What The Hell America!

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at European defense commitments for Ukraine, Israel and Hamas renewing attacks, and opposition arrests in Turkey.

Keeping the Aid Flowing

According to the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin told U.S. President Donald Trump during their phone call on Tuesday that a key condition for a cease-fire with Ukraine would be a freeze on all foreign military aid and intelligence-sharing to Kyiv. Ukraine’s European allies, though, aren’t giving in.

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at European defense commitments for Ukraine, Israel and Hamas renewing attacks, and opposition arrests in Turkey.

Keeping the Aid Flowing

According to the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin told U.S. President Donald Trump during their phone call on Tuesday that a key condition for a cease-fire with Ukraine would be a freeze on all foreign military aid and intelligence-sharing to Kyiv. Ukraine’s European allies, though, aren’t giving in.

On Thursday, the European Council kicked off a two-day leaders’ summit to discuss Ukraine’s war effort and ways to improve the continent’s security. Twenty-six of the European Union’s members agreed to “urgently step up efforts to address Ukraine’s pressing military and defence needs.” Hungary was the exception, as pro-Russian Prime Minister Viktor Orban opposes the bloc’s “peace through strength” strategy.

NATO intelligence estimates that Moscow could be capable of launching a “large-scale war” on Europe within five years. With that in mind, European countries are beginning to rally behind calls for increased defense spending. On Thursday, Spain pledged to reach NATO’s 2 percent defense spending requirement before its original commitment of 2029; Madrid recorded the lowest spending threshold of any NATO member in 2024, with defense expenditures worth just 1.28 percent of its GDP.

“Ukraine is currently the frontline of European defence, resisting a war of aggression driven by the single greatest threat to our common security,” according to a European defense blueprint titled Readiness 2030 that was released on Wednesday. “The outcome of that war will be a determinative factor in our collective future for decades ahead.”

This security strategy commits Europe to providing Ukraine with air defense systems, missiles, and drones; at least 2 million rounds of large-caliber artillery shells each year; and continued front-line training. At the same time, dozens of European military chiefs gathered in London on Thursday to discuss a possible peacekeeping force as part of the British- and French-proposed “coalition of the willing.”

All this comes as Russian and Ukrainian forces continue to launch attacks. According to Moscow’s Defense Ministry, its air defenses shot down 132 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory on Wednesday night into Thursday. One such drone hit a major airfield that houses the Kremlin’s so-called White Swan heavy strategic bombers, injuring at least 10 people and triggering a massive fire.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also accused Russia of firing at Ukraine on Wednesday. “Every day and every night, nearly a hundred or more drones are launched, along with ongoing missile attacks,” the Ukrainian president said. His warning follows new intelligence indicating that Ukrainian soldiers in Russia’s Kursk region have lost ground in recent days but are not encircled by enemy forces, as the Kremlin and Trump have suggested.

Kyiv announced on Thursday that a Ukrainian delegation will meet with U.S. officials in Saudi Arabia next Monday to discuss a Russia-Ukraine cease-fire deal. That same day (though in a separate meeting), U.S. diplomats will also hold talks with Russian officials in Riyadh.

Today’s Most Read

What We’re Following

Deadly strikes in Gaza. Israeli forces continued to bombard Gaza on Thursday, with airstrikes killing at least 91 Palestinians. Residents across the territory have received evacuation orders as Israeli troops push forward ground operations to expand their control of the Netzarim corridor. On Thursday, the Israeli military restored a blockade on northern Gaza, including Gaza City, and warned residents against using the main highway to enter or leave the north.

The fragile cease-fire between Israel and Hamas shattered on Tuesday when Israel launched a large-scale assault on Gaza. More than 400 Palestinians were killed that day—marking the deadliest single day of fighting since November 2023. According to Hamas, at least five of its top leaders in Gaza were among those killed.

Hamas did not retaliate during the first 48 hours of renewed attacks, and on Wednesday, the group said it remained committed to the original cease-fire deal. But that ended on Thursday, when its fighters fired three rockets at Tel Aviv; no casualties were recorded.

Escalating crackdown. Thousands of Turkish residents assembled on Thursday to protest the arrests of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and other prominent opposition figures, defying a four-day government ban on public gatherings. “This immoral and tyrannical approach will undoubtedly be overturned by the will and resilience of our people,” Imamoglu said the day before.

Imamoglu, along with some 100 others, were detained on Wednesday as part of an investigation into alleged corruption and aid to a terrorist organization, which refers to his party’s alliance with a pro-Kurdish group. Critics, however, maintain that the arrests were politically motivated, as Imamoglu was expected to be chosen on Sunday as the opposition party’s nominee for president.

Yet public unrest appears to have only exacerbated Ankara’s crackdown. On Thursday, Turkish officials detained another 37 people for allegedly sharing “provocative” content about Imamoglu’s arrest on social media. And President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s administration said it is looking for another 224 suspects.

More military influence. Indonesia’s parliament unanimously passed a controversial revision to the country’s military law on Thursday, allowing military officers to serve in more government posts without having to resign from the armed forces. A new clause also gives the president the ability to appoint military personnel to other departments as needed.

The government argues that the revision—which is backed by President Prabowo Subianto, a former special forces commander and the son-in-law of former military dictator Suharto—is needed to make the military better able “to face conventional and nonconventional threats,” Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin said, arguing that the existing law (passed in 2004) was outdated.

But student protesters argue that the overhaul is an erosion of the country’s democracy and a return to its authoritarian past. “The essence of democracy is that the military should not engage in politics,” an activist with the Indonesian Association of Families of the Disappeared told the BBC. “Since 1998, there has been a creeping murder of democracy. And today marks its peak. Democracy has been killed by the House of Representatives.”

Odds and Ends

Trying to procrastinate at work with something that feels productive? Check out the Dutch city of Utrecht’s “fish doorbell,” an online livestream that allows viewers to watch fish in the Weerdsluis lock as they make their springtime migration. Although murky water fills the screen much of the time, viewers can alert water workers when they see a fish enter the area; when there are enough fish present, officials will then open the lock to let them swim through.

Yes, FP’s World Brief writer spent much of the day checking on the livestream, but it was for, um, research.