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Welcome to the Daily News Brief, CFR’s flagship morning newsletter summarizing the top global news and analysis of the day.
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Top of the Agenda
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U.S. President Donald Trump concluded this week's NATO summit with praise for the alliance after member countries pledged to increase defense spending—and for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who Trump accused earlier this year of holding up peace. The meeting with Zelenskyy capped Trump’s final engagements at the NATO summit. “I left here differently,” Trump told reporters. “These people really love their countries. It’s not a rip-off, and we’re here to help them.”
The details. Trump and Zelenskyy spoke for almost an hour—up from their fifteen minute discussion when they last met in person on the sidelines of Pope Francis’s funeral, their relationship having soured at an Oval Office meeting in February. Zelenskyy said this conversation was “long and substantive,” while Trump said it “couldn’t have been nicer.”
- Trump did not rule out issuing a new tranche of military aid to Ukraine when questioned by reporters after the meeting.
- Trump said he would look into the possibility of providing Ukraine with new Patriot missiles, an important part of the country’s air defense. Zelenskyy wrote on social media that the two had discussed “the potential for co-production of drones.”
- Trump acknowledged that talks to end the war were proving “more difficult than anyone had thought.” He called Russian President Vladimir Putin “more difficult” and said Putin “really has to end that war.”
The backdrop.
- On the battlefield, Zelenskyy’s appeal for more military support comes as Russia attempts to carry out a summer offensive. Ukraine has reported progress rebuffing those efforts; today Ukraine’s top general said Ukrainian forces halted Russian troops in the northern region of Sumy. Kyiv has also contested Moscow’s claim that it had fully retaken Russia’s Kursk region following a Ukrainian incursion.
- NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said at the summit that the entire alliance is “totally committed” to backing Kyiv in its fight and ensuring any potential peace deal is durable. “I think there will still be a huge, big American involvement,” he said. Still, this year’s summit declaration omitted language that appeared last year supporting Ukraine’s future in NATO.
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“The Trump administration needs to abandon the pretense that it is a mediator in the Russia-Ukraine war. The United States is not an outsider whose only interest lies in seeing the carnage end. Like its European allies and partners, it has a huge stake in the outcome…Washington should adopt the position of the leader of the West, engaged in close consultation with its partners and allies. That will not preclude constructive dialogue with Russia, as relations during the Cold War amply demonstrate, nor does it mean the United States cannot play a critical role in bridging the chasm between Russia’s and Ukraine’s security demands..”
—CFR Distinguished Fellow Thomas Graham in a Ukraine Policy Brie
Across the Globe
U.S.-Iran diplomacy. Washington and Tehran will hold talks next week, Trump said yesterday. He cautioned that the talks might not result in a new nuclear agreement but that “we want no nuclear.” Iran did not immediately confirm plans for talks, though U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said the two countries had been in touch in recent days. In a video released today, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei congratulated Iranians for what he called a victory over Israel and the United States in the recent conflict, saying “nothing significant” had come of U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
Pullout from vaccine initiative. U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said Washington will suspend contributions to Gavi, an international vaccine alliance, claiming it was not following scientific practices. Gavi rejected those accusations, saying its “utmost concern is the safety and health of children.” The United States currently funds around 13 percent of the agency, which helps buy vaccines for children in low-income countries.
New UK fighter jets. The United Kingdom (UK) plans to buy U.S.-made F-35A warplanes that can carry tactical nuclear weapons, giving its air force the capability to deploy such weapons for the first time since the end of the Cold War. The UK’s already existing nuclear arsenal is designed to be launched from submarines. The announcement could allow for U.S. nuclear weapons to be stored on UK soil for the first time since 2008.
Iran’s internal crackdown. Iran’s government executed three people on Wednesday accused of spying for Israel, and Iranian authorities have arrested more than seven hundred people in recent days, reports from semi-official news agencies said. The crackdown comes after Israeli media aired footage that appeared to show Israeli agents firing weapons from inside Iran during the recent war. Human rights groups have warned that Iranian authorities could sweep up innocent people; Iran’s embassy in London did not immediately comment.
Flight to space station. A four-person flight arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) today that included the first Hungarian, Indian, and Polish astronauts to visit the research center. The three governments sponsored the flight, which was run by private U.S. space company Axiom. A retired NASA astronaut was its commander.
Deadly protests in Kenya. At least sixteen people died and hundreds more were injured after protesters clashed with police during demonstrations Wednesday. The protests were intended to commemorate the one-year anniversary of tax-hike protests that also turned deadly. The casualties were counted by Kenya’s national commission on human rights, Amnesty International said. Kenya’s government ordered broadcasters not to cover the protests live.
Indonesia’s green investments. The Indonesia Investment Authority, one of the country’s sovereign wealth funds, aims to grow its renewable energy investments from 12 percent to as much as 20 percent of its portfolio by the end of this year, its CEO told Nikkei at an energy summit. The top investment officer of Danatara, another sovereign wealth fund launched earlier this year, said it hopes to invest in upgrades to the country’s electric grid.
U.S. targets Mexican firms. The U.S. Treasury Department accused three well-known Mexican financial services firms of facilitating payments for fentanyl trafficking, and announced they would be banned from certain interactions with the U.S. financial system. Mexico’s Treasury Ministry said it had asked Washington for details of the accusations but that it did not immediately receive evidence. The sanctions are the Treasury Department’s first actions under new authorities from a law against fentanyl smuggling enacted last year.