Russia

• According to US European Command, a US Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone collided with a Russian Su-27 fighter jet, an incident that risks a major escalation of the tensions between Washington and Moscow. AWC
• A senior Ukrainian government official told The Washington Post that Kyiv doesn’t have the resources to pull off a big counteroffensive in the coming months as Ukraine is lacking skilled troops, munitions, and other equipment. AWC
• The Kremlin said Monday that Russia’s goals in Ukraine can only be achieved through military means at the moment and ruled out the idea that peace talks were possible. AWC
• Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Tuesday that it’s becoming more likely that Finland will be able to join NATO without Sweden as Turkey has more outstanding issues with Stockholm. AWC
• On Tuesday, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Warsaw could give Ukraine Soviet-made MiG-29 fighter jets within four to six weeks, a step that would mark a significant escalation in NATO support for Kyiv. AWC
• The Pentagon’s 2024 budget request places focus on munitions production as shipping tens of billions of dollars worth of military equipment to Ukraine has depleted US ammunition stockpiles. AWC

China

• Robert O’Brien, Donald Trump’s former National Security Advisor, has said that the US would destroy Taiwan’s advanced semiconductor manufacturing facilities if China launched a successful invasion of the island. AWC
• Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for the first time since the Russian invasion of Ukraine was launched, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday. AWC
• China on Sunday named its new defense minister, Li Shangfu, a general who has been under US sanctions since 2018 for overseeing China’s purchase of Russian military equipment. AWC
• On Monday, the US, Britain, and Australia unveiled their plans to develop nuclear-powered submarines under AUKUS, a military pact the three countries signed in September 2021 to coordinate on advanced military technology against China. AWC
• The US and the Philippines will conduct their largest-ever annual military exercises together in April amid heightened tensions with China, Reuters reported Tuesday. AWC
• The Chinese Foreign Ministry warned Tuesday that the US, Britain, and Australia are going down a “dangerous path” with the AUKUS military pact after the three nations unveiled their nuclear-powered submarine plans. AWC

Syria

• Two rockets were fired at a US base in an occupied oil field in eastern Syria on Monday, according to US Central Command (CENTCOM). AWC

Africa

• The State Department says Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Ethiopia to  “help consolidate that peace” but cautioned that the US-Ethiopian relationship was not ready to go “back to normal.” France 24
• An attack left 19 people dead in the Congo. The Allied Democratic Forces are suspected to have carried out the massacre. AP