“An American contractor held hostage in Afghanistan for more than two years by the Taliban has been released, his family said Monday, as a Taliban drug lord jailed by the United States was also freed and returned to Kabul,” the AP reports.
Putin’s Energy War With Europe Seems to Falter
Wall Street Journal: “Vladimir Putin’s economic campaign to force European governments to abandon support for Ukraine by sharply curbing their natural-gas supplies looks to be faltering as gas prices fall, Russian government finances deteriorate and the continent sets plans to ease the pressure on households and businesses.”
“Russia isn’t yet sure to lose this economic fight. But a growing consensus among officials, energy specialists and economists suggests that, although Russian actions will cause serious hardship in many places, Mr. Putin will likely fail and that Europe should ride out the winter without running out of gas. Once this winter is over, Mr. Putin’s sway over Europe’s energy supplies will have withered critically, they say.”
Biden Says U.S. Troops Would Defend Taiwan
“President Biden has again confirmed that U.S. troops would defend Taiwan in the event of an attack from China, the clearest recent statement Biden has made about how far the United States would go to support Taiwan militarily,” the Washington Post reports.
Biden Warns Putin Over Nuclear Weapons
President Biden warned Russian President Vladimir Putin not to use chemical or tactical nuclear weapons in the war against Ukraine or there would be a “consequential” response from the United States, Axios reports.
Russia Likely to Step Up Civilian Attacks
“Russian shelling hit cities and towns across a wide stretch of Ukraine during the night, officials said Sunday, while the British Defense Ministry warned that Russia is likely to increase its attacks on civilian targets as it suffers battlefield defeats,” the AP reports.
India Joins China in Distancing From Russia
“Underlining Russia’s widening isolation on the world stage, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India told President Vladimir Putin on Friday that it is no time for war — even as the Russian president threatened to escalate the brutality of his campaign in Ukraine,” the New York Times reports.
“The televised critique by Mr. Modi at a regional summit in Uzbekistan came just a day after Mr. Putin acknowledged that Xi Jinping, China’s leader, had ‘questions and concerns’ about the war.”
“Taken together, the distancing from Mr. Putin by the heads of the world’s two most populous countries — both of which have been pivotal to sustaining Russia’s economy in the face of Western sanctions — punctured the Kremlin’s message that Russia was far from a global pariah.”
Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated the US claim that Russia is committing war crimes in Ukraine.
Pressure on Russian Forces Mounts
“Western defense officials and analysts on Saturday said they believed the Russian forces were setting up a new defensive line in Ukraine’s northeast after Kyiv’s troops broke through the previous one and tried to press their advances further into the east,” the AP reports.
Bloomberg reports Vladimir Putin “threatened to step up attacks on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure, vowing to continue his invasion after his forces suffered some of their worst reverses in the seven-month-old campaign.”
Iran’s Supreme Leader Cancels Public Appearances
“Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, canceled all meetings and public appearances last week after falling gravely ill and is currently on bed rest under observation by a team of doctors, according to four people familiar with his health situation,” the New York Times reports.
Biden Takes a Big Swing on the World Stage
“The midterms may be closely approaching. But Joe Biden’s focus, for the next week at least, will be firmly on matters overseas,” Politico reports.
“The president returns to the international stage over the next few days to pay tribute to allies and exhort democracies — amid an audience where he arguably shines brighter than he does at home — before making that shift into a midterm political blitz.”
“With the success of Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russia providing an inspiring backdrop, Biden will take his case to the United Nations next week, urging for the world to rebel against Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked war. And before that, he heads to the United Kingdom for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. He will pay tribute to the long-reigning monarch who, as a teenage princess in World War II, did her own part to stand up to a dictator.”
Griner and Whelan Families to Meet Biden
“President Joe Biden plans to meet at the White House on Friday with family members of WNBA star Brittney Griner and Michigan corporate security executive Paul Whelan, both of whom remain jailed in Russia,” the AP reports.
FBI Agent Under Scrutiny for Ties to Russia
“A former high-level FBI agent who was involved in the investigation into the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russia during the 2016 election has himself come under scrutiny by federal prosecutors for his ties with Russia and other foreign governments,” Insider reports.
“Late last year, US attorneys secretly convened a grand jury that examined the conduct of Charles McGonigal, the former head of counterintelligence at the FBI field office in New York City… A witness subpoena seems to indicate that the government, in part, was looking into McGonigal’s business dealings with a top aide to Oleg Deripaska, the billionaire Russian oligarch who was at the center of allegations that Russia colluded with the Trump campaign to interfere in the 2016 election.”
Xi and Putin Hold First Meeting Since Ukraine Invasion
China’s President Xi Jinping met with Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Axios reports.
“Xi is aiming to bolster his standing as a geopolitical statesman in his first trip outside China since early in the Covid-19 pandemic before October’s Communist Party leaders’ meeting, when he’s expected to secure a third term in office.”
Zelensky in Car Crash
“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s car collided with another vehicle early Thursday after a battlefield visit, but he was not seriously injured,” the AP reports.
U.S. Considers Sanctions After Salman Rushdie Attack
“The Biden administration is considering sanctions targeting entities linked to Iran for encouraging attacks on Salman Rushdie, people familiar with the matter say, after the acclaimed novelist was stabbed last month at a New York event,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The sanctions under consideration include restricting the access of these entities to the global financial system… Some of them have offered rewards to kill Mr. Rushdie, which the U.S. believes motivates such attacks.”
Prepare for Russia Itself to Disintegrate
Retired Gen. Ben Hodges, writing in The Telegraph:
“It is becoming increasingly clear that Ukraine is going to win this war and that the Kremlin faces a historic crisis of confidence. Indeed, I now believe it is a genuine possibility that Vladimir Putin’s exposed weaknesses are so severe that we might be witnessing the beginning of the end – not only of his regime, but of the Russian Federation itself.”
“This vast empire encompassing more than 120 ethnic groups is on an unsustainable footing, and like that famous Hemingway quote, its collapse may be gradual at first but could quickly become a sudden, violent and uncontrollable event. If we fail to prepare for this possibility in the way that we failed to prepare for the collapse of the Soviet Union, it could introduce immense instability to our geopolitics.”
Biden Picks Next Ambassador to Russia
“The Biden administration is planning to nominate Lynne Tracy, a career diplomat, as the next ambassador to Russia,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“If her nomination is formally announced and confirmed by the Senate, Ms. Tracy, currently the U.S. ambassador to Armenia, would replace John Sullivan, who was appointed under the Trump administration and left this month.”
Zelensky Visits Newly Reclaimed City
“President Volodymyr Zelensky made a dramatic visit to newly recaptured Izium on Wednesday, raising the Ukrainian flag over the strategic city and underscoring the failure of Russia’s campaign in the northeast,” the New York Times reports.
Putin Rejected Peace Deal as War Began
“Vladimir Putin’s chief envoy on Ukraine told the Russian leader as the war began that he had struck a provisional deal with Kyiv that would satisfy Russia’s demand that Ukraine stay out of NATO, but Putin rejected it and pressed ahead with his military campaign,” Reuters reports.
“The Ukrainian-born envoy, Dmitry Kozak, told Putin that he believed the deal he had hammered out removed the need for Russia to pursue a large-scale occupation of Ukraine, according to these sources. Kozak’s recommendation to Putin to adopt the deal is being reported by Reuters for the first time.”
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