PUTIN’S WAR ROLLS ON: While the Kremlin remains noncommittal about a peace summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russia’s war machine continues to pursue its war aims with vigor. The latest attack involved more than 600 drones and missiles, which, in addition to targeting Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk in the east, reached into far western Ukraine, hitting Lviv, and, according to Ukraine, a major American electronics manufacturer located near the southwest border with Hungary.
In a post on X, Zelensky said the “American-owned enterprise in Zakarpattia … has nothing to do with defense or the military,” calling it “a regular civilian business, supported by American investment, producing everyday items like coffee machines.” More than a dozen people were wounded in the strike.
The daily attacks continue as Zelensky has said he will meet with Putin at any time in any format. But the Kremlin seems in no rush for a meeting without assurances that Ukraine is ready to meet Russia’s unwavering demands, including the handover of the entire eastern Donbas region.
“Putin is playing Trump,” said Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) on CNN. “He drags this out and drags this out as he continues to bomb Ukraine and kill innocent children. And it’s because he knows Donald Trump is not serious about bearing real pressure down on Russia. He’s not going to put secondary sanctions on him. He’s not going to continue to send weapons of consequence to the battlefield in Ukraine. And so Putin can just play this delay, delay, delay game. It makes us look weak and worse.”
OPINION: WILL TRUMP KEEP LETTING PUTIN PLAY HIM FOR TIME?
LAVROV: ‘ROAD TO NOWHERE’: Meanwhile, in his latest remarks, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov — in what might be considered laughable if it were not such a serious issue — suggested that Russia should be among the guarantors of Ukraine’s security in any post-war agreement.
Lavrov said Ukraine itself suggested as much in April of 2022, in failed talks just two months after the invasion. Lavrov claimed the draft agreement had been initialed, but blamed then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson for killing the deal.
Lavrov says the Russian position remains that it will reject any regime of security guarantees that does not include Russian input, essentially implying a right to veto anything it’s not happy with, such as troops from NATO nations on Ukrainian soil.
“We cannot accept the current proposal to address collective security issues without the Russian Federation. This approach is simply unworkable,” Lavrov said at a Moscow press conference. “I am certain that the West, particularly the United States, understands that any serious discussion of security without the Russian Federation is utopian. It is, quite frankly, a road to nowhere.”
RUSSIA SAYS TALKS ABOUT UKRAINE’S SECURITY WITHOUT IT ARE A ‘ROAD TO NOWHERE’
VANCE: ‘WE HAVEN’T FIGURED EVERYTHING OUT’: In an interview last night on the Fox News Show “The Ingraham Angle,” Vice President JD Vance talked about the promised meeting between Putin and Zelensky like it was a fait accompli.
“We now have the Russians talking to the Ukrainians. They’re talking details about what would be necessary on each side to stop the fighting and stop the killing. We have made more progress in three months than the country had made in three years in stopping this conflict,” Vance told Fox News host Laura Ingraham. “We have made a lot of progress, Laura. Look, who knows what’s going to happen? The president tells me this all the time. You could never say with certainty what the outcome in this situation is going to be.”
“There really are two big questions lingering out there. And in some ways it’s very simple, but in some ways it’s very complicated. Number one is, Ukraine wants to know that it’s not going to get invaded again by Russia. It wants to know that it’s got territorial integrity long into the future,” Vance said. “The Russians want certain pieces of territory, most of which they have occupied, but some of which they haven’t.”
“So that is really where the meat of the negotiation is. The Ukrainians want security guarantees. The Russians want a certain amount of territory. Again, we finally got the details. We’re working on them. But we haven’t figured everything out. And I don’t think that we should force — we shouldn’t say that they can’t sit down until you have figured out every little detail. Sometimes, them sitting down is what facilitates figuring out those details.”
OPINION: THE WEST MUST START PREPARING FOR UKRAINE PEACE TALKS TO FAIL
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IN THE ROOM WHERE IT HAPPENED: ‘I’M GOING TO TALK TO THE GUY’: In his Fox News interview with Laura Ingraham, Vice President J.D. Vance painted a picture of what it was like Monday when Trump paused his meeting with European leaders to get a gut check from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“So we’re actually in the East Wing of the White House. And the president says, you know, we have had a pretty good meeting. I’m going to go call Vladimir Putin and see what he says about it. And everybody’s like, oh, you’re going to call him next week? And he’s like, no, what time is it in Moscow? Let’s call him right now,” Vance recalled. “You had a lot of the Europeans who were saying, no, no, no, there needs to be proper vetting and the teams have to prepare the phone call and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And the president was like, no, no, no. I want to talk to the guy. I’m going to talk to the guy.”
“I think one of the things I have realized about President Trump’s leadership is he cuts through the B.S. of some of these diplomatic protocols and just says, I’m going to get things done. If I want to talk to somebody, I’m going to talk to somebody,” Vance said. “And I think that kind of no-holds-barred, no-B.S. diplomacy is part of the reason why we have made the progress we have.”
Vance said he’s never met Putin face-to-face, but he had talked to him on the phone. “It’s interesting. He’s more soft-spoken than you would necessarily expect,” Vance said. “The American media has a particular image of him. He’s soft-spoken in a certain way. He’s very deliberate. He’s very careful. And I think fundamentally he’s a person who looks out for the interests as he sees it as of Russia. And I think one of the reasons he respects the president of the United States is because he knows the president looks out for the interests of the American people.”
PANETTA: TRUMP IS BEING ‘INCREDIBLY NAIVE’: Former Defense Secretary and CIA Director Leon Panetta offered a different assessment of Putin in an appearance on CNN yesterday.
“Putin is about Russia, Putin is about winning, Putin is about killing people in order to be able to succeed in this war, that is who Putin is. And you cannot just simply sit back and hope that maybe deep down he’s a nice guy. We’ve made that mistake in the past with Putin. He cannot be trusted,” the former spymaster said.
Referring to Trump’s open mic moment when he was heard telling French President Emmanuel Macron, “I think [Putin] wants to make a deal for me, you understand, as crazy as it sounds,” Panetta said Trump was being “incredibly naive” about the former KGB officer. “Putin does not take actions because somehow he’s trying to please you, that’s not what Putin is about.”
“I think the President frankly has made a mistake by saying he wanted a ceasefire and then he backed away, that he wanted to make sure that Putin would agree or he would suffer consequences, and then backed away,” Panetta said. “That process of backing away from the threats that the President makes creates a sense of weakness.”
“The President has to make clear if Putin does not meet with Zelensky, and they do not make progress, we are going to implement strong sanctions and we’re going to continue to provide weapons to Ukraine so that they can continue to fight this war.”
POLAND ACCUSES RUSSIA OF ‘PROVOCATION’ AFTER DRONE CRASH ON THE BORDER
VANCE, HEGSETH, AND MILLER THANK THE TROOPS: In a visit to Washington’s iconic Union Station, a turn-of-the-century Beaux Arts rail station and shopping mall, featuring a gilded Roman barrel vaulted ceiling, Vice President Vance thanked National Guard troops who he credited for helping bring about a dramatic drop in crime.
“A couple of years ago, when I brought my kids here, they were being screamed at by violent vagrants, and it was scaring the hell out of my kids,” Vance said. “And one of the things that we’ve done already in Union Station in just nine days is we’ve made it a place where people can walk around safely; they can bring their kids again; they can see this beautiful monument, the architecture; they can have a meal with their friends and their loved ones because, again, we’ve brought some law and order back to Washington, D.C.”
Vance said there has already been a “35% reduction of violent crime and a 50% reduction in robberies,” since Guard troops have hit the streets. “We are seeing really substantial effects because these guys are busting their ass,” Vance said, addressing a group of soldiers during lunch at a burger joint.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Steven Miller joined Vance.
Hegeth said every Guard soldier he talked to expressed pride in the anti-crime mission. “They’re here because they’re patriots who serve the country and believe we deserve a beautiful, safe capital,” Hesgeth said. “They’re proud to be a part of making sure law and order is established here in the capital.”
There were some demonstrators protesting the militarization of police work in the city, but Vance dismissed them as “a bunch of crazy protesters,” who “hate the idea that Americans can enjoy their communities.”
Miller, living up to his reputation as a firebrand, had the most incendiary words for the protesters. “The voices that you hear out there, those crazy Communists, they have no roots, they have no connections to this city, they have no families they are raising in this city,” he said. “They are the ones who’ve been advocating for the 1% of criminals and killers, the rapists, their drug dealers.”
“All these demonstrators that you’ve seen out here in recent days, all of these elderly white hippies, they’re not part of this city and never have been. And by the way, most of the citizens who live in Washington, D.C. are black,” Miller said. “This is not a city that has had any safety for its black citizens for generations.”
“So we’re going to ignore these stupid white hippies that all need to go home and take a nap because they’re all over 90 years old. And we’re going to get back to the business of protecting the American people and the citizens of Washington, D.C.”
STEPHEN MILLER BLASTS ‘STUPID WHITE HIPPIES’ DURING UNION STATION VISIT WITH VANCE AND HEGSETH
THE RUNDOWN:
Washington Examiner: Russia says talks about Ukraine’s security without it are a ‘road to nowhere’
Washington Examiner: Opinion: As Putin prevaricates, details of Ukraine peace proposal emerge
Washington Examiner: Poland accuses Russia of ‘provocation’ after drone crash on the border
Washington Examiner: Opinion: Will Trump keep letting Putin play him for time?
Washington Examiner: Opinion: The West must start preparing for Ukraine peace talks to fail
Washington Examiner: NATO jets scramble to Ukraine-Romania border in response to Russian drone attack
Washington Examiner: Pentagon criticizes report about Hegseth’s security detail
Washington Examiner: Bishop Barron praises Trump’s desire to ‘get to heaven,’ says he was ‘struck by his humility’
Washington Examiner: Israel calls up 60,000 reservists for operation to take Gaza City
Washington Examiner: Republicans praise Trump plan to paint border wall: ‘Black is the new orange’
Washington Examiner: Vance told Zelensky he’d say nothing ‘as long as you behave’ in Oval Office
Washington Examiner: Gabbard approves plans to cut ODNI roles she says are pushing ‘partisan priorities’
Washington Examiner: Trump faces first breakdown in peace efforts as Rwanda-Congo peace deal collapses
Washington Examiner: Stephen Miller blasts ‘stupid white hippies’ during Union Station visit with Vance and Hegseth
Washington Examiner: White House launches TikTok account as third extension deadline creeps up
Politico: Pentagon Says US Will Play a Minimal Role in Ukraine’s Security Guarantee
Wall Street Journal: Russia Draws Hard Line Over Security Guarantees for Ukraine
New York Times: What Russia Is Doing to Grab Ukrainian Land While It Still Can
Wall Street Journal: In Eastern Ukraine, Fear and Disbelief Over Proposal to Cede Land to Russia
Wall Street Journal: How European Leaders Studied Trump and Learned to Speak His Language
Bloomberg: Pentagon Eyes $3.5 Billion Restock Costs From Israel Operations
AP: Uganda agrees deal with US to take deported migrants if they don’t have criminal records
Breaking Defense: Wilsbach, Former ACC Commander, in Running to Be Next Service Chief, Sources Say
Times of Israel: Israel to Purchase 2 More American KC-46 Refueling Planes for Its Air Force
Defense News: Pentagon’s Realistic Electronic Warfare System to Move to Navy Lab
DefenseScoop: ‘Rapper Bot’ Hit the Pentagon in at Least 3 Cyberattacks
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Stealth or Something Else? USAF Wants Ideas for Next-Gen Tanker Airframe
Defense One: Pentagon Reductions Set Back Critical AI-Data Platform
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Air Force Academy Keeps Majors Intact amid Faculty Cuts
BBC: US Navy Sailor Convicted of Spying for China
Air & Space Forces Magazine: New Cyber Squadron in New Jersey Air Guard Going to McGuire
Stars and Stripes: Clone Wars: Air Force Wants to Study Copies of Iran’s Attack Drones
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Opinion: Drone Hype and Airpower Amnesia
Military.com: Airman Killed in Off-Base AK-47 Shooting Near F.E. Warren Air Force Base Identified
THE CALENDAR:
THURSDAY | AUGUST 21
10 a.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW — Brookings Institution discussion: “Replicator and Beyond: The Future of Drone Warfare,” with T.S. Allen, former director of Replicator-1 at the Defense Department Defense Innovation Unit; former Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger; and Aditi Kumar, former principal deputy director of Replicator-1 at the Defense Department Defense Innovation Unit https://www.brookings.edu/events/replicator-and-beyond-the-future-of-drone-warfare/
2 p.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE — Heritage Foundation discussion: “Trump New Counterterrorism Strategy Landscape,” with Sebastian Gorka, deputy assistant to the president and senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council; and James Jay Carafano, senior counselor to the president and fellow at the Heritage Foundation https://www.heritage.org/terrorism/event/trump
FRIDAY | AUGUST 22
10 a.m. — National Institute for Deterrence Studies virtual seminar: “Deterrence in the Balance: Arms Control, Modernization, and Strategic Resolve,” with Mike Albertson, former senior adviser in the Office of the Secretary of Defense Office of Nuclear and Missile Defense Policy https://thinkdeterrence.com/events/deterrence-in-the-balance
TUESDAY | AUGUST 26
10 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies Defense and Security Department and the U.S. Naval Institute or a Maritime Security Dialogue virtual and in-person discussion: “The Future of Naval Aviation,” with Vice Adm. Daniel Cheever, commander, Naval Air Forces and commander, Naval Air Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet in conversation with retired Rear Adm. Raymond Spicer, chief executive officer and publisher, U.S. Naval Institute https://www.csis.org/events/future-naval-aviation-conversation-vadm-cheever
THURSDAY | AUGUST 28
8 a.m 2401 M St., NW — George Washington University Project for Media and National Security Defense Writers Group breakfast conversation: “Assessing China’s Upcoming Parade-Extravaganza for the People’s Liberation Army,” with Mark Cozad and Timothy Heath, senior international defense researchers at RAND [email protected]
TUESDAY | SEPTEMBER 2
3 p.m. Senate Chamber — Senate meets to resume consideration of the motion to proceed to S.2296, the “National Defense Authorization Act.” At approximately 5:30 p.m., the Senate will vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S.2296. http://www.senate.gov
