‘WE DO NOT SEEK A WAR BETWEEN NATO AND RUSSIA’: President Joe Biden, in an attempt to give Ukraine just enough firepower to blunt the Russian offensive, but not enough to spark a wider war, has approved sending Ukraine longer range artillery systems, while withholding the longest range rockets.
“We will provide the Ukrainians with more advanced rocket systems and munitions that will enable them to more precisely strike key targets on the battlefield in Ukraine,” Biden writes in a guest essay in the New York Times. “We are not encouraging or enabling Ukraine to strike beyond its borders. We do not want to prolong the war just to inflict pain on Russia.”
Administration officials confirmed that the Army’s High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, built by Lockheed Martin, will be part of a new $700 million shipment of arms to Ukraine. The system can fire a six-pack of rockets, or a single missile, up to 185 miles, but it’s expected that Ukraine will be provided with the shorter range rockets, with a range of about 40 miles.
Ukrainian officials have assured the U.S. that it won’t use the new system to strike inside Russia. “Ukraine has no intention to use them other than for defense of our territories, and for the de-occupation of our territories. We are a peaceful nation. We have not waged any war against any of our neighbors in centuries,” said Yuri Sack, top adviser to Ukraine’s defense minister, in an interview on CNN. “The weaponry is, of course, to defend our land, to liberate our cities, to protect our citizens, and to protect the future of Europe.”
US TO PROVIDE MORE ADVANCED ROCKET SYSTEMS AND MUNITIONS TO UKRAINE, BIDEN SAYS
BIDEN WILL NOT PRESS UKRAINE TO GIVE UP TERRITORY: Biden described the provision of advanced U.S. weaponry as designed to give Ukraine “the strongest possible position at the negotiating table,” he insisted he will not pressure Ukraine to give up more of its sovereign territory.
“I will not pressure the Ukrainian government — in private or public — to make any territorial concessions. It would be wrong and contrary to well-settled principles to do so,” Biden writes, while suggesting the war could end with something less than the total expulsion of Russian troops from Ukrainian soil.
“As President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has said, ultimately this war ‘will only definitively end through diplomacy.’ Every negotiation reflects the facts on the ground,” Biden says.
Helping Ukraine defend itself in the face of Russia’s unprovoked invasion, Biden argues, is in America’s vital national interest. “If Russia does not pay a heavy price for its actions, it will send a message to other would-be aggressors that they too can seize territory and subjugate other countries. It will put the survival of other peaceful democracies at risk.”
RUSSIA’S TOP COMMANDER IN UKRAINE HASN’T BEEN SEEN IN TWO WEEKS: REPORT
‘NO INDICATION’ RUSSIA PLANS TO USE NUKES: Biden also attempted to tamp down fears that Russia might resort to the use of low-yield “tactical” nuclear weapons under its doctrine of “escalate to de-escalate.”
“We currently see no indication that Russia has intent to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, though Russia’s occasional rhetoric to rattle the nuclear saber is itself dangerous and extremely irresponsible,” Biden writes. “Let me be clear: Any use of nuclear weapons in this conflict on any scale would be completely unacceptable to us as well as the rest of the world and would entail severe consequences.”
PUTIN’S DANGEROUS NUCLEAR DOCTRINE: A LICENSE TO KILL
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HAPPENING TODAY: President Joe Biden takes part in an 11 a.m. change of command ceremony at U.S. Coast Guard headquarters as Adm. Linda Fagan is sworn in as commandant, becoming the first female officer to lead a branch of the U.S. armed forces.
Fagan takes over from retiring Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas also delivers remarks. Livestream at https://www.uscg.mil/changeofcommand/
ALSO TODAY: NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has arrived in Washington for two days of meetings with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
Stoltenberg and Blinken will have a joint news conference at the State Department at 10:45 a.m., according to NATO. Tomorrow, he meets with Austin at the Pentagon and speaks at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.
NATO CHIEF TRAVELING TO DC TO MEET WITH TOP BIDEN OFFICIALS
TALKING TURKEY: Stoltenberg’s visit comes as NATO ally Turkey is threatening to veto the aspirations of Finland and Sweden to join the Western alliance, citing the Nordic nation’s support of a group Turkey considers terrorists and their imposition of defense export restrictions against Turkey.
The U.S. and the rest of NATO are anxious for the two democracies to join as a rebuke to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who announced that one of his goals in invading Ukraine was to curb eastern expansion of NATO. But the 30-member alliance operates by consensus, meaning a single nation could block the accession of the two new members.
In an op-ed in the Economist, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Finland and Sweden should not be admitted to NATO unless it recognizes the threat Turkey faces from Kurdistan Workers’ Party, known as the PKK, extradites people Turkey has accused of terrorism, and lifts arms embargoes against Turkey.
“It is unfortunate that some members fail to fully appreciate certain threats to our country. Turkey maintains that the admission of Sweden and Finland entails risks for its own security and the organization’s future,” Erdogan writes. “We have every right to expect those countries, which will expect NATO’s second-largest army to come to their defense under Article 5, to prevent the recruitment, fundraising and propaganda activities of the PKK, which the European Union and America consider a terrorist entity.”
“Furthermore, Turkey stresses that all forms of arms embargoes — such as the one Sweden has imposed on my country — are incompatible with the spirit of military partnership under the NATO umbrella,” Erdogan argues. “Unless they take necessary steps, Turkey will not change its position on this issue.”
IS NORTH KOREA ABOUT TO TEST ANOTHER NUKE? The White House has been bracing for a possible new nuclear weapons test from North Korea, and the Biden administration says it will push for additional U.N. sanctions if a test is conducted.
The White House thought North Korean leader Kim Jong Un might order the test while Biden was traveling in Asia, but it didn’t happen. “Our intelligence does reflect the genuine possibility that there will be either a further missile tests — including a long-range missile test or a nuclear test or, frankly, both,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters May 18.
Last week, China and Russia vetoed a U.N. resolution to impose new sanctions on North Korea for its recent missile tests. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said she was “beyond disappointed” the 15-member security council would not unite behind the U.S.-sponsored resolution. “That failure rests on China and Russia alone.”
Asked yesterday if the U.S. would seek new sanctions should North Korea conduct another nuclear test, Thomas-Greenfield replied, “We absolutely will.”
WHITE HOUSE PREPARED FOR NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR TEST DURING PRESIDENTIAL VISIT TO ASIA
A WORD ABOUT ‘IRON MAN’ KIRBY: Friday was retired Rear Adm. John Kirby’s last day as Pentagon press secretary. Kirby had been a Pentagon and State Department spokesman during the Obama administration and returned to the Pentagon at the beginning of the Biden administration.
From the outset, Kirby set a new standard for the number and frequency of Pentagon briefings, and recently, during the war in Ukraine, he briefed the media almost every day. That was a welcome departure from the Trump years, when Pentagon briefings were few and far between.
Kirby took the job vowing to uphold the Defense Department’s Principles of Information, which pledge “timely and accurate information so that the public, the Congress, and the news media may assess and understand the facts about national security and defense strategy.”
I’m not sure Kirby ever forgave me for mentioning that a popular conservative radio talk show host had dubbed him “Kabul Kirby” (a play on the notorious “Baghdad Bob” of the 2003 Iraq invasion) for his overly optimistic assessment of the Afghan ability to fight the Taliban after U.S. troops departed.
But the indefatigable Kirby was an iron man at the podium and on cable outlets, one of the most energetic and accessible spokespersons in recent memory. There have been many able Pentagon briefers over the 30 years I’ve covered the building (Pete Williams and Ken Bacon immediately come to mind), but Kirby left some big shoes to fill.
He’s now the White House national security council coordinator for strategic communications and will “serve as a senior administration voice on related matters, including as appropriate at the White House podium,” according to a statement.
INCOMING FLAK: PENTAGON’S NEW SPOKESMAN AN OLD HAND FACING NEW REALITY IN ‘POST-TRUTH’ AGE
The Rundown
Washington Examiner: US to provide more advanced rocket systems and munitions to Ukraine, Biden says
Washington Examiner: Ukrainian forces withdrawing from key city in Donbas mostly under Russian control
Washington Examiner: NATO chief traveling to DC to meet with top Biden officials
Washington Examiner: Two Russian soldiers sentenced for ‘violating the laws of war’ in Ukraine
Washington Examiner: SEE IT: Russian soldier gives drone middle finger before it drops bomb
Washington Examiner: Russia’s top commander in Ukraine hasn’t been seen in two weeks: Report
Washington Examiner: Taiwan’s president ‘planning cooperation’ with US National Guard
Washington Examiner: ‘Slaughter of innocents’: Biden and New Zealand leader discuss domestic extremism
Washington Examiner: Russian airstrike on chemical plant sends toxic smoke into the air: Reports
Washington Examiner: Russia to return 152 Ukrainians’ bodies after accusing ‘Nazis’ of planting mines
Washington Examiner: Top Gun takes aim at China with Taiwanese flag on Maverick’s jacket
AP: Germany to send Kyiv anti-aircraft missiles, radar systems
AP: Denmark holds referendum on EU defense amid Ukraine war
Washington Post: Russia seizes half of key Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk; E.U. bans most Russian oil
Defense News: With Food Crisis Looming, Milley Says Using Military To End Russian Blockade Would Be ‘High Risk’
AP: 5 Missiles Hit Iraqi Base Hosting US Troops; No Casualties
Breaking Defense: UN talks on space norms surprisingly collegial, but fireworks to come: Sources
Air Force Magazine: Space Force Finally Rolls Out Cyber Standards for Commercial SATCOM Providers
Politico: Time is Ticking to Replace the Pentagon’s 1970s-era Doomsday Planes
AP: Federal regulators say they will keep closer eye on Boeing
Air Force Magazine: Air Force Changes T-38 Formation Approach After Instructor Pilots’ Poor Communication Led to 2021 Fatal Crash
South China Morning Post: China’s Third Aircraft Carrier ‘To Be Launched On Dragon Boat Festival’
Task & Purpose: Marine Pilot Awarded For Harrowing Landing After Mid-Air Collision Takes Out Two Engines
New York Times: Putin’s Shadow Soldiers: How The Wagner Group Is Expanding In Africa
Bloomberg: U.S. Warms to Defense Talks With China, Dropping Protocol Dispute
Military Times: VA hospital denied emergency care to dying vet because staff couldn’t verify his military service
Army Times: Sexual misconduct prevention in the Army is ‘disjointed’ and ‘unclear,’ watchdog says
The Dispatch: Opinion: Don’t Let Iran Humiliate the IAEA Again
19fortyfive.com: Could Israel Really Destroy Iran’s Nuclear Facilities in a Strike?
19fortyfive.com: How Much of a Threat are Iran’s Drones?
19fortyfive.com: Top Gun: Maverick Imagines a World Where Stealth Fighters Don’t Work
19fortyfive.com: A Chinese Invasion of Taiwan: What Ukraine and Wargames Can Teach Us
Calendar
WEDNESDAY | JUNE 1
8:45 a.m. — George Washington University Project for Media and National Security Defense Writers Group conversation with Amb. Julianne Smith, U.S. permanent representative to NATO https://nationalsecuritymedia.gwu.edu
9:30 a.m. — The U.S. Institute of Peace virtual discussion: “Exposing Atrocities in Ukraine: The Relationship Between Reporting and Accountability,” with former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor, USIP vice president for Russia and Europe; Chuck Todd, host of NBC’s “Meet the Press”; and George Moose, chair of the USIP Board of Directors https://www.usip.org/events/exposing-atrocities-ukraine
10 a.m. — American Security Project virtual discussion: “War in Ukraine,” with retired Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, former NATO supreme allied commander https://www.americansecurityproject.org/event/war-in-ukraine
11 a.m. — Foreign Affairs magazine online event: “The evolution of American foreign policy and the challenges facing the world today,” with Secretary of State Antony Blinken; and Foreign Affairs Editor Daniel Kurtz-Phelan https://www.state.gov/
11 a.m. — McCain Institute virtual discussion: “A 21st Century Iron Curtain? Looking at the Future of NATO,” with Estonian Undersecretary for Defense Planning Tiina Uudeberg; and Bulgarian Deputy Minister of Defense Yordan Bizhilov https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-21st-century-iron-curtain
11 a.m. 214 Massachusetts Avenue N.E. — Heritage Foundation discussion on “key indicators for capacity, capability, and readiness in the U.S. Air Force,” with Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall. https://www.heritage.org/defense/event/conversation
12 p.m. — Woodrow Wilson Center Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies virtual discussion: “The Echo of Chechnya in Russia’s War with Ukraine,” with Thomas de Waal, senior fellow at Carnegie Europe; Anna Neistat, legal director at the Clooney Foundation for Justice’s The Docket; Anna Nemtsova, Moscow correspondent at the Daily Beast; and William Pomeranz, acting director at the WWC Kennan Institute https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/echo-chechnya
12 p.m. — Atlantic Council virtual book discussion: “Oil, the State, and War: Global energy security after the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” with author Emma Ashford, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Center for Strategy and Security https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/oil-the-state-and-war
2 p.m. — Atlantic Council virtual discussion: “How Powerful is Xi Jinping?” with Ling Li, lecturer in the University of Vienna’s Department of East Asian Studies; Victor Shih, associate professor at the University of California San Diego; Jessica Teets, associate professor of political science at Middlebury College; and Neil Thomas, analyst for China and Northeast Asia at the Eurasia Group https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/how-powerful-is-xi-jinping/
THURSDAY | JUNE 2
7:15 a.m. 2425 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, Va — Association of the U.S. Army “Coffee Series” discussion with Gen. Paul Funk, commander of the Army Training and Doctrine Command https://www.ausa.org/events/ausa-coffee-series
8 a.m. 1700 Tysons Blvd., McLean, Va — Potomac Officers Club 2022 Navy Summit on “critical modernization and fleet readiness initiatives, with Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro https://potomacofficersclub.com/events/2022-annual-navy-forum
9 a.m. — Center for a New American Security virtual discussion: “Revitalizing the U.S.-Philippines Alliance,” with former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea retired Adm. Harry Harris; Patrick Cronin, Asia-Pacific security chair at the Hudson Institute; Satu Limaye, vice president of the East-West Center; Brian Harding, senior expert on Southeast Asia at the U.S. Institute of Peace; and Henry Howard, director of the U.S.-Philippines Society https://www.cnas.org/events/virtual-report-launch
9 a.m. — Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies virtual discussion: “How the Space Force is planning to address the threats of today and tomorrow,” with Space Force Lt. Gen. William Liquori, deputy chief of space operations, strategy, plans, programs, requirements, and analysis https://mitchellaerospacepower.org/event/schriever-spacepower-forum
11 a.m. 1740 Massachusetts Ave. N.W. — Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies discussion with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-conversation-with-jens-stoltenberg
2 p.m. — Foundation for Defense of Democracies virtual discussion with National Cyber Director Chris Inglis; retired Navy Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, senior director of the FDD’s Center on Cyber Technology Innovation and former executive director of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission (CSC); and Samantha Ravich, chair of the FDD’s Center on Cyber Technology Innovation and former CSC commissioner https://www.fdd.org/events/2022/06/02/strengthening-americas-cyber-resiliency
2:30 p.m. — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin welcomes NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to the Pentagon.
3 p.m. — Virtual Pacific Climate Forum of the Americas with U.S. Southern Commander Gen. Laura Richardson https://iamericas.org/pacific-climate-forum
FRIDAY | JUNE 3
9 a.m. — U.S. Institute of Peace virtual discussion: “Preventing Mass Atrocities in Afghanistan: How the U.S. and International Community Can Protect Hazaras and other Vulnerable Afghans,” with State Department Special Envoy for Afghan Women, Girls and Human Rights Rina Amiri; Farkhondeh Akbari, postdoctoral fellow at the Monash University Gender, Peace and Security Center; Lauren Baillie, senior program officer for atrocity prevention at USIP; Shukria Dellawar, legislative and policy manager for the prevention of violent conflict at the Friends Committee on National Legislation; Naomi Kikoler, director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Center for the Prevention of Genocide https://www.usip.org/events/preventing-mass-atrocities-afghanistan
TUESDAY | JUNE 7
TBA — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin departs for Singapore and Bangkok, Thailand, Singapore Austin will take part in the International Institute for Strategic Studies 19th “Shangri-La Dialogue.” https://www.defense.gov/News/Advisories
TUESDAY | JULY 19
Aspen Meadows Resort, Colorado — Aspen Strategy Group three-day (19-22) Aspen Security Forum with Air Force Chief of Staff Charles Q. Brown; former Defense Secretary Robert Gates; 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://www.aspensecurityforum.org
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I can’t say that every day up here was pleasant, but I can say that I felt, anyway, every day I was up here was meaningful, and that’s not because of me, it’s because of you, it’s because of the questions you asked and the way you pushed and prodded and not only did your outlets proud but I think you did the American people proud. And I was proud to have a little piece of it, even if it was just for 18 months.”
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby, bidding farewell to the Pentagon press corps Friday.
