WORLD BRIEFING: August 17, 2024
Ukraine has destroyed a strategically important bridge over the river Seym, as it continues its incursion into Russia's Kursk region. Russian officials have been quoted as saying the operation near the town of Glushkovo has cut off part of the local district. The bridge was used by the Kremlin to supply its troops and its destruction could hamper their efforts. President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian troops were strengthening their positions in Kursk, and called the captured territories an exchange fund, implying they could be swapped for Ukrainian regions occupied by Moscow.
Russian troops are closing in on the strategic eastern Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk, according to open-source battlefield maps, casting doubts on Ukraine’s hopes that its new offensive into western Russia will prompt Moscow to scale back its attacks elsewhere on the battlefield. After capturing several villages in the area and pushing along a railway line, Russian forces are now about eight miles from Pokrovsk, one of Ukraine’s main defensive strongholds in the Donetsk region, according to the maps, which are based on combat footage and satellite images. The capture of the city would bring Russia a step closer to its long-held goal of seizing the entire Donetsk region, much of which it already controls. Pokrovsk, a city with a prewar population of about 60,000, sits on a key road linking several cities that form a defensive arc protecting the part of Donetsk that is still held by Ukraine. The situation is so dire that the city’s military administration has urged residents to leave, although it has not issued a formal order. “The enemy is rapidly approaching the outskirts of Pokrovsk,” Serhii Dobriak, the head of the military administration, said on Thursday. “Evacuation is underway in the community. Don’t delay!”- NYT
Ukraine and Russia were set to send delegations to Doha this month to negotiate a landmark agreement halting strikes on energy and power infrastructure on both sides, diplomats and officials familiar with the discussions said, in what would have amounted to a partial cease-fire and offered a reprieve for both countries. But the indirect talks, with the Qataris serving as mediators and meeting separately with the Ukrainian and Russian delegations, were derailed by Ukraine’s surprise incursion into Russia’s western Kursk region last week, according to the officials. The possible agreement and planned summit have not been previously reported. Some involved in the negotiations hoped they could lead to a more comprehensive agreement to end the war, according to the officials who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive diplomacy. A diplomat briefed on the talks said Russian officials postponed their meeting with Qatari officials after Ukraine’s incursion into western Russia. Moscow’s delegation described it as “an escalation,” the diplomat said, adding that Kyiv did not warn Doha about its cross-border offensive. Russia “didn’t call off the talks, they said give us time,” the diplomat said. Though Ukraine wanted to send its delegation to Doha anyway, the person said, Qatar declined because it did not see a one-sided meeting as beneficial. The small Arab country has positioned itself as a powerful mediator in recent years and has hosted ongoing talks aimed at ending the war in Gaza. - Washington Post
Joe Biden has said he is "optimistic" that a Gaza ceasefire deal can be reached. “We are closer than we’ve ever been," the US president said following the latest round of talks, adding he was sending his secretary of state to Israel to continue the "intensive efforts to conclude this agreement". Amid concerns that Iran may launch an attack on Israel for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Mr Biden said "no-one in the region should take actions to undermine this process". Hamas has expressed scepticism about the chances of a deal. And without mentioning the possibility of a ceasefire, Israel said it "appreciates the efforts of the US and the mediators to dissuade Hamas from its refusal to a hostage release deal". - BBC
Thailand’s parliament voted on Friday for Paetongtarn Shinawatra to become the country’s youngest prime minister, thrusting another member of the kingdom’s most famed and divisive political dynasty into the top job. The vote to install the 37-year-old daughter of ousted former leader Thaksin Shinawatra came two days after Thailand’s Constitutional Court removed another prime minister from office, in a surprise decision that plunged the kingdom into further political uncertainty and raised fresh concern over the erosion of democratic rights. Paetongtarn won 319 votes in the House of Representatives, after being nominated as the sole candidate by her Pheu Thai party’s ruling coalition to replace outgoing prime minister Srettha Thavisin. She still needs to be endorsed by King Maha Vajiralongkorn before she can officially take office and appoint a Cabinet. - CNN
