Saturday Russia-Ukraine update:

"Ukraine said it struck the Russian Borisoglebsk airbase in the Voronezh region, describing it as the “home base” of Russia’s Su-34, Su-35S and Su-30SM fighter jets.

Russia fired 322 drones and decoys into Ukraine overnight, Ukraine’s air force said, with the western Khmelnytskyi region the main target of the attack. Of these, 157 were shot down and 135 were lost, the air force said.

Dutch and German intelligence agencies say that Russia is increasing its use of prohibited chemical weapons in Ukraine, including the World War I-era poison gas chloropicrin. Moscow denies this.

President Donald Trump said he discussed sending Patriot interceptor missiles to Ukraine in calls with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius will travel to Washington later this month for talks with his US counterpart about air defence systems, as well as production capacities, the ministry said.

A German government spokesman said the country was exploring the possibility of purchasing more Patriot air defence systems from the US for Ukraine.

Trump said that he discussed sanctions with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a Thursday call, who is worried about them and understands they might be forthcoming.

Zelenskyy says he agreed with Trump, to work to strengthen Ukraine’s air defences, as concerns mounted in Kyiv over US military aid deliveries. The two leaders had a “very important and fruitful conversation” by phone on Friday, Zelenskyy said."

Monday Middle East update:

"The first round of indirect Israel-Hamas talks mediated by Qatar ended inconclusively, two Palestinian sources said early today, adding that the Israeli delegation did not have a sufficient mandate to reach an agreement with Hamas. Ahead of his White House meeting with President Trump later today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israeli negotiators have instructions to achieve a ceasefire deal under conditions that Israel has accepted. A Palestinian official said the talks are expected to resume today. Nidal Al-Mughrabi reports for Reuters; Sebastian Usher and Rushdi Abualouf report for BBC News; Isabel Kershner reports for the New York Times.

The ceasefire proposal under discussion would entail a 60-day truce during which Hamas would hand over 10 living and 18 dead hostages, Israeli forces would withdraw to a buffer zone along Gaza’s borders with Israel and Egypt, and U.N. and the Palestinian Red Crescent would distribute significant amounts of aid, according to a copy of the document seen by AP News. Wafaa Shurafa, Abby Sewell, and Kareem Chehayeb report.

Hamas has lost about 80% of its control over Gaza, with armed clans filling the void, according to a senior Hamas security forces official. “Most of the leadership, about 95%, are now dead” and “there’s no control anywhere,” the official said. Rushdi Abualouf reports for BBC News.

Iran does not plan to further retaliate against the United States but has no plans to stop uranium enrichment, Tehran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi told NBC News in a Thursday interview. Separately, a source said that the U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, plans to meet Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Oslo next week to restart nuclear talks. The final date of any talks is yet to be set, and neither country has publicly confirmed the meeting. Richard Engel, Marc Smith, and Alexander Smith report; Barak Ravid reports for Axios.

International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors have safely departed Iran, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Friday, days after Tehran enacted a law suspending cooperation with the international agency. Erika Solomon reports for the New York Times.

Trump discussed the situation with Iran and other regional issues with the Saudi Defense Minister, Prince Khalid bin Salman, during a Thursday meeting at the White House, according to a source. Following his meeting with Trump, Bin Salaman said he spoke on the phone with the Chief of Iran's General Staff of the Armed Forces, Maj. Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi. Barak Ravid reports for Axios.

European officials say they believe that Israeli and U.S. attacks on Iran have created new incentives for Tehran to pursue nuclear weapons in secret, with the strikes hardening the mood in Iran. Ellen Francis reports for the Washington Post.

The Israeli military early today launched airstrikes targeting ports and facilities held by Yemen’s Houthi rebels for the first time in nearly a month, with the Houthis responding by firing missiles at Israel in retaliation. The exchange of fire came hours after the rescue of the crew of a Greek-operated bulk carrier whose vessel was hit by gunfire, drones and missiles in the Red Sea in an attack maritime security firms said bore hallmarks of Houthi tactics. Jon Gambrell reports for AP News; Yomna Ehab and Mohammed Ghobari report for Reuters; Reuters reports.

Hezbollah will not lay down its weapons until Israel withdraws from southern Lebanon and stops its airstrikes, the group’s leader Naim Kassem said in a video address yesterday. AP News reports."

Worth a read:

Remember when the United States engaged in an act of war against a country of some 90 million people by sending its B-2 bombers into battle? No? Well, you can be forgiven for letting it slip your mind; after all, it was more than two weeks ago.

Besides, you’ve probably been distracted by more recent news. The United States has halted some weapons shipments to Ukraine, despite the increased Russian bombing of Ukrainian cities as Moscow continues its campaign of mass murder. Fortunately, last Thursday Donald Trump got right on the horn to his friend in Russia, President Vladimir Putin. Unfortunately, Putin apparently told Trump to pound sand. “I didn’t make any progress with him today at all,” Trump said to reporters before boarding Air Force One.

Meanwhile, the president has decided to review AUKUS, the 2021 security pact between the United States, Australia, and Great Britain, a move that caught U.S. diplomats (and their colleagues in Canberra and London) off guard and has generated concern about the future of the arrangement. Technically, the president didn’t decide to review it, but rather his handpicked secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, did. Well, it wasn’t him, either; apparently, the review was ordered by someone you’ve likely never heard of: Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby, a career-long Beltway denizen who initiated the process on his own.

But at least someone’s keeping an eye on Asia: CNN is reporting, based on a Ukrainian intelligence report, that North Korea is planning to send as many as 30,000 more soldiers to assist Russia in its war of conquest. Of course, this is largely based on a single source, but Pyongyang has already sent at least 10,000 troops into the European battlefield over the past nine months, and things are going poorly for Russia’s hapless conscripts, so perhaps a deal really is in the works to provide the Kremlin with another shipment of foreign cannon fodder.

All of this raises an obvious question: Who’s running America’s foreign and defense policies?

It’s not the president, at least not on most issues. Trump’s interest in foreign policy, as with so many other topics, is capricious and episodic at best. He flits away from losing issues, leaving them to others. He promised to end the war in Ukraine in a day, but after conceding that making peaceis “more difficult than people would have any idea,” the president has since shrugged and given up.

It’s not Marco Rubio—you may remember that he is technically the secretary of state, but he seems to have little power in this White House. It’s not Hegseth, who can’t seem to stop talking about “lethality” and trans people long enough to deliver a real briefing that isn’t just a fawning performance for Trump. (As bad as Hegseth can be, he seems almost restrained next to the State Department’s spokesperson, Tammy Bruce, whose comments about Trump—she thanks God for him from her podium and says he is “saving this country and the world”—have an unsettling Pyongyang-newsreader lilt to them.)

It’s not the national security adviser. That’s also Rubio.

Apparently, American defense policy is being run by Bridge Colby, and perhaps a few other guys somewhere in the greater Washington metropolitan area. Their influence is not always obvious. The order to halt shipments, for example, came from Hegseth, but the original idea was reportedly driven by Colby, who backed the moves because, according to NBC, he has “long advocated scaling back the U.S. commitment in Ukraine and shifting weapons and resources to the Pacific region to counter China.” (Per the NBC reporting, an analysis from the Joint Staff showed that Colby is wrong to think of this as an either-or situation; the Ukrainians need weapons that the U.S. wouldn’t even be using in a conflict in the Pacific.)

In this administration, the principals are either incompetent or detached from most of the policy making, and so decisions are being made at lower levels without much guidance from above. In Trump’s first term, this kind of dysfunction was a lucky break, because the people at those lower levels were mostly career professionals who at least knew how to keep the lights on. In Trump’s second term, though, many of those professionals have been either silenced or outright replaced by loyalists and inexperienced appointees. Ironically, allowing various lower offices to fill the policy void empowers the unknown appointees whom MAGA world claims to hate in other administrations.

The Trump White House’s policy process—insofar as it can be called a “process”—is the type found in many authoritarian states, where the top levels of government tackle the one or two big things the leader wants done and everything else tumbles down to other functionaries, who can then drive certain issues according to their own preferences (which seems to be what Colby is doing), or who will do just enough to stay under the boss’s radar and out of trouble (which seems to be what most other Trump appointees are doing). In such a system, no one is really in charge except Trump—which means that on most days, and regarding many issues, no one is in charge.

In Trump’s current administration, irrational tariffs and brutal immigration enforcement are the two big ideas. Both have foreign-policy ramifications, but they are being pursued by Trump and his team primarily as domestic political issues. Everything else is on the periphery of the White House’s vision: Pakistan and India, nuclear weapons, the Middle East (or nuclear weapons and the Middle East), the Ukraine war. All of these get Trump’s temporary attention in the form of a quick evaluation of their utility to Trump personally, and then they’re dumped back outside the door of the Oval Office.

Even the Iran strike—one of the most important military actions taken by the United States in years—has apparently lost its luster for the president. Trump said that Iran’s nuclear program was “obliterated”; other parts of the U.S. defense and intelligence communities said they weren’t sure; Israel thanked America; Trump moved on. This might be because the political advantage of the bombings never materialized: The American publicdisapproved of Trump’s actions, and so the president is now looking for some other shiny object.

Today, that trinket seems to be in Gaza. Over the weekend, Trump claimed that he has a “good chance” of making a deal, perhaps in the coming week, with Hamas for the release of more hostages. This is foreign policy in the Trump era: Announce deals, push their resolution out a week or two, and hope they happen. If they don’t—move on and declare success, regardless of any actual outcomes.

No one in Trump’s administration has any incentive to fix this, because serious changes would be admissions of failure. Repopulating the National Security Council with people who know what they’re doing means admitting they were needed in the first place. Hegseth or top people resigning would admit the enormity of the mistake that Trump made in hiring them. Reining in policy freelancers and curtailing the power of lower-level policy makers (as Rubio has at least tried to do with regard to diplomacy) is to admit that senior leaders have lost control of their departments.

This administration was never directed or staffed with any coherent foreign policy in mind beyond Trump’s empty “America First” sloganeering. Less than a year into his second term, it’s clear that the goals of Trump’s 2024 run for the presidency were, in order of importance, to keep Trump out of prison, to exact revenge on Trump’s enemies, and to allow Trump and his allies to enrich themselves by every possible means. No one had to think much about who would defend America or conduct its diplomacy; Trump’s appointees were apparently chosen largely for shock value and trolling efficacy rather than competence.

The rest of the world’s most powerful nations, however, are led by grown-ups and professionals. Some of them are enemies of the United States and are quite dangerous. Undersecretary Colby has had some bad ideas, but Americans had better hope that he and the handful of other guys trying to run things know what they’re doing."

Tuesday Middle East update:

"Israel and Hamas “want to have that ceasefire” in Gaza, President Trump said yesterday as he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to Palestinian sources, Israel’s refusal to allow the free and safe entry of aid into Gaza remains the main obstacle to progress in the ongoing truce talks. Barak Ravid reports for Axios; Reuters reports.

The United States and Israel are working to “find countries” that would give Palestinians “a better future,” Netanyahu told reporters yesterday, stating that “if  people want to stay, they can stay, but if they want to leave, they should be able to leave.” Separately, the Israeli leader suggested that a Palestinian state would be “a platform to destroy Israel.” Jeff Mason, Andrea Shalal, Matt Spetalnick, and Alexander Cornwell report for Reuters; Reuters reports.

In an interview released yesterday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian stated that he believes that the United States and Iran can resolve their differences “through dialogue and talks” but trust is a potential issue,questioning whether Iran can be sure that the United States would not give Israel permission to attack Iran again. Pezeshkian also claimed that Israel tried to assassinate him. Doina Chiacu for Reuters. 

Netanyahu's top adviser, Ron Dermer, told Israeli officials that he thinks Trump could green light renewed Israeli attacks on Iran if Tehran tries to revive its nuclear program, sources say. Dermer last week met with Vice President Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and White House envoy Steve Witkoff, the sources added. Barak Ravid reports for Axios.

The United States has scheduled talks with Iran, Trump said yesterday, adding that Tehran “wants to talk.” U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff said that the meeting would likely take place next week. Jeff Mason, Andrea Shalal, Matt Spetalnick, and Alexander Cornwell report for Reuters 

Iran-backed Houthi rebels yesterday claimed the Sunday attack that sank the Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned bulk carrier and launched an new attack on a Liberian-flagged cargo ship. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations today said that the vessel is under “continuous attack,” with at least two people on board reported to be hurt and two crew members reported missing. Jon Gambrell reports for AP News.

The U.S. Ambassador to Turkey and U.S. special envoy for Syria, Thomas Barrack, yesterday said he was “unbelievably satisfied” with Lebanon’s response to a U.S. proposal of a strategy to disarm Hezbollah. Barrack added that he believed that the “Israelis do not want war with Lebanon.” Maya Gebeily reports for Reuters."

Wednesday Middle East update:

"Trump yesterday met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the second time in two days to discuss the war in Gaza. Separately, the U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, suggested that Israel and Hamas were “down to one” issue preventing them from reaching a ceasefire agreement and that he hoped that a temporary truce would be agreed by the end of the week. Nadine Yousif and Ottilie Mitchell report for BBC News; Andrea Shalal and Patricia Zengerle report for Reuters.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Monday told journalists that he had instructed the Israeli military to prepare a plan to confine all Palestinians in Gaza in a “humanitarian city” on the ruins of Rafah, Israeli media report. Palestinians would not be allowed to leave the zone, managed by international bodies and secured by the IDF, Katz said. Israeli human rights lawyer Michael Sfard condemned Katz’s plan as “nothing less” than “an operational plan for a crime against humanity.” Ione Wells and David Gritten report for BBC News; Emanuel Fabian and Jacob Magid report for the Times of Israel; Emma Graham-Harrison reports for the Guardian.

U.S. Agency for International Development officials last month raised “critical concerns” about the U.S.- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s (GHF) ability to deliver aid to Palestinians, days before the State Department announced a $30 million funding grant for the group, according to an internal government assessment obtained by CNN that outlines “a litany of problems” with GHF’s funding application. Yahya Abou-Ghazala and Jennifer Hansler report.

A suspected Houthi attack on a Liberian-flagged cargo ship in the Red Sea killed three mariners and wounded two others yesterday, according to the European Union’s Operation Aspides naval force. Jon Gambrell reports for AP News."

This just in: The Red Sea and the Houthis-

Trouble (again) in the Red Sea The Houthis in Yemen sank their second ship in two days when a Liberian-flagged cargo ship, Eternity C, went down in the Red Sea early Wednesday morning.

https://link.defenseone.com/view/66e4b68a0e37846bfc034a0fo6zux.5p9/87621d31

Friday Middle East update:

"Israel has agreed to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza in the coming days as part of an accord negotiated with the European Union, Israeli and EU officials said on Thursday. The agreement encompasses a substantial increase in daily supplies, as well as the reopening of several aid routes, a source said. 

Senior U.S., Israeli, and Qatari officials on Tuesday held secret talks in the White House that focused on the lines to which the Israel Defense Forces would withdraw during a 60-day truce, the key remaining sticking point in the ongoing ceasefire negotiations, sources say. The debate on the issue helped produce clear progress on that front, the sources add. Barak Ravid reports for Axios.

Israeli intelligence officers have concluded that some of Iran’s underground stockpile of near-bomb-grade enriched uranium survived last month’s U.S. and Israeli strikes and may be accessible to Iranian nuclear engineers, according to a senior Israeli official. The official added that any attempts by Iran to recover it would almost certainly be detected and could prompt renewed Israeli strikes. David E. Sanger reports for the New York Times."

And this from Politico today-Russia and North Korea getting much tighter-

"Ukraine’s military intelligence chief warned today that North Korea is now supplying as much as 40 percent of the ammunition Russia is using in its invasion of Ukraine, Bloomberg’s Daryna Krasnolutska and Olesia Safronova report. And that’s not the only major contribution North Korea is making to the Russian war effort.

In an interview with the outlet, KYRYLO BUDANOV said that North Korean leader KIM JONG UN is providing Moscow with ballistic missiles and artillery systems in exchange for cash and technology that’s easing Pyongyang’s international isolation.

It’s a sign of the deepening partnership between Pyongyang and Moscow. And it comes as the U.S. teases some major action on Ukraine. President DONALD TRUMP said today “you'll be seeing things happen” on Monday. That followed an interview late Thursday with NBC News in which Trump suggested a deal was in place with NATO to provide Ukraine with Patriot missiles."

Monday Middle East update:

"Trump last week told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he favors a diplomatic settlement with Tehran, but does not otherwise object to further Israeli strikes on Iran if the country resumes moving toward a nuclear weapon, senior U.S. and Israeli officials say. Alexander Ward and Laurence Norman report for the Wall Street Journal.

Putin informed Trump and Iranian officials that he supports the idea of a “zero enrichment” nuclear deal, according to European and Israeli officials. Iranian officials said that they would not consider the option, an European official added. Barak Ravid reports for Axios.

Iran plans to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency despite restrictions on access to nuclear sites imposed by the Iranian parliament, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Saturday. Reuters reports.

A consensus that Iran must relaunch nuclear negotiations with the United States is emerging in Iran’s political circles, according to analysts and political observers inside and outside Iran. Yeganeh Torbati reports for the Washington Post.

Israeli officials have signaled they want the U.N. to remain the key avenue for humanitarian deliveries in Gaza, Deputy Head of the World Food Programme Carl Skau said on Friday. Separately, a spokesperson of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said that the office had recorded 798 killings of Palestinians in the vicinity of Gaza aid points and aid convoys in the past six weeks. Michelle Nichols reports for Reuters; Olivia Le Poidevin reports for Reuters.

The Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks in Doha have “stalled,” a Hamas official told CNN on Saturday. According to an Israeli official, significant gaps remain on the issue of the Israeli military’s deployment in Gaza and Hamas’ presence in the territory once the ceasefire takes effect. Tim Lister, Oren Liebermann, Eugenia Yosef, Ibrahim Dahman, and Eyad Kourdi report; Reuters reports."

Tuesday Middle East update:

"The Israeli defense ministry’s proposal to force hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into a contained area in Gaza’s devastated south is threatening to derail ceasefire negotiations, a senior Hamas member said,stating that the proposal “resembles a ghetto” and is a “deliberately obstructive demand.” Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert previously described the planned “humanitarian city” as amounting to a “concentration camp.” Israeli legal experts warn the plan would violate international law, and could amount to war crimes or the crime of genocide. Patrick Kingsley and Aaron Boxerman report for the New York Times; Eugenia Yosef and Oren Liebermann report for CNN; Emma Graham-Harrison reports for the Guardian.

One of Israel's ultra-Orthodox parties has announced it is quitting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling coalition over a dispute concerning conscription exemptions. The move would leave Netanyahu with a razor-thin majority of 61 seats in the 120-seat Knesset. Steven Scheer reports for Reuters.

The flow of aid into Gaza has not increased despite last week’s agreement between Israel and the EU, Egypt's foreign minister said yesterday. The EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas yesterday said that while there have been some good signs of more trucks and supplies entering Gaza, the bloc needs to see more improvement on the ground. Reuters reports; Reuters reports."

I was challenged as to where to post this but obviously landed here:

'Truth Socialist

The old Soviet Union was a sprawling Communist Party dictatorship characterized by mass assassinations, an extensive gulag of political prisoners, chronic shortages of everyday staples, and a vast network of secret police who monitored the activity of everyday Russians and others living behind the Iron Curtain. Vladimir Putin was a junior officer in that authoritarian apparatus, which is one reason his impulse is to ruthlessly stamp out dissent today, imprisoning journalists and murdering political opponents.

Although there was nothing approaching freedom of speech or freedom of the press in Russia back then (or now), there were newspapers. Two in particular had huge nationwide circulation: Pravda and Izvestia. Both papers had interesting provenances.

Pravda was the Bolshevik party organ even before the Russian Revolution. It was edited in 1908 by Leon Trotsky and, under Lenin's leadership, was made the official party organ in 1912. In 1917, Stalin and two other party functionaries took over the editorial board. After the tsar was murdered and the "dictatorship of the proletariat" was proclaimed, Pravda became the official mouthpiece of the Central Committee and later the Politburo, the organizations that ran the Party and, hence, the Soviet Union.

After the revolution, Izvestia in turn became the official voice of the Russian government. The two newspapers never quarreled with one another, but they did spawn an enduring complaint rendered among everyday Russians as gallows humor.  The word "pravda" means "truth" in Russian, while "izvestia" means news. The old joke about the Soviet press was that there's "no truth in Pravda and no news in Izvestia."

Which brings me, after that long windup, to my point. It concerns President Trump's method of conveying the news in his administration.

My friend George Condon, White House correspondent for National Journal, pointed out Monday that in just the last 30 days, President Trump has announced the appointment of four ambassadors, nominated 11 judges, issued another pardon, fired the head of the National Portrait Gallery, divulged a deal on U.S. Steel's ownership, imposed copper and steel tariffs, issued three disaster proclamations, warned Brazil and Israel to halt prosecutions of political leaders in their respective countries, pressured Congress to pass budget rescissions, criticized Japan over American rice imports, mentioned a trade deal with Vietnam, revealed phone calls with the leaders of China and Russia, warned Israel "DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS," and disclosed tariff letters sent to 24 countries and the European Union.

Trump did none of this through official White House channels despite having a robust communications office. All these developments were announced on Truth Social, the platform owned by Trump Media & Technology Group. To paraphrase the old Russian quip, I'm not sure how much truth there is in Truth Social, but there's definitely news.

Besides presenting potential problems for future presidential scholars, the conflict of interest here is so obvious I won't dwell on it.

But like so many other things in the Trump era, there's a chicken-and-egg aspect at play here: If the geniuses running Twitter and Facebook in 2021 hadn't kicked a sitting president off their platforms, it seems unlikely that Trump would have launched Truth Social. So who is really to blame?"

Wednesday Russia-Ukraine update:

"President Trump has privately encouraged Ukraine to strike deep into Russia, even asking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy whether he would strike Moscow if the United States provided Kyiv with long-range weapons during a call in early July, the Financial Times reports, citing sources. Speaking to reporters yesterday, Trump said that Ukraine “shouldn’t target Moscow” and that the United States is “not looking” to supply long-range missiles to Kyiv. The White House said Trump’s question was taken out of context. Christopher Miller, Henry Foy, Max Seddon, and Lauren Fedor report; Madeline Halpert reports for BBC News; Kevin Liptak, Kylie Atwood, Kristen Holmes, and Alayna Treene report for CNN.

The State Department last week laid off some senior analysts specializing in analyzing intelligence on Russia and Ukraine at the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, according to current and former U.S. officials. It is unclear how many intelligence analysts were dismissed in total. Michael Crowley, Greg Jaffe, and Julian E. Barnes report for the New York Times.

Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to keep fighting in Ukraine until the West engages on his terms for peace and may widen his territorial demands if Russian troops advance, sources say. Putin believes that Russia’s economy and military are strong enough to weather any additional Western measures and is not fazed by Trump's threats of tougher sanctions, the sources add. Guy Faulconbridge and Darya Korsunskaya report for Reuters.

Senior Russian security official Dmitry Medvedev dismissed what he described as Trump’s “theatrical” 50-day “ultimatum” for the Kremlin to end its war on Ukraine after the US president announced a deal to supply more weapons to Kyiv via NATO, and threatened tariffs on Russia.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Trump’s remarks on Monday were “very serious”, adding that “some of them are addressed personally to President Putin”.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said that the US president’s “change of posture” towards Russia was “obviously welcome”."

Thursday Russia-Ukraine update:

"A Russian overnight attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure injured at least 15 people across four cities yesterday, officials said. Illia Novikov report for AP News.

The European Union yesterday failed for the second time to approve a new package of sanctions against Russia as Slovakia continued to seek concessions over gas supplies, according to diplomatic sources. Kate Abnett and Jason Hovet report for Reuters.

President Trump should not wait 50 days to impose secondary sanctions on Russia, Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže argued yesterday, pointing to Russia’s continuing attacks on Ukraine. Felicia Schwartz reports for POLITICO.

Russia launched 400 Shahed and decoy drones, as well as one ballistic missile, on Wednesday night, the Ukrainian air force said. The strikes targeted the northeastern city of Kharkiv, the central city of Kryvyi Rih, Vinnytsia in the west, and Odesa in the south.

Russian forces shot down three Ukrainian drones flying towards Moscow early on Thursday, the capital’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, said on Telegram. Sobyanin made no mention of casualties or damage.

Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its air defence units destroyed 48 Ukrainian drones in a three-and-a-half-hour period ending at 11:30pm (20:30 GMT)."

Friday Middle East update:

"Qatar, Egypt, and the United States on Wednesday presented Israel and Hamas with an updated Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal proposal that incorporates the progress made in negotiations in the last ten days, sources say. U.S. Envoy for Hostages Adam Boehler yesterday described the truce deal as “closer than it’s ever been.” Barak Ravid reports for Axios; Eric Bazail-Eimil reports for POLITICO.

In a statement, Pope Leo XIV yesterday said he was “deeply saddened” to hear of the attack on the Gaza City church and renewed his call for “an immediate cease-fire” in the territory.

Damascus is not preparing to redeploy government forces to the Sweida province, the SANA state news agency reported today, with an interior ministry spokesperson denying earlier reports of an planned redeployment. Reuters reports.

The United States did not support recent Israeli strikes on Syria, a State Department spokesperson said yesterday, while declining to say whether Washington supports Israel carrying out such military operations when it deems necessary. Humeyra Pamuk reports for Reuters.

U.S. bombardment badly damaged, and potentially destroyed, Iran’s deeply buried nuclear enrichment plant at Fordow, according to U.S. officials familiar with a new U.S. intelligence assessment. Two other sites were not as badly damaged and may have been degraded only to a point where nuclear enrichment could resume in the next several months, the officials added. Gordon Lubold, Courtney Kube, Julie Tsirkin, Katherine Doyle, Dan De Luce, and Carol E. Lee report for NBC News.

Iran is making new efforts to arm its militia allies across the Middle East, a pattern of high-value weapons seizures by Syrian, Yemeni, and Lebanese forces shows. Benoit Faucon and Adam Chamseddine report for the Wall Street Journal.

France, the United Kingdom, and Germany yesterday informed Iran that they would restore the U.N. Security Council sanctions on Tehran unless it reopens talks on its nuclear programme immediately and produces concrete results by the end of August. John Irish reports for Reuters."