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A curated weekday guide to major national security news and developments over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news.
GROUP OF TWENTY SUMMIT
There need not be a “new Cold War” with China, President Biden said after meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping yesterday on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty (G20) summit. “I’m convinced that he understood exactly what I was saying, and I understood what he was saying,” Biden told reporters after the meeting. He also said he did not believe that a Chinese attack on Taiwan was imminent. Matt Viser, Yasmeen Abutaleb and Christian Shepherd report for the Washington Post.
Indonesia has agreed to significantly reduce its reliance on coal as part of a $20 billion climate finance deal with the U.S., Japan, and other developed countries. The ambitious deal was unveiled at the G20 summit in Bali, following more than a year of negotiations between leaders. As part of the deal, Indonesia has pledged to cap carbon dioxide emissions from its power sector at 290 million and to generate 34 percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2030. Brad Plumer reports for the New York Times.
G20 leaders have agreed to a draft communiqué condemning the war in Ukraine and Moscow’s threats to use nuclear weapons. The language of the draft is stronger than western officials anticipated and underscores rising anxiety in non-western states about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion and its widespread effects. Henry Foy and Mercedes Ruehl report for the Financial Times.
RUSSIA, UKRAINE – U.S. RESPONSE
CIA director William Burns met with this Russian counterpart in Turkey yesterday. During the meeting Burns was expected to warn the director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergey Naryshkin, against using nuclear weapons, the White House said in a statement. The pair were also expected to discuss the cases of detained American citizens, including Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan. Gordon Lubold, Warren P. Strobel and Ann M. Simmons report for the Wall Street Journal.
The U.S. is studying how to modify a powerful drone which has long been requested by Ukraine’s military. The changes to the multi-use Gray Eagle would make the possibility of losing any – with their sensitive onboard technology – less of a danger, potentially increasing the likelihood of Ukraine receiving them. A U.S. official confirmed the efforts, saying that “there’s still real interest in providing this particular system, provided we can make the necessary modifications and they are still useful to Ukraine on the battlefield.” Alex Marquardt reports for CNN.
U.S. intelligence suggests Russia may have delayed announcing its withdrawal from Kherson in part to avoid giving the Biden administration a political win ahead of the midterm elections. Senior Russian officials discussed the U.S. midterms as a factor during deliberations about the withdrawal announcement, one person familiar with the intelligence said. Waiting until after the U.S. election was always a “pre-planned condition” of Russia’s withdrawal from Kherson, according to a second person. The intelligence signals Russia’s continued interest in influencing U.S. politics – although according to those familiar with the intelligence Russia probably overestimated the impact such an announcement would have. Katie Bo Lillis, Zachary Cohen and Natasha Bertrand report for CNN.
The U.S. Treasury Department yesterday imposed sanctions on a network of individuals and companies the U.S. says help procure military equipment for Russia. The Biden administration said the targeting of a Russian electronics company’s foreign supply network would help deny Moscow’s military the technology it needs for the war in Ukraine. The sanctions also target billionaire Sleiman Kerimov’s family and a key Swiss associate accused of money laundering on behalf of the oligarch. Ian Talley reports for the Wall Street Journal.
RUSSIA, UKRAINE – OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
The U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution that calls for Russia to pay war reparations to Ukraine. The resolution on establishing an international mechanism for compensation for damage, loss, and injury, as well as a register to document evidence and claims, was co-sponsored by 50 nations. 94 countries voted in favor of the resolution, 14 voted against, and 74 abstained. UN News Centre reports.
A draft of the U.N. atomic watchdog’s third resolution on the war in Ukraine has been circulated to countries on the agency’s 35-nation Board of Governors. The draft resolution calls on Russia to cease all actions against Ukraine’s nuclear facilities including Zaporizhzhia. Francois Murphy reports for Reuters.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree enabling Russians with dual citizenship to be drafted to serve in Russia’s army. The decree revises the military service regulations adopted in 1999, under which dual nationals were exempted from conscription. The move could significantly bolster Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine. Ann M. Simmons reports for the Wall Street Journal.
U.S. RELATIONS
The U.S. Navy has intercepted a “massive” shipment of explosive material in the Gulf of Oman. The material was transiting from Iran along a route that has been used to traffic weapons to Yemen’s Houthi group. A Saudi-led military coalition battling the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen since 2015 has repeatedly accused Iran of supplying the group with weapons – a charge Tehran denies. Reuters reports.
The U.S. Department of Justice has launched an investigation into the fatal shooting of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, Israel confirmed yesterday. In a post on Twitter, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz condemned the probe as a “grave mistake,” adding that Israel would not cooperate with the investigation. AP reports.
Turkey has accused the U.S. of complicity in the Istanbul terror attack that killed 6 people on Sunday. The accusation, made by Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, was rooted in the longstanding U.S. partnership with the Syrian Democratic Force, a Kurdish-led militia in northeastern Syria formed to battle the Islamic State. Turkey considers the militia to be a branch of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party – a terrorist organization that it believes is behind the recent attack. Ben Hubbard and Safak Timur report for the New York Times.
Officials from six nations spent more than $750,000 at former President Trump’s hotel in Washington, according to documents released yesterday by the House Oversight Committee. The officials from Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, and China spent money at the Trump International Hotel at crucial times for those countries’ relations with the U.S., the documents show. The revelation builds on the public record of how Trump’s hotel brought in millions during his presidency from foreign governments seeking to influence his administration. Luke Broadwater and Eric Lipton report for the New York Times.
MAR-A-LAGO DOCUMENTS
The Justice Department has asked a special master to reject former President Trump’s claims that he owns some of the documents seized from Mar-a-Lago and can invoke executive privilege to bar criminal investigators from looking at them. However, lawyers for Trump maintain his power to declare documents as his personal property and to keep files from his presidency secret from the Biden-era executive branch. These opposing views were released in clashing briefs which were partially unsealed yesterday. The briefs were submitted to Judge Raymond J. Dearie, the special master, who must now write a report recommending whether each of the files Trump took to Mar-a-Lago are government or personal property and whether any are protected by attorney-client or executive privilege. Charlie Savage and Alan Feuer report for the New York Times.
Federal agents and prosecutors believe Trump’s decision to take and keep classified documents was largely motivated by ego, according to people familiar with the matter. A review of the documents recovered from Mar-a-Lago by federal authorities has not revealed any apparent business advantage to the types of classified information in Trump’s possession, the people said. FBI interviews with witnesses so far also do not point to any efforts by Trump to leverage, sell or use the government secrets. Devlin Barrett and Josh Dawsey report for the Washington Post.
JAN. 6 ATTACK
The Supreme Court paved the way yesterday for the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack to obtain the phone records of Kelli Ward, chair of the Arizona Republican Party. The court rejected Ward’s argument that her First Amendment political rights shield her from congressional investigatory powers, and in a brief order denied her request to stay lower-court decisions upholding the subpoena from the Jan. 6 committee. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito said they would have granted Ward’s request. Jess Bravin reports for the Wall Street Journal.
The FBI had as many as eight informants inside the far-right Proud Boys in the months surrounding the Jan. 6 attack, recent court papers have indicated. The existence of the informants came to light in filings by defense lawyers for five members of the Proud Boys who are set to go on trial next month on seditious conspiracy charges and raises questions about how much federal investigators could have learned from them about the attack both before and after it took place. Alan Feuer and Adam Goldman report for the New York Times.
The Chair of the Jan. 6 committee said yesterday that the panel may consider a contempt of Congress referral against former President Trump. In an interview, Representative Bennie Thompson (D-MS) said the committee was evaluating its next steps after Trump failed to appear for a scheduled deposition. However, the panel first needs to consider how it will address the lawsuit Trump filed against them on Friday, he added. Trump’s lawsuit seeks to block the committee’s subpoena requiring him to testify and hand over documents related to the effort to overturn the 2020 election. Luke Broadwater reports for the New York Times.
OTHER DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
22-year-old student, Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. has been charged with fatally shooting three other students at the University of Virginia. 2 students were also injured in the attack, which took place on Sunday evening. Campbell Robertson, Jacey Fortin, Stephanie Saul and Remy Tumin report for the New York Times.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
Iran’s revolutionary court has sentenced an anti-government protestor to death in relation to the recent uprisings stemming from the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. The protester was accused of setting a government building on fire and charged with “war against God” and “corruption on earth,” as well as acting against national security. A separate branch of Iran’s revolutionary court sentenced five other unnamed defendants to up to 10 years in prison for violating national security and disrupting public order. Annabelle Timsit and Miriam Berger report for the Washington Post.
The Taliban has ordered judges in Afghanistan to fully impose their interpretation of Sharia Law. When the group was last in power from 1996 to 2001 its hardline implementation of the doctrine included violent punishments, such as public executions, stoning, floggings, and amputations. Experts fear the recent move will lead to a further deterioration of human rights in the country. Sahar Akbarzai, Shafi Kakar and Rhea Mogul report for CNN.
The U.K. and France have signed a new agreement to stem the number of migrants crossing the channel between them in small boats. Under the agreement, the U.K. will pay France 72.2 million euros ($74.5 million) over 2022 and 2023, and in turn, France will increase security patrols on its northern beaches by 40 percent, the countries said in a joint statement. The arrival of small boats to Britain has become a focus of discontent among supporters of the governing Conservative Party and has been at the center of contentious diplomacy between the U.K. and France. Megan Specia and Aurelien Breeden report for the New York Times.
COVID-19
COVID-19 has infected over 97.997 million people and has now killed over 1.07 million people in the United States, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Globally, there have been over 635.235 million confirmed coronavirus cases and over 6.61 million deaths. Sergio Hernandez, Sean O’Key, Amanda Watts, Byron Manley and Henrik Pettersson report for CNN.
A map and analysis of all confirmed cases of the virus in the U.S. is available at the New York Times.
U.S. and worldwide maps tracking the spread of the pandemic are available at the Washington Post.