RUSSIA A ‘NYET’ ON PUTIN ZELENSKY TALKS: No sooner had Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky floated the idea of a face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to break the impasse over the ceasefire than the Kremlin shot down the idea, again signaling an intent to fight on into the fall.
Speaking to reporters last week, Zelensky suggested that “a meeting at the level of leaders” is likely the only way to find a negotiated way to end the war. “It won’t work any other way with them,” Zelensky said.
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Moscow immediately rejected the idea, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov blaming Ukraine for rejecting diplomacy and insisting Putin would only meet with Zelensky once Ukraine had agreed to a settlement that meets Russia’s demands.
“A summit meeting can and should put an end to the settlement and formalize the modalities and agreements that are to be worked out in the course of expert work,” Peskov said, indicating President Donald Trump’s 50-day deadline, which ends Sept. 2, is unrealistic. “Is it possible to complete such a complex process in 30 days? Obviously, it is unlikely.”
“Russia has repeatedly articulated that it seeks regime change in Ukraine, a fundamental restructuring of NATO’s open-door policy, and the reduction of Ukraine’s military such that Ukraine cannot defend itself in the future,” the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said in its latest battlefield assessment. “ISW continues to assess that Russia aims to continue delaying the negotiation process so as to make additional gains on the battlefield and extract concessions from Ukraine and the West.”
TRUMP: ‘IT’S GOING TO HAPPEN’: In remarks before departing for Scotland on Friday, Trump told reporters that eventually Putin and Zelensky will have to sit down together. “It’s going to happen. But it should have happened three months ago. It’s going to happen.”
At the same time, he seemed to acknowledge that Putin was ignoring his threat of new sanctions aimed at restricting Russia’s oil and energy revenues, and that “maybe” he’d have to impose the sanctions sooner. “We’re looking at that whole situation. It could be that we’ll have to impose secondary sanctions on you,” Trump said, meaning Putin.
“I think the President has made that abundantly clear. He’s losing his patience. He’s losing his willingness to continue to wait for the Russian side to do something here to bring an end to this war,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week.
“Since January of this year, over 100,000 Russian soldiers – just on the Russian side – have been killed. It’s a bloody conflict with a lot of death and destruction. A lot of this engagement has been really about playing for time and sort of delay tactics to make it look like they’re interested in peace but not really serious about it.”
UKRAINE’S STRATEGY: HOLD THE LINE, PROTECT THE SKIES: Russia continues its almost daily aerial attacks on Ukrainian cities while its ground forces primarily conduct “slow, grinding infantry assaults,” according to the ISW. In both the air and the land Russia meets with Ukraine’s formidable drone defenses, especially Ukraine’s home grown “interceptor drones,” which continue to form the backbone of its air defenses.
“Ukraine’s unmanned systems units, Army and Air Force aviation, anti-aircraft gunners, air defense forces, and mobile fire groups all worked tirelessly throughout the night,” Zelensky said this morning on X. “In total, just in this one night alone, our sky defenders intercepted several hundred Russian attack drones. Our unmanned defenses delivered strong results against ‘Shaheds’ — dozens of Russian drones were shot down. Several missiles were also intercepted overnight. Unfortunately, not all of them — there were also hits.”
Ukraine’s strategy boils down to three main objectives: increasing the effectiveness of its air defenses with additional systems provided by European allies and its own domestic drone production; holding the front lines by limited Russian troops to costly, small incremental gains; and counter-attacking Russia’s defense infrastructure with drone and missile attacks deep inside Russian territory, with the hopes of wearing Putin down.
“Now is precisely the moment when pressure needs to be put on Russia, so strong that next year there is no war. They must realize that they will not be able to wait it out. Sanctions must effectively strip Russia of its potential. We are working to achieve this,” Zelensky said Saturday in a video address. “The enemy’s losses — economic losses — are truly being felt, and they will be felt even more.”
US GRANTS POLAND $4 BILLION LOAN FOR MILITARY EQUIPMENT
Good Monday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Christopher Tremoglie. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow me on Threads and/or on X @jamiejmcintyre.
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HAPPENING TODAY: President Donald Trump continues his working golf vacation in Scotland today, with a planned meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Yesterday, between nine-hole rounds of golf on his historic Turnberry course with U.S. ambassador to Britain Warren Stephens, Trump worked out a trade deal with the European Union, setting tariffs at 15%.
“Mostly, I’m just going to charge tariffs. And you know, it’s not a deal per se, but people are going to pay tariffs. And we’re doing them at the low end, not the high end, because we don’t want to hurt anybody,” Trump said as he sat down with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen at Turnberry.
Video posted on social media showed Trump, dressed in black, with a white “USA” cap, driving a golf cart, followed by what appeared to be an up-armored golf cart. While around Scotland the streets were filled with protestors, security was tight at Turnberry.
TRUMP ANNOUNCES EU TRADE DEAL WITH 15% TARIFFS
MORE QUESTIONS ABOUT TRUMP’S QATARI AF1: The Secretary of the Air Force recently told Congress that converting the luxury 747 President Trump acquired from Qatar into a suitable Air Force One would cost only $400 million.
But a report by the New York Times suggests the oft-cited expert opinion that the retrofit would likely cost close to $1 billion. Funds for the makeover of the former flying palace are coming from the Pentagon Sentinel ICBM program, the replacement for the aging Cold War-era Minuteman III missiles that form the land leg of the nuclear triad.
Citing “congressional budget sleuths,” the New York Times notes “a mysterious, $934 million transfer of funds,” “slipped into an obscure Pentagon document” for “an unnamed classified project.”
Critics in Congress have accused the Trump administration of underestimating the cost to taxpayers of the “free” plane while hiding the true cost behind claims that the required retrofit is classified so as not to reveal vulnerabilities the plane may have to adversaries.
As demonstrated by the lengthy delays afflicting the two Boeing 747 ordered during Trump’s first term, converting planes designed initially as commercial airliners to meet Air Force One specifications is a costly process fraught with complications.
During a recent House Armed Services Committee markup of the National Defense Authorization Act, Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA) expressed skepticism that somehow “we can just wave a magic wand and voila, the Qatari jet will be ready in a couple of years.”
“How can that be? How can it be? Is there something that will not be done, or is there just everything that will not be done?” Garamendi said. “I suppose we’ll change the interior and paint it gold and call it good enough. But the security and the necessary communications and the necessary defense mechanisms … cannot possibly be done in a year, a year and a half. It makes no sense.”
Some aviation experts have suggested that, for the plane to be available to Trump while he’s still in office, only minimal changes would be made to its luxurious interior appointments and that its use might be limited to the United States.
To compensate for the lack of chaff dispensers and other defense systems, the temporary Air Force One could be escorted by fighter jets, adding additional costs to the president’s frequent travel.
“We’re spending nearly a billion dollars in taxpayer funds to retrofit a foreign gift for the president’s private use,” said Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA). “And to be clear, we don’t even need this plane. We are already paying Boeing almost $4 billion to build two next-gen Air Force One jets that will be ready in just a few years.”
Cartoonist Gary Trudeau, an inveterate Trump critic, lampooned the expensive gift in his Sunday Doonesbury strip, noting that Trump hopes to have the plane donated to his presidential library after he leaves office.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
THE RUNDOWN:
Washington Examiner: US grants Poland $4 billion loan for military equipment
Washington Examiner: US forces conduct raid in Syria, kill senior ISIS leader
Washington Examiner: UK, Germany, France hold call on Gaza after Macron says he’ll recognize Palestinian state
Washington Examiner: DHS starts deportation flights of illegal immigrants from ‘Alligator Alcatraz’: DeSantis
Washington Examiner: Graham suggests Israel take Gaza by force and ‘start over’ like US did in Tokyo and Berlin
Washington Examiner: Thai and Cambodian leaders to meet in Malaysia for talks to end deadly border dispute
Washington Examiner: Houthis to attack all ships that work with Israeli ports
Washington Examiner: Trump laments donations to Gaza are “getting stolen by Hamas”
Washington Examiner: Unusual DOD deal to take stake in rare earth supplier seen as key to China competition
Washington Examiner: North Korea rejects South Korean efforts to ease geopolitical tensions
Washington Examiner: Voters in Taiwan reject bid to oust China-friendly lawmakers recall vote
AP: Thailand and Cambodia agree to ‘immediate and unconditional’ ceasefire, Malaysian PM says
New York Times: A Clash Over a Promotion Puts Hegseth at Odds With His Generals
Washington Post: Hegseth team told to stop polygraph tests after complaint to White House
Washington Post: Binge, borrow and deal: Europe digs deep to buy U.S. arms for Ukraine
Reuters: Musk ordered shutdown of Starlink satellite service as Ukraine retook territory from Russia
New York Times: What Will It Cost to Renovate the ‘Free’ Air Force One? Don’t Ask.
CBS News: Preparations Under Way for Qatari Jet That Will Be Used as Air Force One
Defense News: These Wargames Explored Drone Attacks on US Military Bases
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Air Force Global Strike Boss: Second B-21 to Fly ‘Shortly’
DefenseScoop: CNO Nominee Adm. Caudle Warns F/A-XX Delays Could Jeopardize Navy’s Air Superiority
Breaking Defense: Navy Begins Inducting T-45 Trainer Aircraft for Service Life Extensions
Defense One: Pentagon Will ‘Open the Door’ to More Companies for Next Major Cloud Contract
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Air Force Creates New Deputy Chief Role for Cyber and Comms
Defense News: Germany, France to ‘Clarify’ FCAS Project by Year-End as Firms Bicker
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Al Udeid’s Beloved Pizza Cat Is Alive and Safe, Base Says
THE CALENDAR:
MONDAY | JULY 28
10 a.m. — Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies virtual discussion: “The dramatic transformation occurring within the NRO,” with Space Force Maj. Gen. Christopher Povak, NRO deputy director; and retired Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton, explorer chair of the Mitchell Institute Spacepower Advantage Center of Excellence https://www.mitchellaerospacepower.org/events/maj-gen-chris-povak/
12 p.m. 1700 H St. N.W. — George Washington University Project for Media and National Security Defense Writers Group lunch discussion: “Artificial Intelligence and Democracy: Global Perceptions, Political Impacts and National Security Implications,” with Dritan Nesho, CEO, HarrisX, a Washington-based public opinion research, analytics, and strategy firm email RSVP: [email protected].
4:30 p.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. NW — Hudson Institute discussion: “What Taiwan Can Learn from Ukraine’s Battlefield Experience,” with former CIA Director David Petraeus, chairman of KKR Global Institute https://www.hudson.org/events/david-petraeus-what-taiwan-can-learn-ukraines-battlefield-experience
TUESDAY | JULY 29
9:30 a.m. SVC-217, U.S. Capitol — The Senate Armed Services Committee receives a CLOSED briefing on Operation Midnight Hammer. http://www.armed-services.senate.gov
9:30 a.m. — Heritage Foundation discussion: “ICE Pact: The Icebreaker Collaboration Effort and Arctic Security Conversation,” with Joseph Alm, acting assistant Homeland Security secretary for trade and economic security; Brent Sadler, senior research fellow at the Allison Center for National Security; and Wilson Beaver, senior policy adviser at the Allison Center for National Security https://www.heritage.org/defense/event/ice-pact-the-icebreaker
1 p.m — Carnegie Endowment for International Peace virtual discussion: “Threat Politics: Promise and Peril,” with Ryan Hass, director of the Brookings Institution’s China Center; Dominic Tierney, professor at Swarthmore College; Rachel Myrick, associate professor at Duke University; Brett Rosenberg, nonresident scholar at the CEIP American Statecraft Program and author of The Promise and Peril of Threat Politics; Leonardo Martinez-Diaz, director of the CEIP Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics Program; and Christopher Chivvis, director of the CEIP American Statecraft Program https://carnegieendowment.org/events/2025/07/threat-politics
WEDNESDAY | JULY 30
9 a.m. 490 L’Enfant Plaza SW — Day one of the National Transportation Safety Board three-day investigative hearing on the Jan. 29 mid-air collision between a PSA Airlines CRJ700 regional jetliner and a U.S. Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport https://www.youtube.com/user/NTSBgov
10 a.m. — Middle East Institute virtual discussion: “Iran and the 12-Day War: Strategic Fallout and Future Trajectories,” with Arash Azizi, contributing writer, The Atlantic and author of What Iranians Want: Women, Life, Freedom; Holly Dagres, Washington Institute for Near East Policy senior fellow; Siamak Namazi, Iranian-American businessman and former U.S. hostage in Iran; and Alex Vatanka, MEI senior fellow https://www.mei.edu/events/iran-and-12-day-war-strategic-fallout
1 .p.m. — Center for a New American Security virtual discussion of a new report, “The Axis of Upheaval: Gauging the Growing Military Cooperation Among Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea,” with Karim Sadjadpour, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace senior fellow; Andrea Kendall-Taylor, director, CNAS Transatlantic Security Program; Richard Fontaine, CNAS CEO; and David McKenzie, CNAS communications director https://www.cnas.org/events/virtual-event-new-axis-of-upheaval
3:30 p.m. 301 Russell — McCain Institute discussion: “Post-War Pathway: Principles for U.S.-Russia Relations After Ukraine,” with Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY); and Dan Twining, president, International Republican Institute https://www.mccaininstitute.org/resources/events/post-war-pathway
THURSDAY | JULY 31
8 a.m. 7920 Jones Branch Dr., McLean, Va. — Potomac Officers Club Air and Space Summit, with Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy, military deputy to the assistant Air Force secretary for space acquisition and integration at U.S. Space Force; Space Force Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. Michael Guetlein; and Missile Defense Agency Director Lt. Gen. Health Collins; and https://www.potomacofficersclub.com/events/2025-air-and-space-summit/
9 a.m. 490 L’Enfant Plaza SW — Day Two of the National Transportation Safety Board three-day investigative hearing on the Jan. 29 mid-air collision between a PSA Airlines CRJ700 regional jetliner and a U.S. Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport https://www.youtube.com/user/NTSBgov
12 p.m. — RAND Corporation virtual discussion: “Restoring U.S. and Allied Military Power and Influence,” with David Ochmanek, RAND senior international/defense researcher; and Anu Narayanan, associate director of the RAND National Security Research Division https://www.rand.org/events/2025/07/restoring-us-and-allied-military-power
1 p.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual discussion: “Breaking Out of Quarantine: Wargaming a Chinese Blockade of Taiwan,” with Matthew Cancian, associate professor at the U.S Naval Academy; Eric Heginbotham, principal research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for International Studies; and Mark Cancian, senior adviser, CSIS Defense and Security Department https://www.csis.org/events/breaking-out-quarantine
2:30 p.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE — Heritage Foundation and Conference of Christian Presidents for Israel discussion: “Peace Through Strength: U.S. Policy on Israel and the Middle East,” with Rev. Johnnie Moore, executive chairman of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation https://www.heritage.org/middle-east/event/peace-through-strength
FRIDAY | AUGUST 1
9 a.m. — Final day of the National Transportation Safety Board three-day investigative hearing on the Jan. 29 mid-air collision between a PSA Airlines CRJ700 regional jetliner and a U.S. Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport https://www.youtube.com/user/NTSBgov
10 a.m. — National Institute for Deterrence Studies virtual seminar: “No New Start: Renewing the U.S.-Russian Deal Won’t Solve today’s Nuclear Dilemmas,” with Rick Edelman, counselor, Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments; and Frank Miller, principal at the Scowcroft Group https://thinkdeterrence.com/events/no-new-start