A cloud over Donbas
Ukraine, Russia, the US, China, Mexico, and Sudan.
Hello,
Here are the five things you need to know today:
UKRAINE. RUSSIA. Putin issues nuclear threats as Zelensky holds on.
UNITED STATES. The fiscal impasse causes panic, as it ought.
CHINA. In the wake of Trump’s meeting, Xi still gives little away.
MEXICO. Sheinbaum again rejects US intervention.
SUDAN. A human rights crisis pulls in the region.
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UKRAINE. RUSSIA. Testing times
Putin issues nuclear threats as Zelensky holds on.
Vladimir Putin ordered officials to prepare options for nuclear tests Wednesday in response to Donald Trump’s call to resume testing. Volodymyr Zelensky visited the front near Pokrovsk, where Ukrainian forces are reportedly surrounded.
INTELLIGENCE. Kyiv denies its forces are surrounded, but open-source imagery suggests the Donbas logistics hub has all but fallen. Ukraine is said to have lost some of its best forces in the defence, compounded by a callous attack at an awards ceremony for troops in Dnipropetrovsk. Still, Zelensky has again confounded Putin’s timelines and forced him to attrit more men. As winter nears, this puts the Kremlin’s renewed atomic threats in grim perspective.
FOR BUSINESS. Known to add a psychological cudgel when things go wrong, Putin has threatened tactical nuclear attacks before, as well as made strikes near power stations and shown off new nuclear-capable missiles and drones. Trump’s musings on nuclear tests, since walked back by the administration, have given Putin another sabre to rattle. Calling such bluff is risky but likely the correct response. Trump said Wednesday he had plans for “denuclearisation”.
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UNITED STATES. Shutdown in flames
The fiscal impasse causes panic, as it ought.
Transport Secretary Sean Duffy said Wednesday the shutdown had “nothing” to do with the Louisville plane crash but ordered a 10% cut in flights at 40 airports, citing traffic control concerns. The shutdown became the longest in history.
INTELLIGENCE. The National Transportation Safety Board, whose investigation may