To follow the headlines this week, one needed simply to follow the movements of Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. The two American envoys arrived in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday for the fourth round of trilateral talks between Washington, Moscow, and Kiev, bringing with them a plan to “create the conditions for a sovereign, secure, and prosperous Ukraine within a more stable European security environment,” according to Kushner at least.
Conspicuous in their absence were the Europeans themselves, who at this point had yet to decide whether they should even speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin in the first place. At a meeting with Putin in Moscow on Thursday, Witkoff and Kushner managed to secure the EU a seat at the table in the next round of discussions. However, as RT explained, ‘Europe’ is split into squabbling camps of realists, maximalists, and fantasists, all vying for control of the peace process.
EU deadlock in Dublin
Witkoff and Kushner left Moscow for Dublin on Thursday, where Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky and his European backers were meeting for the European Political Community (EPC) and EU leaders’ summits. Their arrival at Baldonnel Aerodrome in the Irish capital was a more stripped-back affair than the welcome they received at the Kremlin, but Zelensky was likely unbothered: he had already bilked tens of millions of euros worth of energy-related aid from his patrons, who used the Dublin gathering to reaffirm their unconditional loyalty to Kiev.
Witkoff, Kushner, and now Zelensky are losing their patience with the Europeans. “We need to choose who will represent Europe in the negotiations,” he said on Wednesday, before issuing his ultimatum. This decision, he demanded, must be made “no later than the end of November.”
In true Brussels fashion, EU leaders decided on Friday that the continent will be represented at future talks by national security advisers from France, Germany, Italy, Poland and the UK, and by the European Commission and Council at leader-level discussions. With all three European factions – realists, maximalists, and fantasists – represented, and seven voices in the mix, European Council President Antonio Costa dismissed questions about potential clashes among the group.
“It is essential to have a team,” he said, yet “to speak with one voice.”
Jensen Huang’s position at the helm of US chipmaking giant Nvidia made him one of the world’s most powerful billionaires. His weakness for the opposite sex, however, apparently made him a target for foreign intelligence agencies. Huang admitted on Sunday to an extramarital affair with an unnamed woman, who was quickly named in the media as Alice Huang, a Chinese tech executive and no relation to Jensen. US spies reportedly believe that Ms. Huang was recruited by China’s Ministry of State Security to gather information about Nvidia and influence over its CEO.
Beijing has dismissed the allegations as “a groundless accusation, slander, and a smear,” and US President Donald Trump has stuck by the embattled executive, describing Huang as “an amazing guy” and “a high-quality person.”
Trump’s endorsement couldn’t stop the scandal from snowballing. As memes about the “honeypot” allegations flooded the internet, a second affair was revealed on Wednesday, and Huang resigned on Thursday, right after he was summoned to testify before Congress.
Iran threatens ‘hell’
The Republican Party’s devastating midterm election loss and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s shrinking odds of staying in power have placed the two principal antagonists of the war on Iran in limbo. If White House leaks are to be believed, Netanyahu wants Trump to restart attacks, and a conversation between the two descended into a “shouting match from hell” over the weekend.
Trump has acknowledged that the war cost his party the midterms, but the US president has rejected a deal with Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and instructed Vice President J.D. Vance – a moderate on Iran – to cease negotiations and focus on domestic issues. Whether these moves represent preparations for renewed conflict remains unclear, but Iran is taking no chances.
This week, Tehran lifted its self-imposed 2,000km limit on the range of its ballistic missiles and threatened to unveil “surprises… on the battlefield” if a new round of military confrontation erupts. Should the US and Israel “choose war,” they will “see our alert and battle-hardened Warriors rain down hell,”Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned in a social media post.
Trump’s war on Iran may have dealt a generational defeat to the Republican Party, but he is not the only American president paying a price for siding with Israel. Joe Biden’s trip to Ireland was interrupted when pro-Palestinian protesters lobbed cartons of milk at the former president outside Dublin’s Trinity College on Tuesday.
Biden, whose son Hunter had just received an honorary award from the university, was met with chants of “blood on your hands” and “Genocide Joe” as he left the campus. Irish police were seen wrestling activists to the ground, and two people were pepper-sprayed and arrested.
Biden was in office when Hamas militants attacked Israel in October 2023, prompting the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to launch a full-scale assault on Gaza. Biden vetoed multiple UN Security Council resolutions calling for a ceasefire, expedited the sale of military equipment to the IDF, and transferred just under $18 billion in military aid to Israel, on top of the $3.8 billion sent annually since 2016.
Biden’s “role in the genocide of the Palestinian people is well-documented,” Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union said in a statement after Tuesday’s protest. The union also called on Trinity to revoke the honorary doctorate awarded to Biden in 2016.
Heading into the weekend, we’re preparing for further unrest across Europe, with protests planned in France, Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic, and strikes next week in France and Spain – all over the rising cost of living across a rapidly militarizing continent.
We’ll also be keeping an eye on the so-called Multinational Force-Ukraine (MNF-U) drills in Poland, which have been running since Monday and conclude next Friday. Held by 11 nations, including France, the UK, and Poland, in preparation for a potential deployment to post-conflict Ukraine, the drills look like an exercise in wishful thinking – Putin has already warned that the presence of foreign troops on Ukrainian soil would be “a recipe for an endless war.” Moreover, they could imperil the EU’s newfound plans to take part in talks with the US, Russia, and Ukraine.
Putin will travel to the Chinese tech hub of Shenzhen to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum on Tuesday, where an historic trilateral meeting between him, Trump, and Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to take place. Ukraine will be high on the agenda when the three heavyweights meet, and we’ll be bringing you live updates and analysis as it happens.
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