US News

• The former CIA officer, Brian Jeffrey Raymond, is accused of sexually assaulting 20 incapacitated women, but the case against him could fall apart because of the botched execution of the search warrant by the State and Justice Departments. NBC News
• The debt ceiling agreement reached between the White House and House Republicans places no constraints on spending on the war in Ukraine, a White House official told Bloomberg. AWC

Europe

• The US ambassador to Kosovo, Jeffrey Hovenier, announced Tuesday that Washington was kicking Pristina out of the US-led Defender Europe military exercises over its treatment of the ethnic Serb population of northern Kosovo. AWC
• The US flew two B1-B bombers over Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday in a show of force meant as a warning to Milorad Dodik, the leader of the semi-autonomous Serb republic within Bosnia, known as Republika Srpska. AWC

Russia

• A Ukrainian official this week was pushing for a stronger commitment from NATO during the annual GLOBSEC forum in Bratislava, Slovakia. AWC
• As a condition for ending the war, an aide to President Volodymyr Zelensky has demanded Russia remove its military forces along its border with Ukraine. The Institute
• As NATO looms ever larger as a major actor in global affairs in the wake of the war in Ukraine, the lack of transparency that characterizes its long-range military planning processes poses a serious challenge to democratic oversight. RS
• The Biden administration announced on Wednesday a new $300 million weapons package for Ukraine that includes Stinger anti-aircraft systems and ammunition for Patriot air defenses and the HIMARS rocket systems. AWC
• French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that NATO should offer “concrete and tangible security guarantees” to Ukraine as the alliance is debating what to offer Kyiv at a NATO summit that will be held in Vilnius this July. AWC
• Ukraine and its Western backers are planning to hold an international summit to increase support for Kyiv’s terms for a settlement to the conflict with Russia, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. AWC
• As relations between Russia and Germany continue to spiral downward amid the war in Ukraine, the two nations engaged in tit for tat moves closing down consulates and limiting the number of diplomatic personnel in each country, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday. The Institute 
• The North Atlantic alliance began military drills hosted by Finland just miles from the Russian border. An American defense official said the war games show the bloc’s commitment to the newest member of NATO. The Institute 
• The commander of the Czech Republic’s armed forces said the North Atlantic alliance and Russia are on the path to a direct war. The general described the potential war as the “worst-case scenario” but emphasized that it remains a distinct possibility.  The Institute 
• The Russian embassy in the UK on Wednesday slammed London over British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly’s comments about Ukrainian attacks inside Russia. AWC

China

• The State Department said Wednesday that a shipment of US-made Stinger anti-aircraft missiles that arrived in Taiwan last week was part of a $223.56 arms sale to Taipei that was approved in 2019. AWC
• US Indo-Pacific command on Tuesday claimed a Chinese fighter jet conducted an “unprofessional intercept” of a US spy plane over the South China Sea, an area where the US has increased its military presence in recent years. AWC

Middle East

• Abu Dhabi has halted its involvement with a Washington-led coalition aimed at preventing Iranian ship seizures in the Middle East. The UAE disclosed the decision the day after the Wall Street Journal reported growing discord between Abu Dhabi and Washington over the region’s lack of American military assets. The Institute 
• Brett McGurk, the top Middle East official on the National Security Council, recently made an unannounced trip to Oman to discuss potential diplomatic outreach with Iran over its nuclear program, Axios reported Tuesday. AWC