Russia
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has come out in favor of Ukraine joining the North Atlantic alliance but remains firmly opposed to Sweden joining the bloc. The policy puts Ankara at odds with Washington, who supports Stockholm joining the alliance but not Kiev. The Institute
- President Biden said Friday that Ukraine won’t be brought into NATO anytime soon but said he was willing to give Kyiv support similar to what the US provides Israel. AWC
- President Biden’s decision to arm Ukraine with cluster bombs has sparked rare Democratic criticism of his proxy war with Russia, and some of the US’s top NATO allies have also spoken out against the move. AWC
- Richard Haas, a former US diplomat and former President of the Council on Foreign Relations, has defended a meeting he held with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that was first reported by NBC News last week. AWC
- President Biden on Friday defended his decision to arm Ukraine with cluster bombs, which are banned by over 100 nations because they are exceptionally harmful to civilians. AWC
- Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has urged Ukraine not to employ US-provided cluster bombs in its war against Russia, pointing to the US legacy of cluster munition use in his country as a warning. AWC
China
- A senior State Department official said Friday that the US was looking at building relationships with Southeast Asian nations to “push back” against China in the South China Sea. AWC
