My regular update on conflict and confrontation in Ukraine, the Middle East and the Pacific, accompanied by recommended readings on modern war and future conflict.

Ukraine
In the final weeks of the Biden administration, the U.S. government this week provided another large military assistance package for Ukraine. Two separate initiatives, one for $1.25 billion from the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) package and another for $1.21 billion under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) package, were announced.

As the Trump administration nears and speculation grows about what posture it will adopt with regards to a peace settlement for the war in Ukraine, the Ukrainian president discussed NATO membership for Ukraine as part of his New Year address.

And while we don’t yet know what the Trump administration’s approach to the war will be, the Russians are already laying down the elements of their negotiating position. This week, Russia’s envoy to the U.N., Vasily Nebenzya stated that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s team has not presented anything “interesting” to Moscow regarding ending the war in Ukraine. Trump, Vance and Kellogg have their work cut out for them.