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☆ US and Western officials fear Putin unlikely to change course in Ukraine before 2024 election
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Kylie Atwood Natasha Bertrand Jennifer Hansler Kevin Liptak | Kylie Atwood | Natasha Bertrand | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

One US official said they have “no doubt” that Putin is “trying to hold out” until the 2024 election. Another source familiar with the intelligence said “it’s sort of the elephant in the room” for the US, Ukraine and Europe. Trump, the far-and-away front-runner for the GOP nomination at this point, has not committed to backing Ukraine in the war. Ron DeSantis walked back previous statements calling the war in Ukraine a “territorial dispute” he has maintained a broadly anti-interventionist policy. “Putting a shape on the US election will have an enormous effect” in how the war proceeds, the official said.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, ”, Putin, “ Putin, Trump, Biden, Ron DeSantis, Kevin McCarthy, Daniel Fried, Gian Marco Benedetto, Bill Taylor, Patrick Ryder, Matt Miller Organizations: Washington CNN —, CNN, Western, ”, Trump, Republican, Ukraine, GOP, Florida Gov, Congressional Republicans, Anadolu Agency, “, New York Times, Pentagon Locations: Ukraine, Europe, European, Poland, Japan, Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, Russia, India

But two months after President Joe Biden announced US support for training Ukrainian pilots on F-16s, there remain a number of critical details to work out. It is also still unclear which countries will commit F-16s to the training program – and to Ukraine itself once the program is finished. The training program will be for Ukraine and “also for other countries who are transitioning to the fourth generation fighter jets,” she said. The number of Ukrainian pilots set to be trained is also still being determined, but the Air Force memo recommended a pool of 10-12 participants. “The United States will not be the holdup in ensuring that this F-16 training can get under way.”

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, Joe Biden, Biden, ”, Kajsa Ollongren, “, Strategic Communications John Kirby, ’ skillset, Jake Sullivan Organizations: Washington CNN, CNN, Denmark’s Ministry of Defense, Skrydstrup Fighter Base, Dutch Ministry of Defense, Dutch Defense, NATO, National Security, Strategic Communications, Vasco Cotovio, US Air Force, The Air Force, Morris Air National Guard Base, Force, Yahoo, an Air Force, Air Force, Ukraine’s Air Force, American, Russian, National Locations: Ukraine, Denmark, Romania, American, Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Europe, Tucson , Arizona, Soviet, United States

CNN —US troops in Niger have been restricted to the American military base in Agadez, Niger, as the Biden administration works to restore democratically-elected President Mohamed Bazoum to power. A US military official said the approximately 1,000 troops were “retrograded” back to the base last week, shortly after Bazoum was seized by members of the presidential guard on Wednesday. “We’re working really, really hard to see if we can turn this around,” said a senior State Department official on Monday. But the Pentagon is engaging in “strategic patience as we monitor the situation and see how it resolves itself,” the military official said. The US has had troops in Niger for around a decade, mostly advising and training Nigerien forces on counterterrorism efforts.

Persons: Biden, Mohamed Bazoum, Bazoum, ”, Mark Milley, Dave Butler, “ There’s, Abdourahamane Tiani, they’ve, “, Wagner, Yevgeny, Prigozhin Organizations: CNN, Nigerien, State Department, US Joint Chiefs, Staff Locations: Niger, Agadez, ”, Bazoum

CNN —President Joe Biden has decided to allow the US to cooperate with the International Criminal Court’s investigation of Russian war crimes in Ukraine, two US officials and a source familiar with the matter told CNN. The decision comes after months of internal debate and marks a historic shift, as it would be the first time the US has agreed to share evidence with the court as part of a criminal probe into a country that is not a member of the ICC. “It could be deeply consequential,” one of the sources said, adding that the US government now has “a clear green light” to share information and evidence with the ICC. Over the course of the war, Biden administration officials have obtained evidence of alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine, through intelligence gathering mechanisms among other channels, officials told CNN. The Pentagon was the most concerned about cooperating with the court, officials said, and worried that doing so might set a precedent for the ICC to investigate alleged war crimes carried out by Americans in Iraq.

Persons: Joe Biden, Biden “, ”, Biden, Defense Lloyd Austin, CNN’s Wolf Organizations: CNN, ICC, National Security, Joint, Eurojust, United Nations Human Rights, Criminal Court, The New York Times, Pentagon, Defense, Defense Department, Ukraine’s, Department of Justice Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Moscow, United States, Iraq

☆ Wagner chief Prigozhin is in Belarus following armed rebellion, Lukashenko says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Katharina Krebs Paul P. Murphy Natasha Bertrand Jennifer Hansler Helen Regan | Katharina Krebs | Paul P. Murphy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

“I want everyone to know about this: the maintenance of the entire Wagner group was fully provided for by the state,” Putin claimed. “In terms of nuclear weapons, most of them were already brought to Belarus, I won’t say how many. It’s surprising that they didn’t trace it,” Lukashenko said, according to Belarus state media. “Russians and Belarusians are guarding it… No Wagner fighters will guard nuclear weapons. This is our task.”If Lukashenko’s remarks are correct, it would be the first time Belarus has had nuclear weapons on its territory since the early 1990s.

Persons: CNN — Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Alexander Lukashenko, “, ” Lukashenko, hasn’t, Wagner, Vladimir Putin, Putin, ”, BlackSky, ” Putin, Putin’s, ” “, Brian Nelson, ’ Wagner, Lukashenko, CNN Lukashenko –, –, ” Wagner, Prigozhin Organizations: CNN, Kremlin, Federal Security Service, Defense Ministry, Prigozhin, European Union, Wagner, US Treasury Department, Wagner Group, Central African, Treasury, Belarus ‘ Locations: Belarus, Rostov, Belarusian, Minsk, Moscow, Russian, Concord, Africa, Sudan, Ukraine, Central African Republic, Mali, United States, Luhansk, Russia

CNN —China has rejected a United States proposal for Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to meet with his Chinese counterpart Li Shangfu at the Shangri-La Dialogue Security Forum in Singapore this week, according to a Pentagon statement. In the statement, the Pentagon said China had declined an invitation extended in early May for a meeting, but said the refusal would not deter the US from seeking better lines of communication. In response, the Chinese Embassy in the US questioned the sincerity and significance of the invitation, pointing to US sanctions imposed on Chinese officials, institutions and companies. The Wall Street Journal first reported China’s refusal to participate in a meeting between the defense chiefs. Austin told CNN earlier this year that he had not spoken to his Chinese counterpart in “months,” and China has continued to rebuff requests for meetings and phone calls, defense officials said.

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