1. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Friday agreed to kick off a series of meetings with a summit in South Korea in six weeks, building on efforts to manage a trade war and determine control of the popular TikTok app. Trump announced the plans following what he characterized as a “very productive,” nearly two-hour phone call between the two on Friday, in the second such conversation since Trump returned to the White House. As the leaders seek to manage what is likely the most consequential foreign policy relationship in the world, Trump said that he would visit China early next year and that Xi would reciprocate in the United States “at an appropriate time.” “It was a very good talk. We talked about trade, we talked about war, we talked about a lot of things. We talked about Russia, Ukraine, obviously, and Gaza,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday. We “talked about a lot of subjects. It was a long call. It was a good call. We have a very good relationship.” (Source: washingtonpost.com)
2. President Vladimir Putin has concluded that military escalation is the best way to force Ukraine into talks on his terms and that President Trump is unlikely to do much to bolster Kyiv’s defenses, according to people close to the Kremlin. Russian forces have already stepped up their attacks on military and civilian targets in Ukraine since the two leaders met in Anchorage last month and President Volodymyr Zelenskey rejected Putin’s demand to give up more territory in eastern Ukraine. Putin intends to continue targeting Kyiv’s energy network and other infrastructure, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing sensitive information. The talks in Alaska left Putin convinced that Trump has no interest in intervening in the conflict, they added. (Source: bloomberg.com)
3. NATO jet fighters intercepted Russian war planes that violated Estonia’s airspace Friday, causing the tiny Baltic state to call for formal consultations with members of the Western alliance. The Russian jet fighters were in Estonian airspace for 12 minutes and left after the North Atlantic Treaty Organization aircraft responded, said Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal. It marked the second time in two weeks that a NATO member invoked Article 4 of the alliance’s treaty, triggering formal discussions. (Source: wsj.com)
4. The world’s largest democracy is under siege from systematic vote-rigging by the government of Narendra Modi, the leader of India’s opposition has alleged in an interview with the Financial Times. Rahul Gandhi, scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty that controls the Indian National Congress party, claimed there has been centralized manipulation of the voter rolls to “steal elections”, with the assistance of India’s electoral commission. His remarks mark a breakdown in a sprawling democracy where there have often been allegations of voting irregularities but all parties have historically accepted the results of elections. “We’ve been noticing anomalies in our election system as a political party for a long time,” said Gandhi, accusing the prime minister of the country of 1.4bn people of overseeing the alleged vote-rigging. “The guy at the top of the system has to do it,” he said. (Source: ft.com).
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