US News

• Senator Van Hollen and Cardin, both from Maryland introduced the “Service to the Fleet Act,” a $632 million spending bill for the Coast Guard’s Baltimore-based shipyard. Forbes

Russia

• Reuters reported on Wednesday that European officials are in talks on a possible compromise on goods traveling to Kaliningrad, the Russian enclave sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland. AWC
• Russia and Ukraine are reacting to Turkey lifting its weeks-long hold on Finland and Sweden’s NATO bids. Kiev views NATO opening the door for Helsinki and Stockholm as a new chance at entering the alliance. In contrast, Moscow considers the latest round of NATO expansion a threat to Russia. The Institute Newsweek
•  Turkey will seek the extradition of 33 “terror” suspects from Sweden and Finland as a result of a memorandum the three countries signed that supported Helsinki and Stockholm’s NATO bids. AWC
• President Biden has announced plans to bolster forces in Europe with intentions to permanently headquarter U.S. Army V Corps in Poland. The Hill, AWC
• The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, immediately started to reap the rewards for lifting the block on allowing Sweden and Finland to join Nato when the Biden administration said it backed the potential sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey. Guardian, AWC
• Ukraine has announced the largest exchange of prisoners of war since Russia invaded, securing the release of 144 of its soldiers, including 95 who defended the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol. Guardian

China

• As NATO leaders gathered in Madrid on Wednesday, the alliance released its new Strategic Concept document, which said China poses a “systemic challenge to Euro-Atlantic security.” AWC
• The US blacklisted five Chinese companies for allegedly supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine. UPI

Korea

• On the sidelines of the NATO summit in Madrid, President Joe Biden spoke with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol. While the summit’s focus is on Moscow, Washington is taking advantage of the gathering of world leaders to strengthen its military posture against Pyongyang. The Institute 

Middle East

• Israeli operations have inflicted serious losses on Iranian intelligence. AWC
• Unilever, the parent company of Ben & Jerry’s, has sold the ice cream company’s business interests in Israel to an Israeli company, caving to pressure over a planned ban on sales in illegal Israeli settlements. AWC
• Indirect talks between US and Iranian officials in Doha aimed at salvaging the Iran nuclear deal ended without any progress, a senior administration official said. CNN