“Many Russian generals are talking on unsecured phones and radios. In at least one instance…the Ukrainians intercepted a general’s call, geolocated it, and attacked his location, killing him and his staff.”
Today is my first day as the
@FT
's U.S. foreign affairs & defense correspondent. Please be in touch with tips, ideas, etc. at felicia.schwartz
@ft
.com or DM me for Signal. I am so excited to get started!
CIA Director Bill Burns at Aspen last month: "Putin is someone who generally thinks that revenge is a dish best served cold...in my experience Putin is the ultimate apostle of pay back so I would be surprised if Prigozhin escapes further retribution for this."
SCOOP: Trump directed
@StateDept
to freeze more than $200 million in basic recovery funds for Syria, comes as
@realDonaldTrump
increasingly skeptical about US presence there
Personal news: In March I will be joining the
@FT
as US foreign affairs correspondent, covering the State Dept, Pentagon & the NSC.
Cannot wait to be back on the national security beat and part of this amazing team! I’ll also be moving back to DC this summer!
More than 200 women in national security world sign letter saying they are survivors of sexual harassment or abuse or know someone who is, call for better reporting mechanisms and other changes
US national security advisor
@JakeSullivan46
strikes an optimistic note re Nato/Finland/Sweden/Turkey:
“We're confident that at the end of the day Finland and Sweden will have an effective and efficient accession process [and] that Turkey's concerns can be addressed."
Some personal news: four elections, one global pandemic and one conflict later, I have finished my assignment as the
@wsj
Israel/Palestinian Territories correspondent and am moving to NYC. It’s been an incredible three years.
More from me soon about my next role at the paper.
In rebuke to Trump, Europe will establish a special payment channel to allow European and other companies to legally continue financial transactions with Iran while avoiding exposure to U.S. sanctions
The Biden administration has been bemused by her approach at times. A speech calling for the US and UK to work together on a Marshall plan raised eyebrows among US officials, who thought the rhetoric went far beyond the UK's commitments
After nearly 8 years, today is my last day at WSJ. It has been a tremendous privilege to work with such incredible colleagues and I will miss them!
I'm thrilled about what's next & will share more on that soon. For now I will be taking a few weeks off & trying to avoid twitter
After flurry of phone calls between senior Russian military officials and western military officials, senior US official says "We still have seen nothing to indicate that the Russians have made a decision to employ nuclear weapons" & is continuing to monitor the situation closely
A senior EU official said the US long-range missiles could be deployed against Russian warships in the Black Sea as they threaten the ports of Odesa and Mykolayiv, which are in range of sea-launched Russian missiles.
@valentinapop
scoop w/
@HenryJFoy
— in meetings in Europe this week, Blinken warned Beijing was assisting Moscow “at a concerning scale”, and providing “tools, inputs and technical expertise” particularly in optics, propellants and space cooperation via
@ft
Our
@WSJ
scoop: Israel is ramping up attacks on Iranian supply lines in Syria, taking the fight last month to the Syria-Iraq border in a bid to thwart Tehran's attempts to establish a land bridge through Iraq
“Ukraine has urgent requirements to help it meet this crucial moment in the course of the war,”
@SecDef
said at start of today’s contact group mtg. “The Kremlin is still betting that it can wait us out.” More here:
With so much news upon my arrival last week I never got to post, but ~personal news~ I am now the
@WSJ
’s Israel and Palestinian Territories correspondent after 4 years covering
@StateDept
! Very excited for this new adventure
US administration🇺🇸 ordered the closure of the Russian Consulate in Seattle
@GK_Seattle
🇷🇺. What US Consulate General would you close in
@Russia
, if it was up to you to decide
"For the last 25 years I've voted Likud. I'll say something that I never thought I'd say: Bibi is a liar. This isn't a question of ideology anymore, it's a war for our livelihood. I want a govt that'll reach into its pocket & give money." -Bet Shean Crossfit owner, to Army Radio
NEWS: Blinken says he spoke with Russian FM Lavrov earlier today, pressed him to accept "substantial offer re Griner & Whelan," also raised grain deal and Russia's annexation plans
The US is paving the way for allies to send F-16s to Ukraine with its backing of a training program for fourth generation fighters. Washington is unlikely to send its own F-16s once coalition goes ahead and sends fighter jets
I spent some time trying to explain what I had increasingly heard in conversations in Ramallah: that a growing number of Palestinians believe the two state solution is all but dead and are beginning to think about one state instead 1/
.
@SecBlinken
says he personally considers Evan to be wrongfully detained and
@StateDept
is moving quickly to make that formal determination, which will escalate US response to Evan's detention
.
@SenJohnMcCain
on
@realDonaldTrump
call to Putin:
"An American president does not lead the Free World by congratulating dictators on winning sham elections."
When Truss met Blinken for the first time, the conversation was hardly diplomatic. She pointed to the US-UK special relationship, and said she didn't see much to make it special.
My deep dive into Truss's relationships in DC:
In a 6.5 hour operation one Israeli official described as "like Oceans 11," Israel covertly obtained a trove of materials from Iran that included partial designs for a nuclear warhead.
@GeraldFSeib
takes you inside
"We are all living in a period in which it is hard to assess whether we are OK or we are not.”
Ukraine's first lady Olena Zelenska has lunch with the
@FT
@ChristopherJM
. Maybe the cheapest one ever, coming in at less than $5
At
@CNAS
, Pentagon’s Bill LaPlante says US on track to make 100K 155mm shells per month by 2025 - currently US is making 28K per month and will be at 57K per month next spring.
President Biden tells reporters in Lake Tahoe: "I don’t know for a fact what happened but I’m not surprised...There’s not much that happens in Russia that Putins not behind. But I don’t know enough to know the answer."
Full story with all we know here:
.
@secdef
says US does not see imminent signs of a “massive aerial attack” from Russia, but that allies are rushing as much air defence capability as they possibly can.
“We do know Russia has substantial aircraft . . . & a lot of capability left,” he said.
Update:
@RepJayapal
says the 30 liberal Dems have withdrawn their letter to
@POTUS
, which was "drafted several months ago but unfortunately released by staff without vetting." 1/2
"We have the moral spirit and desire to stay open, but for how long?" Rolling blackouts are the latest blow to Ukraine's economy after Russian attacks on the country's energy infrastructure.
A deep dive into how businesses are trying to survive
Italian FM Tajani tells reporters at the G7 in Capri that Israel informed the US before its overnight Iran attack:
"The United States were informed the last minute but there was no involvement on the part of the United States, it was simply information that was provided."
NEW: Trump admin seeking to assemble Arab force to replace the US military contingent in Syria & help stabilize the northeastern part of the country post ISIS fight
@mgordonwsj
"Nato capitals are concerned that unlike the logistical steps required to deploy orthodox nuclear weapons...preparations for a dirty bomb were 'more obscure'” -- w/
@HenryJFoy
, a deep dive on the West's stepped up efforts to monitor Moscow's intentions
Today’s powerful
@WSJ
front page. It is unimaginable, outrageous and completely unacceptable that Evan has been in prison for one year in Russia, simply for doing his job. He needs to come home now.
#FreeEvan
PSA the
@WSJ
website is free today. We have an amazing team in the MidEast & beyond working hard to keep you updated on what's happening in Israel, Gaza & the West Bank right now. Here's a few you should check out -- I'll be updating:
1/
I spoke to my counterpart Jean-Charles Ellermann-Kingombe of Denmark about the apparent sabotage of Nord Stream pipelines. The U.S. is supporting efforts to investigate and we will continue our work to safeguard Europe’s energy security.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan also scrapped weekend travel to Copenhagen meeting and participated virtually so he could stay back & follow events in Russia
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin just arrived in Brussels, where he’s huddling with Nato allies & partners Wednesday. I’ll be traveling with him this week — follow for updates
"The two-state solution is deeply, deeply unsatisfying. It’s deeply inadequate. But it remains much more adequate than any of the alternatives."
My deep dive on why the two state solution has failed to deliver but is back in favor
New:
@SecBlinken
called Russian FM Lavrov & conveyed “grave concern” over Evan Gershkovich’s “unacceptable detention.” He called for his immediate release, as well as Paul Whelan’s.
.
@WSJ
scoop: University of Texas courting Rex Tillerson to become its next chancellor
(and yes, these photos of Tillerson in the Longhorn band will finally have a home in the
@WSJ
)
.
@JakeSullivan46
: Russia has 800-900 4th gen fighters that haven't played a significant role in fight because "air defense is such a significant element to both sides." (1/2)
Come for the amazing lead anecdote, stay because you'll understand why the U.S. government is so suspicious of Kaspersky (and also b/c it's
@shaneharris
&
@PaulSonne
's last
@WSJ
story, and the great
@glubold
is involved too)
Nato's Stoltenberg confirms
@FT
scoop from earlier: he says Tuesday evening the alliance agreed to "issue an invitation for Ukraine to join Nato when allies agree and conditions are met."
@HenryJFoy
The U.S. is removing Patriot anti-missile systems from Saudi Arabia and is considering reductions to other military capabilities—marking the end, for now, of a large-scale military buildup to counter Iran. Scoop w/
@glubold
:
“We were very emotional because our relationship with America is so emotional—it’s more of a son-father relationship—& we didn’t recognize our father anymore & realized he might beat us"
Per
@sbg1
, this is how German officials feel about
@realDonaldTrump
.
@SecDef
to reporters traveling with him in Jordan on
#Bakhmut
:
“If the Ukrainians decide to reposition in some of that terrain that's west of Bakhmut, I would not view that as an operational or strategic setback.” (1/2)
Polish pres Duda in
@FT
intvw calls on Nato powers to give Ukraine postwar security guarantees, urges Biden to reaffirm US commitment to Article 5 “in very strong terms” while in 🇵🇱
@khalafroula
@RaphaelMinder
@HenryJFoy
W/
@dnvolz
, a look @ Moscow's stepped up efforts to prevent Russians arrested on hacking charges from being extradited to the U.S., incl case of 26-year-old Israeli whose fate could be tied to that of a Russian hacker US wants to extradite from Israel
Secretary Tillerson shook the hands of nearly 200 airmen during his refueling stop in Shannon, Ireland. He made the rounds in the transit lounge, greeting service men and women transiting home from Kabul and Qatar.
A scene from
@netanyahu
's Instagram, part of a series to defend himself against possible indictment: "Bribery without money is like Rachel without Ross."