Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at NATO’s Ukraine security promises, South Korea building military lasers, and a full cabinet turnover in Kenya.
Ukraine’s ‘Irreversible’ Path to NATO
The 2024 NATO summit concluded in Washington on Thursday with a resounding call for greater efforts to protect Ukraine. Kyiv is on an “irreversible” path to membership, the bloc formally declared on Wednesday—one that will kick off once its war against Russia ends.
In the interim, NATO announced a series of steps aimed at bolstering Ukraine’s defenses. The alliance said it would provide at least $43 billion in military aid to Kyiv within the next year, but it stopped short of a multiyear commitment that NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg advocated for. The United States, Denmark, and the Netherlands revealed that they have sent the first batch of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, which should be in the skies later this summer. Poland said it will train a unit of Ukrainians living in Poland to be deployed back to Kyiv. And NATO confirmed plans to establish a new command center in Germany aimed at coordinating arms and training logistics for Ukraine.
“We can and will defend every inch of NATO territory, and we will do it together,” U.S. President Joe Biden said on Wednesday. France, Germany, Italy, and Poland agreed on Thursday to jointly develop long-range cruise missiles to address a gap in European defenses that Russia’s war in Ukraine has exposed. And Washington announced on Wednesday that it plans to start deploying longer-range weapons—including Tomahawk, SM-6, and hypersonic missiles—to Germany in 2026.
Despite efforts to counter Russia’s military influence, though, NATO reiterated on Wednesday that it “does not seek confrontation, and poses no threat to Russia,” adding that the alliance remains willing to “maintain channels of communication with Moscow to mitigate risk and prevent escalation.”
Russia was not the only focus of NATO’s ire this week. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol argued on Thursday that the Kremlin’s close ties with North Korea are a “stark reminder of the fact that the European security and the Indo-Pacific security are indivisible.” And on Wednesday, the alliance criticized China for being a “decisive enabler” of Moscow’s war efforts, demanding that Beijing cease all shipments of weapons components and other technological parts that are critical for Russia to rebuild its military.
China “cannot enable the largest war in Europe in recent history without this negatively impacting its interests and reputation,” NATO warned in its official summit communique, though it did not specify what the repercussions would be. For Washington’s part, though, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the United States would continue to impose sanctions on Chinese entities involved in aiding Russia’s effort.
To end the multiday summit, Biden will hold a rare, high-stakes solo press conference on Thursday, where his ability to engage with reporters and answer questions clearly will be closely watched by his domestic political allies and opponents as well as the United States’ foreign allies and adversaries. It will be his first time facing the press alone since November, and it comes amid growing calls for Biden to end his reelection campaign after a poor debate performance in late June raised serious concerns about his stamina and mental acuity. Nine Democratic House members and one Democratic senator have urged Biden to step aside thus far.
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What We’re Following
The StarWars project. South Korea announced on Thursday that it will deploy laser weapons by the end of this year to target North Korean drones. The so-called StarWars project, to be produced by Hanwha Aerospace, is a low-cost system that burns engines or other electronic equipment with beams of light. Each shot fired only costs about $1.50 and is extremely difficult to detect before impact.
“It’s a weapons system that could become a game changer in future battlefields, capable of countering even aircraft and ballistic missiles if we enhance the generated power,” Seoul’s key arms agency said. South Korea will become the first country in the world to deploy and operate laser weapons. North Korea has yet to respond to Seoul’s announcement.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula escalated in December 2023, when Pyongyang fired five drones into South Korea, prompting Seoul to deploy fighter jets and attack helicopters. This was North Korea’s first such intrusion since 2017.
Major cabinet reshuffle. Kenyan President William Ruto dismissed nearly his entire cabinet as well as his attorney general on Thursday following deadly anti-tax protests across the country. The deputy president and foreign affairs minister were not affected. Ruto promised to consult “across different sectors and political formations” to build a new government, though he did not say when it would be formed.
Nairobi is at an “inflection point” that requires action, Ruto said. The recent demonstrations forced the government to abandon legislation that would have implemented high taxes on several goods and services. At least 39 people died in ensuing clashes with police, and many protesters have since called on Ruto to resign.
A full cabinet dismissal is rare in Kenyan politics. Ruto announced a small cabinet reshuffle last October, but the last time that an entire cabinet was dissolved was in 2005, when then-President Mwai Kibaki lost a constitutional referendum vote.
Orban-Trump friendship. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met with former U.S. President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida on Thursday. Orban took over the six-month presidency of the European Union’s Council of Ministers on July 1, and since then, he has met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping as part of a self-described “peace mission”—meetings that have angered his fellow NATO members. One source told Reuters on Thursday that Orban and Trump were expected to discuss Russia’s war with Ukraine.
“Hungary is the extension of Russian foreign policy. At the moment, Orban is Putin’s most useful idiot,” Peter Krekó, a nonresident senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, told FP’s Keith Johnson.
Orban is not the only one worrying fellow NATO members. On Wednesday, Trump said he would not pull the United States out of the alliance; however, he reiterated that he wants other NATO nations to pay more, and Politico reported that Trump is considering reducing the United States’ intelligence-sharing with NATO members if he is reelected in November.
Odds and Ends
In the Chinese zodiac, the year of the snake isn’t until 2025, but it seems to have come early for some Chinese customs officials. Authorities caught a traveler entering Shenzhen, China, on Wednesday trying to smuggle more than 100 snakes in his pants. Carried in six canvas drawstring bags, the snakes came in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Local officials have quite a bit of practice already wrangling these slithering reptiles: In 2023, a woman trying to cross this same checkpoint was caught hiding five snakes in her bra.