Ukraine talks. The United States is willing to provide air support to bolster Ukraine’s postwar security, Trump said yesterday. The White House press secretary said that U.S. troops on the ground were ruled out. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is heading a commission on draft proposals for security guarantees with European countries, multiple news outlets reported.
China-India thaw. The countries announced a series of trade and travel agreements after a New Delhi meeting yesterday between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. They will resume direct flights; facilitate border trade; and ease visas for businesses, tourists, and the media.
Aid worker deaths. A record 383 aid workers were killed in 2024, the United Nations said. The 31 percent increase in deaths from the previous year was driven by the war in Gaza, where 181 aid workers were killed. UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher said that the lack of accountability for their deaths is “a shameful indictment of international inaction.”
U.S. interest in Intel. The U.S. government is considering taking a 10 percent stake in Intel, the White House said yesterday. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the government might swap grants for shares of the chip giant. Media reports last week about the deal said that it would involve Intel’s plans to create a manufacturing hub in Ohio.
Kabul summit. The foreign ministers of China and Pakistan are in Afghanistan today for a trilateral meeting on political, economic, and regional cooperation. It is the first meeting among such senior officials since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan in 2021. Russia has been the only country to officially recognize the Taliban government since then, though several countries have held high-level meetings with Taliban representatives.
U.S. scrutiny of Chinese goods. Washington yesterday expanded the list of Chinese products that it could ban if it deems them to be made with forced labor. The new items added to a pre-existing list include steel, copper, and lithium, among other materials. The U.S. policy focuses mostly on China’s Xinjiang region, where manufacturing is assumed to include forced labor.
Delayed climate targets. Brazil issued a letter to governments yesterday urging them to publish their updated targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions ahead of a September deadline. Top emitters including China and the European Union have yet to submit their plans. The United Nations requires submissions by next month in order to project how much the world is diverging from an internationally agreed-upon goal for limiting global warming.
Armenia-Iran ties. The two countries pledged to deepen economic relations during Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s visit to Yerevan yesterday. It followed a U.S.-brokered peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan earlier this month. An aide to Iran’s top leader criticized the prospect of exclusive U.S. development rights in a new trade corridor as part of that deal, but Armenia’s prime minister said yesterday that Yerevan would control the route.
