Ben Watson and Jennifer Hlad
NATO is boosting its Russia-focused response force nearly eight-fold, from 40,000 troops to “well over 300,000” soon, according to Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who announced the changes Monday in Brussels. The 30-nation alliance is expected to formally adopt the change this week at its summit in Madrid, where leaders will also approve a new strategic document for the next decade, Defense One’s Jacqueline Feldscher reports.
“This constitutes the biggest overhaul of collective defense and deterrence since the Cold War,” Stoltenberg said Monday. “These troops will exercise together with home defense forces, and they will become familiar with local terrain facilities and our new prepositioned stocks, so that they can respond smoothly and swiftly to any emergency,” he said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed G7 leaders remotely on Monday, and asked for air-defense systems first, and economic aid second—including help exporting Ukraine’s available grain to world markets, according to the Associated Press. His message came a day after Russian missiles hit Ukraine’s capital city for the first time in weeks on Sunday. At least one person was killed when four of the missiles hit a nine-story building in Kyiv’s Shevchenkivskyi district, the New York Times reported Sunday. Another 50 or so Russian missiles struck other sites around Ukraine on Saturday. But Zelenskyy said he is in no mood to negotiate an end to the invasion just yet.
G7 leaders’ response: We will support Ukraine “for as long as it takes,” they said in a joint statement on Monday. That includes “financial, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support,” the leaders promised. (Reminder, the G7 includes the U.S., U.K., France, Canada, Italy, Japan, and Germany.) And that support could soon include U.S.-provided air defense systems and “counter-battery radar systems,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters on Monday. CNN reported Sunday that that will include Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems.
On Tuesday, the group’s leaders will announce plans to ban the import of Russian gold, a White House official told reporters Sunday. The shiny rock is the country’s second-largest export after energy. Our colleague Jacqueline Feldscher has more, here.
New: G7 leaders say they’ll raise $600 billion for infrastructure funding to challenge Chinese investment around the world. The money is intended for low- and middle-income countries and it’s expected to span a five-year period. The U.S. is pledging $200 billion in grants and funding, and Europe is pledging about $317 billion, according to Reuters, reporting Monday from the latest G7 leaders’ meeting in southern Germany.
Update: The White House says Russia has defaulted on its debt for the first time since 1918. And now U.S. officials are expecting a double-digit decline in Moscow’s GDP as allied sanctions “continue to sap [Vladimir] Putin’s military-industrial complex of critical components, prevent the central bank’s foreign reserves from propping up an ailing economy and deprive Putin of the resources he needs to wage his war,” according to the White House.
Bigger picture: The default isn’t “expected to cause any immediate ripple effects in markets or Russia’s economy,” the Wall Street Journal reports. However, “Because Russia has the money and intent to pay, its default is expected to pose unique legal challenges.” Reuters has a bit of economic history of Russian defaults, here. (And we anticipated the development in a recent podcast with Paul Poast of the University of Chicago, here.)
Also new: U.S. Treasury officials will add new blocking sanctions targeting Russia’s defense supply chains beginning Tuesday. State-owned defense enterprises, defense research organizations, and “dozens of other defense-related entities and individuals” will be targeted with the goal of slowing “Russia’s ability to replace the military equipment it has already lost during its brutal war against Ukraine,” administration officials said Monday. Tiny bit more in a White House fact sheet, here.
NATO to Approve ‘Biggest Overhaul’ Of Defense Since Cold War, Leader Says // Jacqueline Feldscher: The alliance’s response force is to grow from 40,000 to 300,000 troops, Stoltenberg announced.
G7 To Ban Import of Russian Gold as Bombs Hit Kyiv Kindergarten // Jacqueline Feldscher: Groups like the G7 and EU have played a critical role in punishing Moscow for its invasion and cushioning the war’s global effects, experts said.
‘Matter of National Security’: Democratic Veterans, Advocates Call For Codifying Right To Abortion // Jacqueline Feldscher: “Now that women in uniform have lost their reproductive rights, our country's fighting force is hindered and our security is at risk,” said a former Army helicopter pilot running for Congress.
US Sending Patrol Boats to Help Ukraine Control Its Rivers // Tara Copp: Vessels plus Harpoons could also help defend Odesa port, defense official says.
Budding Spies Might Not Get Weeded Out for Past Drug Use // Courtney Bublé: Activists say this would be a practical step to help ensure all the best candidates are getting considered for intelligence jobs.
Boeing Wants More Money For New Air Force One, USAF Official Says // Marcus Weisgerber: The company is looking for loopholes in its $4 billion contract.
Defense Business Brief // Marcus Weisgerber: Defense Business Brief: College students solving Pentagon problems; Congress panel adds money to DOD budget; New European battle tank; and more.
Welcome to this Monday edition of The D Brief, brought to you by Ben Watson with Jennifer Hlad. If you’re not already subscribed to The D Brief, you can do that here. And check out other Defense One newsletters here. On this day in 1905, Russian sailors mutinied aboard the battleship Potemkin during the Russo-Japanese war, where Russian losses just one month prior in the Battle of Tsushima had tanked morale and cost Moscow six battleships and the loss of 5,000 men. The mutiny lasted until the second week of July, when its sailors had exhausted their supplies and surrendered the ship to Romania in exchange for asylum in the port city of Constanța.
Iran test-launched a rocket that can carry a satellite, the country’s state media announced over the weekend. The spokesman for Iran’s defense ministry said the 25.5-meter-long rocket can carry a 485-pound satellite to collect data in low-earth orbit, the Associated Press reported Sunday. The White House called the decision to launch “unhelpful and destabilizing,” AP writes, noting that it comes as talks resume on the 2015 U.S.-Iran nuclear deal. Iranian media believe those talks will take place in Qatar, according to Reuters. More details, here. Related reading:
NEXT STORY: It’s Time to Base Fifth-Gen Fighter Jets on Guam, INDOPACOM Chief Says
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.
Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active
We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.
Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies
Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link
If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.
Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.
If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page. Save Settings
A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:
We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.
We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.
We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.
We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.
We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.
We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.
Help us tailor content specifically for you: