The paint and a partial registration number, RA-02795, visible on the aircraft match a jet that Mr. Prigozhin is known to use. Was Mr. Prigozhin killed? American officials said they could not confirm Mr. Prigozhin had been killed in the plane crash, or why the jet went down. Emerging from jail as the Soviet Union was collapsing, Mr. Prigozhin began his post-criminal career selling hot dogs on street corners in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Persons: Yevgeny V, Russian Wagner, Prigozhin, Prighozin, Dmitri Utkin, Wagner, Vladimir V, Putin, Mr, ”, Prighozhin, Putin’s Organizations: RIA Novosti, Embraer, Russian, Kremlin, Central African Locations: Russian, Moscow, Sheremetyevo, St . Petersburg, Kuzhenkino, Tver, Western, Kremlin, Russia, South Africa, Ukraine, Soviet Union, Bakhmut, Syria, Libya, Mali, Central African Republic, Belarus

☆ Rule No. 1 in Putin’s Russia: Defy Him at Your Peril
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( Paul Sonne | More About Paul Sonne | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia let the mercenary tycoon Yevgeny V. Prigozhin escape seemingly unscathed after launching a mutiny in June, critics around the world seized on the Russian leader’s apparent show of wartime weakness. Two months later, Mr. Prigozhin is presumed dead in the mysterious crash of a private jet in a field between Moscow and St. Petersburg. Mr. Putin is securely in the Kremlin, publicly eulogizing Mr. Prigozhin as a talented person with a “complicated fate,” who made many mistakes in life. In Mr. Putin’s Russia, fates can quickly change in a system where existential affronts to the leader are neither forgiven nor forgotten. For more than two decades, individuals who have posed threats to the Russian leader have regularly found themselves exiled, imprisoned or dead, swiftly stripped of their power.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Yevgeny V, Prigozhin, Mr, ”, Wagner, Putin’s Organizations: Kremlin Locations: Russia, Moscow, St . Petersburg, U.S, Putin’s Russia

Putin's comments, which suggested he harboured decidedly mixed feelings about Wagner's mercenary boss, were the most definitive yet on Prigozhin's fate. It remains to be seen too how Wagner fighters, some of whom have already spoken of betrayal and foul play, react. Pledging a thorough investigation which he said would take time, Putin said that "preliminary data" indicated that Prigozhin and other Wagner employees had been on the downed plane. A cameraman films a wreckage of the private jet linked to Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin near the crash site in the Tver region, Russia, August 24. The mutiny was ended by an apparent Kremlin deal which saw Prigozhin agree to relocate to neighbouring Belarus.

Persons: Putin, Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Wagner, It's, Ramzan Kadyrov, Marina Lystseva, Kadyrov, Anatoly, Prigozhin's, Sergei Shoigu, Valery Gerasimov, Andrew Osborn, Nick Macfie, Andrew Heavens, Stephen Coates Organizations: Reuters, U.S . Department of Defense, REUTERS, Marina, Embraer, SA, Telegram, Wagner Group, Wagner, General Staff, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Moscow, U.S, Washington, Ukraine, Africa, Kremlin, Donetsk, Tver, Russia, St . Petersburg, Kuzhenkino, Grey, Belarus

There was no immediate official confirmation that Prigozhin, Russia's most powerful mercenary and a self-declared enemy of the Russian Defence Ministry, was physically on board. Reuters could not confirm that he was on the aircraft though a Telegram channel linked to Wagner pronounced him dead. Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin leaves the headquarters of the Southern Military District amid the group's pullout from the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia, June 24, 2023. Unconfirmed Russian media reports said that Dmitry Utkin, Prigozhin's right-hand man, had also been on board and that Prigozhin and his associates had attended a meeting with officials from the Russian Defence Ministry. An unverified video clip posted to social media showed a plane resembling a private jet falling out of the sky towards the earth.

Persons: Wagner, Prigozhin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin's, Putin, Joe Biden, Alexander Ermochenko, Sergei Shoigu, Valery Gerasimov, Dmitry Utkin, Andrew Osborn, Max Rodionov, Mark Trevelyan, Grant McCool Organizations: Russian Defence Ministry, Reuters, Wagner Group, Kremlin, Defence Ministry, Embraer, TASS, Southern Military, REUTERS, Russia's, General Staff, Thomson Locations: Moscow, MOSCOW, Russia, Africa, Tver, St . Petersburg, Kuzhenkino, Tver Region, Rostov, Don, St Petersburg, Ukraine, Belarus

☆ BRICS Meeting Attracts Global Interest Not Seen in Years
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Lynsey Chutel | More About Lynsey Chutel | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The latest gathering of leaders has garnered a level of international interest rarely seen since the group was first formed 14 years ago. Dozens of countries have expressed interest in joining, including Argentina, Nigeria, Iran, Belarus, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia. The candidates are as diverse as the BRICS bloc, which represents 40 percent of the world’s population and a quarter of its economy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India arrived in Johannesburg in the afternoon, The Times of India reported. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia will appear virtually, to avoid an international arrest warrant for crimes against humanity committed during the war in Ukraine.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Cyril Ramaphosa of, Narendra Modi, Vladimir V, Putin Organizations: India Locations: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Johannesburg, Ukraine, Beijing, Washington, Argentina, Nigeria, Iran, Belarus, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, Pretoria, Times

☆ Opinion | The Great Wheat Price Surge That Sputtered
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Peter Coy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

I share Ghosh’s concern for the impact of high wheat prices on the poor, but the story is more complicated than greedy speculators versus needy consumers. For one thing, consider this statistic: While speculators were betting on higher wheat prices in the spring of 2022, they’re betting on lower prices now. Managed funds have had a net short position in wheat futures contracts since July 2022, according to data compiled by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. That undermines the narrative that they invariably root for higher prices. Ghosh told me that there was no justification for prices to spike in the spring of 2022 because the market was well supplied with wheat.

Persons: Ghosh, —, Vladimir Putin, it’s, ” Scott Irwin, Seth Meyer, ” Organizations: Commodity Futures Trading Commission, University of Illinois, U.S . Department of Agriculture Locations: Russia, Urbana, Champaign, Ukraine

☆ For Ukraine, Many Antiwar Activists in the U.S. Make an Exception
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Michael Crowley | More About Michael Crowley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“Russia’s invasion flips the script,” he added. “On top of that, the country the U.S. is sending arms to here is engaging in actual self-defense. The peace movement needs to resist the urge to simply replay our ‘greatest hits’ about U.S. imperialism when we talk about Ukraine,” he said, adding that his group strongly supports intensive diplomacy to resolve the conflict. First is the obvious fact that Mr. Biden has not committed the U.S. military to the conflict, making for a cost in treasure but not American troops. Writing in The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Walzer said that “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is illegal under international law, and it is unjust according to every version of just war theory.”The view is common among defenders of Mr. Biden’s policies.

Persons: ”, Benjamin, Biden, Donald J, Trump, Tucker Carlson, Michael Walzer, Vladimir V, Putin, Walzer Organizations: Democratic, Fox News, Street Locations: U.S, Ukraine, Russia

Just as important will be persuading people like Mr. Marohn that electric cars, renewable energy and electric heaters and stoves are practical, economical and exciting. Many, conservatives in particular, chafe at the prospect of the government forcing them to buy electric cars or ditch their natural gas appliances, polls show. By The New York TimesA clean energy future will require painstaking and individually tailored persuasion campaigns. “Even if some of them deny the science of climate change, they can’t deny good-paying jobs,” he said. “I just want to change the perception that electric cars are not as good as big, noisy muscle cars,” Mr. Lawson said.

Persons: Mikey Marohn, “, ”, Marohn, Alicia Cox, Cox, , chafe, Jesus, Ms, ” “, Jae Landreth, “ That’s, “ Nobody’s, Mr, Landreth, Phil Collins, Rob Leach, Leach, ‘, “ I’ve, Jack Conness, Biden, Jennifer Granholm, Granholm, Vladimir V, Putin, Sue Burns, Burns, Marjorie Taylor Greene, William Turner, didn’t “, Jason Walsh, Walsh, Tia Williams, Ms . Granholm, ” Ms, Williams, Joe Wilson, ” “ Didn’t, Roy Cooper of, Cooper, Patrick Lawson, Ford, Lawson, Lawson’s, Susan Lawson, Cheryl, Tesla, They’re, Kent Wheeler, “ It’s, ’, Josh Hermes, Paul Rosenzweig, Rosenzweig, Mary T, Barra, ” Kenneth Boswell, Quinton Lucas, Lucas, ” Mr Organizations: Clean, Biden, General Motors, nonbelievers, Republican, Pew, The New York Times, Pew Research Center, Toyota, Clean Energy Manufacturing, Energy Innovation, Trump, Trump Biden, Savings, Yale, Pontiac, BlueGreen Alliance, Democratic, Georgia Institute of Technology, Mr, Republicans, Flex, Gov, Northern Arapaho Tribe, Tesla, Rocky Mountain Rebels, Elks, Wild West EV, Polaris, Northern Arapaho, Chevy Silverado, Mercedes, Benz, Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, Kansas City, Fire Department Locations: Teton, Wyoming, Yellowstone, Baldwin City, Kan, Kansas City, G.O.P, Counties, Russia, Memphis, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Murfreesboro, Tenn, Dalton, Ga, Roy Cooper of North Carolina, Riverton, Jackson, Minnesota, Louisiana, Alabama, Missouri, Quinton Lucas , Kansas, Kansas

☆ Man of the People? Jolted by a Mutiny, Putin Works the Crowds.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-05 | by ( Paul Sonne | More About Paul Sonne | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

He worked a throng of screaming fans in Dagestan. He hoisted a young girl onto his hip in Kronstadt. He posed shoulder-to-shoulder with seven young siblings, shaking their father’s hand after a naval parade. The isolation persisted until well after politicians elsewhere had dispensed with such precautions amid receding fears about Covid-19. And once Russia invaded Ukraine, Mr. Putin’s distance stood in stark contrast to President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, who made regular visits to frontline positions, crowded ceremonies and cramped hospital rooms.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky Locations: Dagestan, Kronstadt, Russia, Ukraine

☆ In a desperate scramble for ammo, Russia's defense chief flew all the way to North Korea to beg for some of theirs
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Russia's defense chief traveled to North Korea recently to try and secure more ammunition. Shoigu went to Pyongyang "in a bid to convince North Korea to sell munitions to Russia to support Russia's war," Kirby added. Kirby said on Thursday that any arms deal between Russia and North Korea would be in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un walks with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Pyongyang, North Korea, on July 27, 2023. Iran has outfitted Russia's military with explosive drones that Moscow has used for nearly a year to attack Ukrainian cities and the country's civil infrastructure.

Persons: Vladimir Putin's, Biden, Vladimir Putin, Sergei Shoigu, Shoigu, Kim Jong Un, John Kirby, Kirby, Li Hongzhong, Kim, Kim Jong, Putin, he's, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, there's Organizations: White, US, Service, Russian, North, DPRK, Ukraine, National Security, Democratic People's, Chinese Communist Party, Russia's, Korean Central News Agency, KCNA, REUTERS, Korean, Wagner Group, US Treasury Department, Slovakian, United Nations, Russian Defense Locations: North Korea, Ukraine, Russia, Wall, Silicon, Moscow, North Korean, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Pyongyang, REUTERS North Korea, Korea, Iran, China, Washington, Beijing

Ukraine’s decision to change tactics is a clear signal that NATO’s hopes for large advances made by Ukrainian formations armed with new weapons, new training and an injection of artillery ammunition have failed to materialize, at least for now. It raises questions about the quality of the training the Ukrainians received from the West and about whether tens of billions of dollars’ worth of weapons, including nearly $44 billion worth from the Biden administration, have been successful in transforming the Ukrainian military into a NATO-standard fighting force. “The counteroffensive itself hasn’t failed; it will drag on for several months into the fall,” said Michael Kofman, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace who recently visited the front lines. “Arguably, the problem was in the assumption that with a few months of training, Ukrainian units could be converted into fighting more the way American forces might fight, leading the assault against a well-prepared Russian defense, rather than helping Ukrainians fight more the best way they know how.”President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has increasingly signaled that his strategy is to wait out Ukraine and its allies and win the war by exhausting them. American officials are worried that Ukraine’s return to its old tactics risks that it will race through precious ammunition supplies, which could play into Mr. Putin’s hands and disadvantage Ukraine in a war of attrition.

Persons: Biden, ”, Michael Kofman, Vladimir V, Putin, Putin’s Organizations: NATO, Carnegie Endowment, International Peace Locations: Russia, Ukraine

☆ Pope urges Russian 'brothers' to restore Black Sea grain deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-30 | by ( Alvise Armellini | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

VATICAN CITY, July 30 (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Sunday called on Russia to reverse its decision to abandon the Black Sea grain deal, under which it had allowed Ukraine to export grain from its seaports despite the ongoing war. "I appeal to my brothers, the authorities of the Russian Federation, so that the Black Sea initiative may be resumed and grain may be transported safely," Francis said during his weekly Angelus message. Global wheat prices have spiked since Russia on July 17 quit the pact, which was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July 2022, and began targeting Ukrainian ports and grain infrastructure on the Black Sea and Danube River. Addressing crowds in St Peter's Square, the pope urged the faithful to continue praying "for martyred Ukraine, where war is destroying everything, even grain," calling this "a grave insult to God." Russia walked out of the Black Sea deal after saying its demands to ease sanctions on its own grain and fertilizer exports had not been met.

Persons: Pope Francis, Francis, Angelus, Vladimir Putin, Azali Assoumani, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, Zuppi, Alvise Armellini, Angus MacSwan, Susan Fenton Organizations: CITY, Russian Federation, United, African Union, Thomson Locations: Russia, Ukraine, United Nations, Turkey, St Peter's, Moscow, Africa, Kyiv, Washington

☆ Once Wary, Biden to Host Italy’s Meloni at the White House
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Peter Baker | More About Peter Baker | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

In forming a coalition government after last September’s elections, Ms. Meloni became the first far-right nationalist to lead Italy since Benito Mussolini. Like the former president, Ms. Meloni came to office with a long record of skepticism of Western alliances. But Ms. Meloni has shown that she is in charge when it comes to Ukraine. To Washington’s delight, Ms. Meloni has been drawing away from China. Valbona Zeneli, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center, said Western leaders misjudged Ms. Meloni after her election.

Persons: Brothers, Meloni, Benito Mussolini, Biden’s, Donald J, Trump, “, Viktor Orban, Matteo Salvini, Silvio Berlusconi, ” Mr, Berlusconi, Vladimir V, Putin, Valbona Organizations: Conservative Political, Conference, Council’s Locations: Italy, Italian, United States, Germany, France, Russia, Moscow, Ukraine, China, Beijing

Battles raged in southern Ukraine on Thursday, as Kyiv’s stepped-up offensive against the Russian occupation made small gains, according to Russian, Ukrainian and Western analysts and officials, but the scope of the assaults and their toll remained unclear. A day after U.S. officials said the main thrust of Ukraine’s counteroffensive appeared to have begun, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia said, “We confirm that hostilities have intensified and in a significant way.”But there was minimal, and sometimes contradictory, information about how many troops and armored vehicles Ukraine had committed so far to its attempt to punch holes through Russia’s daunting defensive network. Crucially, it was also unclear what kind of losses either side was suffering, in soldiers and weaponry. What is clear is that Ukraine has significantly ratcheted up its seven-week-old counteroffensive, along two southward thrusts apparently aimed at cities in the Zaporizhzhia region: Melitopol, near the Sea of Azov, and Berdiansk, to the east, on the Azov coast. In both cases, the Ukrainians have advanced only a few miles so far and have dozens of miles to go.

Persons: Kyiv’s, Vladimir V, Putin, “ Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Azov

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia pledged on Thursday to ship free grain to at least six African countries over the next four months, scrambling to shore up Moscow’s image on the continent in the wake of the Kremlin’s refusal to extend a deal that had protected Ukrainian grain exports that help feed millions of people around the world. Mr. Putin, speaking at a summit for African countries in St. Petersburg that drew far fewer African leaders than its 2019 iteration, insisted in a keynote speech that Western hypocrisy rather than Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was to blame for disruptions in the global food supply. “Nothing happened of what was discussed and promised to us,” Mr. Putin said, repeating his assertion that the West had failed to fulfill its end of the grain deal and had done nothing to clear the way for Russian food and fertilizer exports. He added that those casting Russia as an unreliable food supplier were “telling lies,” which he said had “been the practice of some Western states for decades, if not centuries.”

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, ” Mr, “, ” Locations: Russia, St . Petersburg, Ukraine

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