28-dimensional chess
Ukraine, Russia, Israel, the US, Cyprus, Kosovo, and Nigeria.
Hello,
Here are the five things you need to know today:
UKRAINE. RUSSIA. Witkoff’s plan is unfair, but may well be agreed.
ISRAEL. UNITED STATES. A split within MAGA is now seen in the administration.
CYPRUS. A border meeting cheers Brussels, worries Ankara.
KOSOVO. Gridlock forces a return to the polls.
NIGERIA. US tubthumping exacerbates ethnic tensions.
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UKRAINE. RUSSIA. Forced checkmate
Washington’s plan is unfair, but may well be agreed.
Volodymyr Zelensky said he was ready for “constructive, honest and prompt work” on a 28-point peace plan proposed by Washington, which said Zelensky’s chief national security adviser, Rustem Umerov, had agreed to the “majority” of it.
INTELLIGENCE. The plan has been leaked across the media and reads like a capitulation. The White House’s mention of Umerov, who, alongside chief of staff Andriy Yermak, was rumoured for a sacking this week, puts Zelensky in a bind. He either agrees to it or gets forced out of office. Ukrainians are in uproar over this month’s graft revelations, which the Kremlin, with little self-reflection, has been weaponising almost as effectively as recent gains in the east.
FOR BUSINESS. The US has less leverage than it once did, but a deal matters for Donald Trump, and Zelensky risks an even worse outcome if he doesn’t agree. Most of Europe will be unwilling to make an enemy of Trump by proposing a different plan. And as with Gaza, an imperfect but superficially acceptable arrangement may win the day, if not a Nobel Prize. Russia has acted coy, but its hands are all over it, including a reference to its renewed ‘G8’ membership.
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ISRAEL. UNITED STATES. Pollard apart
A split within MAGA is now seen in the administration.
Convicted double agent Jonathan Pollard met Ambassador Mike Huckabee in July, the New York Times said. Pollard told local media the meeting was leaked by Israel’s enemies to discredit Huckabee. The White House denied knowledge.
INTELLIGENCE. Pollard, an ex-intelligence analyst jailed in 1987 for spying for Israel,