WORLD BRIEFING: June 21, 2024
The US appears to have expanded its agreement with Ukraine to strike over the border inside Russian territory wherever Russian forces are engaging in cross-border attacks into Ukraine, not just in the Kharkiv region as was previously determined. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told PBS News on Monday that the agreement with Ukraine to fire into Russia extends wherever Russian forces are attempting to invade. “It extends to anywhere that Russian forces are coming across the border from the Russian side to the Ukrainian side to try to take additional Ukrainian territory,” Sullivan said, adding that it’s “not about geography. It’s about common sense.” Pentagon spokesman Maj. Charlie Dietz said in a statement that the US “has agreed to allow Ukraine to fire US-provided weapons into Russia across where Russian forces are coming to attempt to take Ukrainian territory….If Russia is attacking or about to attack from its territory into Ukraine, it only makes sense to allow Ukraine to hit back against the forces that are hitting it from across the border,” Dietz said. - CNN
My analysis: This is a game changing and unexpected shift in U.S. foreign policy towards Ukraine. It’s sure to anger the Kremlin but is already being cheered here in Ukraine. In a wider perspective, this is an example of western leaders - many of whom face defeat in upcoming elections - future-proofing Ukraine against a possible Trump administration and other right-leaning politicians.
The US is pausing the delivery of Patriot interceptor missiles to other nations so it can fast-track orders for Ukraine to bolster its air defences against Russian attacks. US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby on Thursday confirmed that the US had made the “difficult but necessary decision” to prioritise delivering Patriot and NASAM missiles to Ukraine, delaying deliveries to other countries that had purchased them so that Kyiv can maintain its stockpiles “at a key moment in the war.” He added: “We’re going to reprioritise the deliveries of these exports so that those missiles rolling off the production line will now be provided to Ukraine,” he added, saying the shipments were expected to begin in the late summer. “This . . . demonstrates our commitment to supporting our partners when they’re in existential danger,” Kirby said. The decision to bring Kyiv to the front of the production queue, as reported by the Financial Times earlier on Thursday, follows President Joe Biden saying last week that he had secured commitments for the delivery of additional air defence systems to Ukraine. Biden said several nations had agreed to send Patriot and other air defence systems to Kyiv, and that other countries expecting deliveries would have to wait because “everything we have is going to go to Ukraine until their needs are met”. - FT
Russia has accelerated its destruction of Ukraine's front-line cities in 2024 to a scale previously unseen in the war using the glide bombs and an expanding network of airstrips, according to an Associated Press analysis of drone footage, satellite imagery, Ukrainian documents and Russian photos. The results can be seen in the intensity of recent Russian attacks. It took a year for Russia to obliterate Bakhmut, where the bombs were first used. That was followed by destruction in Avdiivka that took months. Then, only weeks were needed to do the same in Vovchansk and Chasiv Yar, according to images analyzed by AP that showed the smoldering ruins of both cities. Now, Russia is putting the finishing touches on yet another airstrip less than 60 miles (100 kilometers) from Ukraine and launching the bombs routinely from multiple bases just inside Russian borders, according to the AP analysis of satellite pictures and photos from a Russian aviation Telegram channel. The bombing of the Epicenter in Kharkiv killed 19 people, including two children. In all, glide bombs have hit the city more than 50 times this year, according to Spartak Borysenko of the Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office.
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Ukraine First Lady, Olena Zelenska, has told The Daily Telegraph that she had come close to burnout as she struggled to cope with the magnitude of Putin’s war while maintaining a brave face for her country and her children. “There are moments where I feel I am close to psychological burnout and I understand that I need rest…I try to use the moment effectively, because sometimes when we think we have rest, we don’t.” Spending each night alone, she confessed to occasions where she had woken in the middle of the night feeling like she was struggling to cope – the only reprieve being that her children had not seen her in this state.“Those were the most horrifying moments and it’s good it happened at night because none of my children saw it because I always have to be a source of confidence for them,” she admitted. “Children always look up to their parents and they need to know that everything is going to be ok.”
The outgoing Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, has won the race to become the next head of Nato at a perilous moment for the western alliance, after his only rival withdrew his bid. The long-serving Dutch leader is expected to be confirmed formally as Nato’s secretary general in the coming days and take over when the incumbent head, Jens Stoltenberg, steps down on 1 October after nearly a decade in charge. - The Guardian
Russia and Vietnam have pledged to strengthen ties, as Vladimir Putin made a state visit to Hanoi that was intended to signal his country still has allies in the region. The Russian president arrived at Hanoi airport in the early hours of Thursday, and was met on a red carpet by the Vietnamese deputy prime minister Tran Hong Ha and the top party diplomat Le Hoai Trung. Speaking to reporters in Vietnam at the end of his two-day trip, he said he did not rule out sending high precision weapons to North Korea and accused Nato of creating a security threat to Russia in Asia.The Vietnamese president, To Lam, had earlier said his country and Russia wanted “to push up cooperation in defence and security, how to deal with non-traditional security challenges on the basis of international law, for peace and security in the region and the world”. Lam and Putin signed 11 memorandums for cooperation in areas including civil nuclear projects, energy and petrol cooperation, education and disease prevention. Putin told reporters the talks were constructive and that both sides had “identical or very close” positions on key international issues. He said they discussed creating “an adequate and reliable security architecture in Asia-Pacific based on the principles of not resorting to force, and of resolving differences peacefully”. In an opinion piece to coincide with his visit, published in Vietnam’s Communist party newspaper Nhan Dan, Putin listed progress on payments, energy and trade between the countries, and applauded Vietnam for supporting “a pragmatic way to solve the crisis” in Ukraine. Vietnam has repeatedly abstained in UN general assembly votes relating to Russia’s war in Ukraine. - The Guardian
My analysis: after more than two years of a grueling war that’s slowed the Russian economy and further isolated the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin realizes he needs to keep the friends he has. Cash-starved North Korea is set to gain some $1bn from the sale of artillery shells to Russia and millions more from rocket sales (which are already being fired into Ukraine). But it’s doubtful the new but vaguely-worded security agreement signed in Pyongyang will lead to DPRK soldiers fighting on the side of Russia in Ukraine. As for Vietnam-Russia relations? Don’t expect a change of course for a nation that prefers bamboo diplomacy - bending with geopolitics currents and keeping a relatively neutral posture.
Hundreds of people are thought to have died amid soaring temperatures at the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. Those who have perished come from more than two dozen countries, with most fatalities from Egypt. The BBC’s Sally Nabil visited one village there which has lost more than 20 people. Many Egyptian pilgrims come from poor villages. They spend their life savings on the spiritual journey to the holiest city in Islam. Effendiya, a 70-year-old mother of five from the northern province of Menoufiya, sold her jewellery to pay for her trip, her youngest son Sayyed tells me, but died while performing her rituals. Effendiya, a widow, went to Mecca on a tourist visa, not on an official Hajj visa. She was among hundreds of thousands of unregistered pilgrims who hoped to fulfil their religious obligation this year without obtaining special Hajj permits. Saudi authorities considered these unofficial visits a violation of their regulations. But the process of obtaining official Hajj permits can sometimes become costly or complicated. - BBC
China on Friday issued guidelines on imposing criminal punishment on "diehard Taiwan independence" separatists for conducting or inciting secession, state news agency Xinhua reported. China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, has stepped up pressure on the island after the inauguration last month of Lai Ching-te as president, a man Beijing despises as a "separatist", including staging war games shortly after he took office. The new guidelines say China's courts, prosecutors, public and state security bodies should "severely punish Taiwan independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession crimes in accordance with the law, and resolutely defend national sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity". - Straits Times
The embattled new CEO and publisher of The Washington Post advised former British leader Boris Johnson and other senior Downing Street officials to “clean up” their phones during the COVID party scandal that contributed to Johnson’s downfall, according to a report. Will Lewis, who has faced scrutiny over his alleged involvement in cleaning up a phone hacking scandal at Rupert Murdoch’s U.K. tabloids (Lewis denies all wrongdoing), allegedly gave the advice in December 2021 and January 2022 during the so-called “partygate” scandal that engulfed the British government during the pandemic, sources told The Guardian. At the time, Lewis was reportedly working as an informal adviser to Johnson—who was widely condemned over parties at No. 10 that breached lockdown restrictions at the time. Sources told The Guardian Lewis’ alleged guidance was understood as advice to remove images and messages from their devices which “could be damaging in any investigations.” A spokesperson for Lewis told the newspaper that its story is “categorically untrue,” while a spokesperson for Johnson similarly described the story as “untrue.” - Daily Beast
