Hello,
Here are the five things you need to know today:
UKRAINE. RUSSIA. A series of trilaterals is just what Putin wants.
GERMANY. The AfD comes short of a majority in Saxony-Anhalt.
IRAN. Tehran expands its theatre of maritime attacks.
ISRAEL. TURKEY. Tensions rise between erstwhile US allies.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. Claims of AGI land within the IPO window.
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UKRAINE. RUSSIA. Tourist trap
A series of trilaterals is just what Putin wants.
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited Kyiv Sunday, a day after meetings in Moscow. Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine was ready for trilateral talks with the US and Russia. The Kremlin said it was ready for a trilateral with the US and China.
INTELLIGENCE. Whatever the format, more talks are less likely to bring an end to war than an extension of Washington’s forbearance. And with Witkoff at least, on his eighth visit to Moscow but his first to Kyiv, US patience has been generous, despite Russia’s aid to Iran and threats to NATO. Vladimir Putin’s investment chief, Kirill Dmitriev, met Witkoff and Kushner at the airport. Kushner would later present to Kyiv that it was all just like a business deal.
FOR BUSINESS. Soon after Kushner finished validating Putin’s “aspirations”, strikes resumed on Odesa, and Russia’s foreign minister accused Germany of starting “a real war” by attributing last month’s Leipzig drone incident to Moscow. US negotiators may see it all just “incredible stories and memories” but to NATO allies, Russia’s advances in Ukraine, and threats beyond, are existential. If another meeting is to be held, Europe will demand it’s a quadrilateral.
GERMANY. Agro-Saxons
The AfD comes short of a majority in Saxony-Anhalt.
The far-right Alternative für Deutschland won 39 of 83 seats in the state assembly of Saxony-Anhalt Sunday, on 43.8% of the vote. State party leader Ulrich Siegmund described Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz as his best campaigner.
INTELLIGENCE. Merz’s Christian Democrats, which previously led a grand coalition