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Europe
European Commission
01/10/2025 Ahead of the informal gathering of EU leaders in Copenhagen on Wednesday, the European Commission had released a so-called Scoping Paper in which it outlined, among other ideas, four flagship projects it believes need to be financed and implemented as a matter of urgency. These include a European drone wall, an Eastern Flank Watch, an Air Defence Shield and a Defence Space Shield. The European Commission chief, der Leyen’s services are set to deliver a roadmap for defence in two weeks that will build on the discussions leaders had on Wednesday and outline capability targets with a view for them to take decisions at a formal summit later this month. The 27 leaders briefly exchanged ’about the Commission’s proposal to issue a €140 billion to Kyiv based on the cash balances of Russia’s frozen assets,’ the bulk of which is today held at Euroclear, a central securities depository based in Brussels, ’to reinforce financial and military assistance to Ukraine’. The plan is still in early stages: ’Ukraine would be asked to repay the loan’ only after Moscow agrees to compensate for the damages caused. ’Afterwards, the Commission would repay’ Euroclear, and Euroclear would repay Russia, completing the circle. The blueprint has been met with the resistance of Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, who, during the debate between leaders, took the floor and expressed legal and technical concerns. One key question for Belgium is risk management: how any eventual pitfall, default or lawsuit would be handled ’collectively by the bloc’ without leaving the country, as Euroclear host, to fend for itself. Belgium cannot be the only member state that is carrying the risk, but ’the risks have to be put on broader shoulders,’ der Leyen said at the end of the meeting, (Source: Euronews - based in Lyon, France)
Australia
October 2, 2025 11:37 'Amid mounting tensions between China and the West', the U.S. has approved the sale of more High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) to Australia, a key U.S. ally and part of Washington's island chain strategy, which the Pentagon sees as critical to containing China's military in the event of an Asia-Pacific conflict. The U.S. State Department approved the $705 million deal after Australia had requested to buy 48 HIMARS systems. The package would also include resupply vehicles, trailers, practice rocket pods, intercom systems, spare parts and other equipment, adding to Australia’s previous order of 42 HIMARS launchers. This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States. Canberra is part of AUKUS - the security pact with the U.S. and U.K.-and hosts rotational U.S. Marine deployments in the Northern Territory city of Darwin. Australia is one of only a handful of U.S. allies to carry out transits through the Taiwan Strait in support of freedom of navigation amid ongoing cross-strait tensions. Canberra is the third government in the region, after Singapore and Taiwan, to operate the multiple rocket launcher, which has proven effective in Ukraine‘s defense against invading Russian forces with a land indirect strike of more than 400 kilometers. (Source: Miami Herald / Newsweek = U.S.)
North America
United States
Oct 2, 2025 Despite the bellicose rhetoric often emanating from the White House and Capitol Hill, don’t be surprised if the two sides reach a pragmatic deal; China and the US are now so evenly matched that the Trump administration may decide it is better to figure out a way to cooperate in certain areas, including advanced technology, than to slug it out. (Source: Semafor - U.S.)
October 2, 2025 ' A new report warns the U.S. nuclear arsenal is dangerously outdated and too small to confront growing global threats - and recommends nearly tripling the number of deployed American warheads by 2050. The report argues that America’s current force of about 1,750 deployed nuclear weapons leaves the nation vulnerable in an era when Moscow, Beijing, and Pyongyang are all expanding their arsenals at breakneck speed. China alone is building 100 new nuclear weapons a year, according to the Pentagon, and is on track to reach strategic parity with the U.S. by the mid-2030s. The report, authored by Peters of Heritage’s Allison Center for National Security, proposes that Washington expand its force to roughly 4,625 operationally deployed nuclear weapons by 2050. That number would include about 3,500 strategic warheads - carried by intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), ballistic missile submarines, and bombers - and about 1,125 non-strategic weapons, such as gravity bombs and theater-range missiles. It comes amid warnings that Moscow maintains thousands of non-strategic nuclear weapons in Europe, outnumbering U.S. stocks by as much as ten to one, while China races to deploy stealth bombers, submarine-based missiles and even orbital strike systems. North Korea already possesses about 90 warheads and continues testing missiles that can reach the U.S. homeland. Peters’ proposal envisions a modernized force including new Sentinel ICBMs, Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines, nuclear-capable B-21 stealth bombers, long-range cruise missiles and theater-range hypersonic weapons. It lays out a plan for regional nuclear allocations in each theater, with the largest number of assets, 3,200 warheads, being placed under Northern Command and focused on homeland defense. Some 750 warheads would be placed in Europe and 675 in the Indo-Pacific region. Peters made a call for nuclear capabilities to be placed in South Korea. The report also calls for nuclear capabilities to be deployed forward to Finland and Poland, a proposal that would cut strike times down from hours to minutes. Nuclear weapons are currently hosted in Italy, Germany and the Netherlands - bases chosen in the Cold War when they sat just 150 miles from the Soviet front line. But Russia’s front line has now moved 800 miles east. ' "Trump very understandably doesn't like nuclear weapons," Peters said. "Tremendous amounts of money are being spent on nuclear, and the destructive capacity is something we don’t even want to talk about today, because you don’t want to hear it," Trump mused in remarks to the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, in February. "I want to see if we can denuclearize, and I think it’s very possible," suggesting talks on the issue between the U.S., Russia and China. President Putin announced Russia would suspend its participation in the New START treaty in 2023 over U.S. support for Ukraine. In September, Russia proposed a one-year extension of the New START treaty, which technically expires in 2026, but the White House has yet to respond to that proposal. China has never engaged in negotiations with the U.S. over arms reduction. North Korea has rejected any suggestion of denuclearizing from the U.S. (Source: Fox News - U.S.)
02/10/2025 The US is set to provide Ukraine with intelligence to support long-range strikes on energy infrastructure targets deep inside Russia, 'according to US outlets'. 'US officials reportedly said the intelligence will allow Ukraine to target refineries, pipelines, power stations and other infrastructure far from its borders'. Washington is urging NATO allies 'to follow suit and expand similar cooperation'. (Source: Euronews - based in Lyon, France)
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