SUPPORT FOR UKRAINE CONTINUES 'REGARDLESS OF WHAT GOVERNMENT IS IN POWER': The dramatic end of Boris Johnson's tenure as British prime minister should have no effect on international support for Ukraine, a key White House aide said yesterday as it became clear that Johnson's resignation was becoming inevitable.
"Every leader at NATO and every leader at the G-7 said they were going to continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes," said John Kirby, the National Security Council strategic communications coordinator, in an interview on Fox. "I think President Zelensky understands that he has that international support, regardless of what government is in power in any one of those countries."
Johnson was one of the first world leaders to visit Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the capital city of Kyiv and was among Zelensky's most visible Western supporters. Kirby said aid from the U.S. and other countries "continues to flow into the country every single day."
"And we adapt it," he said. "As the battlefield changes, we're adapting in our conversations with the Ukrainians about what kind of capabilities they're getting."
BORIS JOHNSON TO RESIGN: REPORTS
ZELENSKY: NEW WEAPONS 'WORKING VERY POWERFULLY': Following a report that Ukrainian forces used a U.S. supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, to strike at a Russian ammunition depot 40 miles behind the Russian line, Zelensky said the high-tech, precision weapons are beginning to have an impact.
"Finally it is felt that the Western artillery, the weapons we received from our partners, started working very powerfully. Its accuracy is exactly as needed," Zelensky said in his nightly video address. "Our defenders inflict very noticeable strikes on depots and other spots that are important for the logistics of the occupiers. And this significantly reduces the offensive potential of the Russian army."
Zelensky said in Russian-controlled areas in the south, all access to social media and internet messaging apps have been blocked, cutting off the population from any war news from the Ukrainian government. He called on citizens to help get word to the areas that he has not given up on efforts to retake territory captured by the Russians.
"We will not give up our land. The entire sovereign territory of Ukraine will be Ukrainian. People should know it," he said. "The occupiers should not think that their time on this land is long-lasting and that the superiority of their artillery is eternal."
UKRAINIAN-BORN US LAWMAKER ACCUSES BIDEN AND ZELENSKY OF 'PLAYING POLITICS'
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HAPPENING TODAY: Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Bali, Indonesia, to attend the G-20 meeting of foreign ministers.
ALSO TODAY: Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger will take part in a virtual discussion on military modernization and strategy at a Hudson Institute event at 1:30 p.m.
RUSSIA'S OPERATIONAL PAUSE: Russian forces unleashed artillery fire on the Ukrainian cities of Sloviansk and Bakhmut as they began their attempt to make inroads in Donetsk Province, but gained little ground, according to the latest assessment from the Institute for the Study of War.
"There were no claimed or assessed Russian territorial gains in Ukraine on July 6 for the first time in 133 days of war, supporting ISW's assessment that Russian forces have largely initiated an operational pause," the assessment noted.
"Russian forces still conducted limited and unsuccessful ground assaults," the ISW said, calling the limited actions "consistent with a Russian operational pause, which does not imply or require the complete cessation of active hostilities."
"It means, in this case, that Russian forces will likely confine themselves to relatively small-scale offensive actions as they attempt to set conditions for more significant offensive operations and rebuild the combat power needed to attempt those more ambitious undertakings."
RUSSIA USING UKRAINIAN NUCLEAR PLANT TO SHIELD HEAVY ARTILLERY: REPORT
UKRAINE STILL NEEDS OLD WEAPONS, TOO: A new report from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies has identified untapped stocks of old Soviet-era weapons and ammunition that could provide critical aid to outgunned Ukrainian troops.
The report has identified over 6,300 Soviet and Russian-made arms held by 23 non-NATO nations, including Argentina, Colombia, Egypt, Finland, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, South Korea, and the UAE - countries it says could likely be persuaded to provide the arms to Ukraine.
"While Western systems such as HIMARS rocket artillery are arriving on the battlefield, the Ukrainian military still predominantly operates Soviet-made artillery and armored vehicles and remains overwhelmingly dependent on Soviet-made manned aircraft and air defenses," the authors write. "Kyiv is warning that its forces are now running out of Soviet-standard artillery munitions, which Ukrainian industry is currently unable to supply."
"Many of these countries may be willing to transfer weapons to Ukraine, especially if Washington, working with allies and partners, provides the donor country with appropriate inducements," the report suggests. "This could include backfilling the donor countries through future arms sales, equipment swaps, or other means; offering various diplomatic, economic, or military incentives; or simply purchasing the weapons and sending them to Ukraine."
TOP RUSSIAN LAWMAKER THREATENS RUSSIA MAY RECLAIM ALASKA
FBI DIRECTOR CITES CHINESE ELECTION INTERFERENCE: At a conference in London with his British counterpart, FBI Director Christopher Wray revealed that Chinese agents have been interfering in U.S. elections, in one case working directly to undercut the political campaign of a congressional candidate who was a Tiananmen Square protester and prominent critic of the Chinese government.
"A former Chinese intelligence officer hired a private investigator to dig up derogatory information and derail the candidate's campaign. When they couldn't find anything, they decided to manufacture a controversy using a sex worker. And when that didn't work out, they even suggested using violence, such as arranging for the candidate to be struck by a vehicle and making it look like an accident," Wray said, according to a transcript on the FBI website.
Wray didn't name the candidate, but the New York Post reported in March that it was likely Xiong Yan, "a Tiananmen protester and Chinese dissident who served as a chaplain for the US Army in Iraq, who is running for Congress in the 2022 midterm elections in New York's first district on Long Island."
CHINA POSES A 'SERIOUS THREAT TO WESTERN BUSINESSES': Wray also warned that China "is drawing all sorts of lessons from what's happening with Russia and its invasion of Ukraine," particularly with regard to the effect that sanctions have had on the Russian economy.
"There's been a lot of discussion about the potential that China may try to forcibly take over Taiwan. Were that to happen, it would represent one of the most horrific business disruptions the world has ever seen," Wray said, noting sanctions cut both ways.
"A Yale study reported in the Wall Street Journal assessed that Western businesses had already lost $59 billion in Russia because of the conflict. The losses grow every day," he said. "And if China does invade Taiwan, we could see the same thing again, at a much larger scale."
"Just as in Russia, Western investments built over years could become hostages, capital stranded, supply chains and relationships disrupted. Companies are caught between sanctions and Chinese law forbidding compliance with them," he warned.
"But the point I want to leave you with today is that the Chinese government poses an even more serious threat to Western businesses than even many sophisticated businesspeople realize."
JOINT FBI-MI5 SPEECH ILLUSTRATES BRITAIN'S BIG SHIFT ON CHINA
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New York Times: Russian war bloggers see 'a complete defeat' for Ukraine in Luhansk, but some are skeptical.
Wall Street Journal: Tactical Shift Signals Lengthy War
Reuters: Russia Warns Humanity At Risk If West Seeks To Punish It Over Ukraine
AP: Ukrainians cling to life at front line: 'We are patriots'
AP: Griner's Moscow trial resumes amid calls for US to seek deal
Newsweek: World's Largest Naval Exercise Led by U.S. Intimidates China: State Media
Washington Post: Biden pledges to Brittney Griner's wife that he's working to secure basketball player's release
Washington Post: Why has North Korea stopped boasting about its missile tests?
Air Force Magazine: PACAF Watches Closely as Philippines Considers Military Ties With China
Air Force Magazine: New "Atomic Veterans" Medal Honors Those Involved in Nuclear Weapon Tests, Operations
National Defense: Marine Corps Evaluating Light Vehicle for Recon Missions
19fortyfive.com: Putin Has a Problem: Ukraine's Guerrilla War Against Russia Is Now In Full Swing
19fortyfive.com: The Russian Military After the Ukraine War: On the Brink of Disaster?
19fortyfive.com: Forward Defense: How NATO Could Stop a Russian Invasion
19fortyfive.com: Watch: How Ukraine Keeps Towing Away and Using Dead Russian Tanks
The Cipher Brief: The Unraveling of Russian Spies
The Cipher Brief: Providing Protection from the Perfect Cyber Storm
THURSDAY | JULY 7
9 a.m. - Center for Strategic and International Studies conference call briefing on "Previewing President Biden's Trip to the Middle East," with Jon Alternam, director of the CSIS Middle East Program; Emily Harding, deputy director of the CSIS International Security Program; Ben Cahill, senior fellow at the CSIS Energy Security and Climate Change Program; and Marti Flacks, director of the CSIS Human Rights Initiative https://csis.org/events/press-briefing
11 a.m. - Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress virtual event: "Defense and the Future of War," with Shashank Joshi, defense editor, The Economist? https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register
12 p.m. - Woodrow Wilson Center Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies virtual discussion: "The Role of Belarus in the Russia-Ukraine Conflict: From Guarantor of Security to a Source of Instability," Elena Korosteleva, director of the University of Warwick's Institute for Global Sustainable Development; Valery Kavaleuski, representative to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on foreign affairs; Franak Viacorka, senior adviser to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center; and Alla Leukavets, independent researcher and fellow at the Kennan Institute https://wilsoncenter.org/event/role-belarus-russia-ukraine
1 p.m. - Brookings Institution virtual discussion: "Why Foreign Talent is Critical to National Security," with former Acting Deputy Defense Secretary Christine Fox, senior fellow at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory; and former U.S. Central Command Commander retired Army Gen. Joseph Votel, president and CEO of Business Executives for National Security https://brookings.edu/events/why-foreign-talent
1:30 p.m. - Hudson Institute virtual event: "Defense Disruptors Series: A Conversation with Gen. David Berger," with Dan Patt, senior fellow at Hudson's Center for Defense Concepts and Technology; and Bryan Clark, director of Hudson's Center for Defense Concepts and Technology https://eventbrite.com/e/defense-disruptors-series
4:30 p.m. - Institute of World Politics discussion: "Beyond Nuclear Crisis: New and Long-Term Strategy for the Korean Peninsula," with retired Army Col. David Maxwell, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies https://iwp.edu/events/beyond-nuclear-crisis
FRIDAY | JULY 8
Atlantic Council virtual discussion: "China's Role in Russian Energy: What's Changed Since February 24th?" with Erica Downs, senior research scholar at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy; Edward Chow, senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Energy Security and Climate Change Program; Amy Myers Jaffe, managing director of Tufts University's Climate Policy Lab; and former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst, senior director of the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center https://atlanticcouncil.org/event/chinas-role
WEDNESDAY | JULY 13
3:15 p.m. - Foundation for Defense of Democracies book discussion: Degrade and Destroy: The Inside Story of the War Against the Islamic State, from Barack Obama to Donald Trump, with author Michael Gordon; retired Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, Michele Flournoy, former undersecretary of defense for policy; and moderator Bradley Bowman, senior director, FDD Center on Military and Political Power https://fdd.wufoo.com/forms/s1wgmfy91oup26w/
TUESDAY | JULY 19
Aspen Meadows Resort, Colorado - Aspen Strategy Group three-day (19-22) Aspen Security Forum with White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan; Air Force Chief of Staff Charles Q. Brown; CIA Director William Burns; Chief of Space Operations Gen. John "Jay" Raymond; U.S. Northern Commander Gen. Glen VanHerck; former Defense Secretary Robert Gates; former Defense Secretary Mark Esper; Army Gen. Richard Clarke, commander U.S. Special Operations Command; Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va.; former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; Kay Bailey Hutchison, former U.S. ambassador to NATO; and others. https://aspensecurityforum.org
WEDNESDAY | JULY 27
Fort Bragg, North Carolina - Association of the U.S. Army two-day, in-person "Warfighter Summit and Exposition," with Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville; Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Grinston; Alejandro Villanueva, former Army Ranger and former offensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens; as well as leaders from Army Forces Command, the XVIII Airborne Corps and the 82nd Airborne Division. Register at https://meetings.ausa.org/warfighter/index.cfm
"There's been a lot of discussion about the potential that China may try to forcibly take over Taiwan. Were that to happen, it would represent one of the most horrific business disruptions the world has ever seen."
FBI Director Christopher Wray, in a speech to business leaders in London at the offices of MI5, Britain's domestic security service.
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Tags: National Security, Daily on Defense, War in Ukraine, China, Christopher Wray, FBI
Original Author: Jamie McIntyre
Original Location: White House says change of UK government will not affect world support for Ukraine