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From the SitRoom to the E-Ring, the inside scoop on defense, national security and foreign policy. | | | | |  | | By Alexander Ward , Matt Berg and Lawrence Ukenye | | 
“I certainly hope that they get to the point where they see that this is in Israel's best interest also and join in helping Ukrainians,” Rep. Michael Turner said. | Mariam Zuhaib/AP Photo | With help from Andrew Desiderio, Daniel Lippman and Lara Seligman Subscribe here | Email Alex | Email Matt The top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee is “personally disappointed” that Israel won’t provide Ukraine with weapons. Rep. MICHAEL TURNER (R-Ohio), who also serves on the House Armed Services Committee, told reporters Monday that Israel could provide Ukraine with air defenses that would help Kyiv fend off the threat from Russian missiles and Iranian drones. “We have never seen, since Bosnia, this level of absolute murderous thuggery against innocent civilians,” he said in response to a question on Israel’s role from NatSec Daily. “This is the time for all democracies and all individual countries that have a moral compass to stand together against this type of brutality.” “I certainly hope that they get to the point where they see that this is in Israel's best interest also and join in helping Ukrainians,” Turner continued. Moments earlier, Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY appealed to Israel in a prerecorded video at the Haaretz Democracy Conference, and suggested that Russia will provide “assistance” to Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for lethal drones. “If we had immediately secured our skies when faced with a missile and drone threat, Russia would not even have a motive now to go to Iran and offer it something in exchange for assistance in terror,” he said. Despite the pleas, Israel has shown no signs of changing its stance. Israeli Defense Minister BENNY GANTZ, citing “ operational limitations ,” told his Ukrainian counterpart OLEKSII REZNIKOV Monday that Jerusalem won’t send weapons to Kyiv. Turner was part of a three-member congressional delegation to Ukraine over the weekend. The Republican joined two Democrats on HPSCI, Reps. JIM HIMES (D-Conn.) and ERIC SWALWELL (D-Calif.), for meetings with U.S. and Ukrainian officials in Kyiv, including Zelenskyy. Himes told NatSec Daily that the intelligence partnership between Washington and Kyiv is “very strong.” What he wants to avoid, though, is a situation in which Ukraine shuts out the Biden administration when it’s planning an operation the U.S. finds unnecessary or overly provocative. “Some of the [Ukrainian] leadership wants to take it to Russia everywhere, all the time, without conditions,” Himes said. “The United States has an interest in making sure that a tactical victory doesn't lead to some strategic catastrophe, whether that's the use of a tactical nuclear device [by Russia] or the turning of public opinion against the Ukrainians. There’s a very delicate dance happening inside that partnership between the U.S. and Ukraine.”
| | | | NEW AND IMPROVED POLITICO APP: Stay up to speed with the newly updated POLITICO mobile app, featuring timely political news, insights and analysis from the best journalists in the business. With a fresh look and improved features, the sleek and navigable design offers a convenient way to access POLITICO's scoops and groundbreaking reporting. Don’t miss out on the app you can rely on for the news you need, reimagined. Already a POLITICO app user? Upgrade today! DOWNLOAD FOR iOS – DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID . | | | | | | | | PM SUNAK INHERITS A MESS: As RISHI SUNAK prepares to be Britain’s third prime minister in seven weeks, the 42-year-old former hedge fund manager will have to manage the U.K.’s array of economic issues that have sent the country sliding into recession. On Monday, Sunak made clear that he’s well aware of the problems he must address when he takes office: “The United Kingdom is a great country, but there is no doubt we face a profound economic challenge,” he said in his first public statement. Sunak’s historic ascension to the top came four days after LIZ TRUSS suddenly resigned from the post. His rivals for the job, former Prime Minister BORIS JOHNSON and House of Commons leader PENNY MORDAUNT, both stepped aside in recent days. That cleared the way for Sunak, the former finance minister, to take the helm as the first person of color and Hindu to serve in the post, and the youngest British prime minister in more than two centuries. Read: BEN JUDAH’s revealing Sunak profile for Tatler . ‘DIRTY BOMB’ BEEF: Foreign officials swiftly rejected unsubstantiated claims from Russian Defense Minister SERGEI SHOIGU over the weekend that Ukraine could be preparing to use a “dirty bomb” as a provocation . Shoigu made the claim during phone calls with his counterparts in the U.S., United Kingdom, France and Turkey on Sunday, according to the Russian defense ministry. Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of plans to detonate “dirty bombs,” which are explosive devices that scatter radioactive waste, though they aren’t nearly as destructive as nuclear weapons. Officials from the United Kingdom, France and the U.S. denounced Shoigu’s claims as an attempt to escalate the war. In a statement, White House National Security Council spokesperson ADRIENNE WATSON called the Russian official’s claims “transparently false allegations,” saying “the world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation.” NATO Secretary General JENS STOLTENBERG told our own LILI BAYER that Russia’s claims were “absurd.” “What makes us concerned is that this is part of a pattern we have seen before from Russia — in Syria, but also at the start of the war, or just before the war started in February. And that is that Russia is accusing others [of] doing what they intend to do themselves,” he continued. AMERICAN DIPLOMACY WEAK: Our own NAHAL TOOSI spent months looking at how China and the United States wield their diplomatic power. What she found: “America’s approach to diplomacy could prove its biggest weakness” in the global competition. China focuses on “commercial diplomacy,” promoting trade deals and infrastructure projects, which is attractive to countries in Latin America and Africa that seek economic growth. American diplomats, meanwhile, traditionally eschew the commercial element, hamstringing their ability to advocate for a foreign country to have stronger ties to Washington, not Beijing. “The Chinese are not in Africa to teach rice paper painting,” PATRICIA MOLLER , a former U.S. ambassador to Guinea and Burundi who now does private sector work on the continent, told Toosi. “They’re in Africa to support the business undertakings of Chinese investment. That’s why they’re there. And it’s a very pointy spear that the Chinese have.” Toosi’s bottom line: “Many countries find that China is a willing partner when the United States is not. China appears intent on winning hearts and minds while the United States comes across as arrogant.” Your move, Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN. XI’S ECONOMIC WOES: As Chinese leader XI JINPING begins another five years leading the country, tightening his grip on the ruling party, he’ll have to manage China’s tanking economy that he has so far been unable or unwilling to fix, our own PHELIM KINE reports . For all its reputation as an economic juggernaut, China is struggling. Its economic growth is slowing due to several factors, including Xi’s zero-Covid strategy to inflation related to the war in Ukraine, according to the World Bank. The Chinese Communist Party has kept hold of power in part because of decades of consistent economic expansion, but if Xi can’t continue to make good on that promise, it could threaten his grip on power. China is struggling under the leader’s “disastrous economic policies and a series of dangerous structural imbalances, including a declining birth rate, an inadequate social safety net and the CCP’s long ago decision to correlate its political legitimacy with China’s economic growth rate,” said ALEX GRAY, former chief of staff at the National Security Council and senior fellow with the American Foreign Policy Council. IT’S MONDAY: Thanks for tuning in to NatSec Daily. This space is reserved for the top U.S. and foreign officials, the lawmakers, the lobbyists, the experts and the people like you who care about how the natsec sausage gets made. Aim your tips and comments at award@politico.com and mberg@politico.com , and follow us on Twitter at @alexbward and @mattberg33 . While you’re at it, follow the rest of POLITICO’s national security team: @nahaltoosi , @woodruffbets , @politicoryan , @PhelimKine , @BryanDBender , @laraseligman , @connorobrienNH , @paulmcleary , @leehudson , @AndrewDesiderio , @magmill95 , @ericgeller , @johnnysaks130 and @Lawrence_Ukenye .
| | A message from Lockheed Martin: Our mission is to prepare you for the future by engineering advanced capabilities today.
Many of today’s military systems and platforms were designed to operate independently. Through our 21st Century Security vision, Lockheed Martin is accelerating innovation, connecting defense and digital to enhance the performance of major platforms, to equip customers to stay ahead of emerging threats. Learn more. | | | | | | SHAHEDS DOWN: Ukraine has shot down more than two-thirds of the roughly 330 Iranian-made Shahed drones Russia has deployed toward the country, according to Ukraine’s intelligence service head KYRYLO BUDANOV, the Associated Press’ ANDREW MELDRUM reports . Russian forces have ordered about 1,700 drones of various types in total, with another 300 Shaheds being readied for use now, Budanov told the Ukrainska Pravda newspaper on Monday. In the interview, the intelligence head also claimed Russian troops aren’t preparing for an immediate exit of Kherson, a strategic city illegally annexed by Putin that Ukrainian forces are poised to retake. Statements from Russian Gen. SERGEI SUROVIKIN that suggested an evacuation were aimed at “preparing the ground” in the event that his troops are forced out, Budanov said. SHOTS FIRED: The dueling Koreas exchanged warning shots after a North Korean merchant ship crossed the not-so-well drawn sea boundary between the two countries early Monday, the Associated Press reports . When South Korea’s navy saw the ship, they fired the shots to signal a violation of the boundary, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Ten rounds of artillery were fired right back, North Korean military officials said, accusing a South Korean navy ship of crossing into their waters. South Korea is scheduled to hold its next round of field exercises Friday. Military drills have been held recently as a defensive precaution, Seoul and Washington say, though North Korea views them as a rehearsal for invasion.
| | | INTELLIGENCE INCOMING: An internal intelligence bulletin that includes details of potential cyber threats posed by China and Russia will be released this week, two people familiar with the matter told our own ERIN BANCO and ERIC GELLER . The bulletin will also outline threats by non-state actors to election officials in jurisdictions across the country, coming as top Biden national security officials track multiple threats to election security infrastructure ahead of the midterms. ALBANIA’S PM IN ISRAEL: Albanian Prime Minister EDI RAMA is on day two of a three-day visit to Israel where he's meeting with Israeli cyber officials in light of both countries’ concerns about Iran's cyber operations, Voice of America reports. Israeli Prime Minister YAIR LAPID met with Rama and said both countries plan to work together to counter cyber threats in what Israel considers a "national interest and historical obligation." Albania suffered a July cyberattack that crippled the country's public services, forcing the country to suspend all diplomatic ties with Iran and ultimately prompting sanctions from Washington. The NATO ally considered invoking Article Five following the attack. Governments haven't defined what constitutes a major cyberattack and the thresholds for when and how to respond to one, though that likely includes some intentional ambiguity in order to evaluate cases individually before triggering Article Five.
| | | | JOIN WOMEN RULE THURSDAY FOR A TALK WITH DEPARTING MEMBERS OF CONGRESS: A historic wave of retirements is hitting Congress, including several prominent Democratic women such as Illinois Rep. Cheri Bustos, House Democrats’ former campaign chief. What is driving their departures? Join POLITICO on Oct. 27 for “The Exit Interview,” a virtual event that will feature a conversation with departing members where they'll explain why they decided to leave office and what challenges face their parties ahead. REGISTER HERE . | | | | | | | | BUMP IN THE … SKY: Boeing officials are trying to keep production of the Air Forces’ new combat trainer on schedule and on budget after developmental delays, National Defense’s MEREDITH ROATEN reports . The new T-7A Red Hawk jets, which rolled off the production line this year, will replace the aging T-38 Talons as Boeing eyes initial operating capability for 2024. Company officials struck a similar tune to other suppliers in the past couple years, placing blame on the pandemic for bumps in the road. Covid-19 caused delays “which had a ripple effect on scheduled deliveries and production,” said PAUL NIEWALD , vice president of Boeing T-7 Programs. Other technical issues pushed part of the production process to November 2023, such as when the company found an issue with wing rock in the design during high angle of attack testing.
| | | PELOSI TO VISIT CROATIA: Speaker NANCY PELOSI will represent the U.S. at the First Parliamentary Summit on the International Crimea Platform in Zagreb, Croatia. The summit will meet tomorrow for the first time after the platform was launched last year. Pelosi will speak with heads of state about restoring Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. “I look forward to discussing how we can further support Ukraine – because the fight for Ukraine is the fight for democracy itself,” Pelosi said in a statement ahead of the trip. The event marks another example of how Pelosi has been an active and outspoken voice in U.S. efforts to counter Russia and China. Pelosi's congressional delegation to Taiwan inflamed tensions with Beijing and led to live-fire exercises being conducted near the self-governing island. ‘WILD, WILD WEST OF SPENDING’: Rep. Turner, mentioned earlier, also told reporters that if the Biden administration asks Congress for more Ukraine funding in December, the House GOP might put up a fight. “The problem with Ukraine funding support in the House is not Ukraine. It’s all the things that are being attached to it that have nothing to do with Ukraine,” he said Monday. “The end-of-year funding in Washington is going to be the Wild, Wild West of spending, especially if the Republicans win the House.” Republicans would resist Democrats’ efforts in the lame-duck session to pack “unrelated” items into the year-end funding bill before they lose their House majority, as is widely expected, Turner said. Republicans would also seek to streamline the aid process if they take control of the chamber in January, without resulting in a cut to a critical lifeline for the U.S. ally, he said. CALLING FOR CEASEFIRE: A group of 30 Democratic lawmakers, led by Rep. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-Wash.) wrote a letter urging President JOE BIDEN to pursue direct negotiations with Russia to end the war in Ukraine, The Washington Post ’ s YASMEEN ABUTALEB reports.
| | | |   | | | | | | IS BIDEN THE BUTT OF THE JOKE?: Saudi Crown Prince MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN privately pokes fun at Biden’s gaffes and questions his mental acuity, The Wall Street Journal’s STEPHEN KALIN, SUMMER SAID and DION NISSENBAUM report , citing people inside the Saudi government. MBS, who is more than four decades younger than the president, has told advisers that he also isn’t very impressed with Biden’s performance since his time as VP, saying that he liked former President DONALD TRUMP much more. Trump notably had a closer relationship to the Saudis than Biden, who has been more adversarial in recent years. In an interview, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince FAISAL BIN FARHAN denied that the crown prince had made fun of Biden or expressed his favor of Trump. “These allegations made by anonymous sources are entirely false,” the foreign minister told the Journal. “The kingdom’s leaders have always held the utmost respect for U.S. presidents, based on the kingdom’s belief in the importance of having a relationship based on mutual respect.” U.S. QATAR EMBASSY NEEDS WORLD CUP LIFT: TIM DAVIS, the U.S. ambassador to Qatar, was worried his staff wasn’t excited enough about the upcoming World Cup. So he took matters into his own hands .
| | | — CAITLIN DURKOVICH has been promoted to deputy homeland security adviser for resilience and response at the NSC. — JASON TAMA has been promoted to senior director for resilience at the NSC. — MICHELLE SCHEIN has been promoted to be senior foreign policy adviser for Rep. GRACE MENG (D-N.Y.). She most recently was foreign affairs and defense legislative assistant for Meng.
| | | — JOHN BOLTON, POLITICO: No wonder the Brits voted Leave — Sen. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL and JEFFREY SONNENFELD, Foreign Affairs: The Saudis Need a Reality Check — MARIANA BUDJERYN, The Boston Globe: Factoring the human dimension of Putin’s takeover of Ukraine’s nuclear power plant
| | | — The Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association Northern Virginia Chapter, 8 a.m.: "Naval IT Day 2022: Transforming and Accelerating for Naval Dominance Enabling Future Force Design" — The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, 9 a.m.: "Spacepower Security Forum" — The Atlantic Council, 9 a.m.: "Turmoil and transition: Iraq twenty years after the invasion" — The Atlantic Council, 9 a.m.: European perspectives on Russian-Chinese strategic convergence — Washington Post Live, 9 a.m.: “Leadership During Crisis: Polish Prime Minister on war in Ukraine and European energy crisis” — The Middle East Institute, 10 a.m.: “The Troubling Reality Behind the UN’s Procurement Contracts in Syria” — American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 10 a.m.: “ 2022 ASCEND Conference ” — The Henry L. Stimson Center, 10 a.m.: "Subcontinent Adrift – Strategic Future of South Asia" — The National Committee on North Korea, 12 p.m.: "Korean Peninsula Nuclear Update." — The Institute for Defense and Government Advancement, 1:30 p.m.: "Getting Beyond Disruption: The Future of Logistics" — The Wilson Center, 2 p.m.: Unpacking the 2022 US National Strategy for the Arctic Region Have a natsec-centric event coming up? Transitioning to a new defense-adjacent or foreign policy-focused gig? Shoot me an email at award@politico.com to be featured in the next edition of the newsletter. Thanks to our editor, Heidi Vogt, who also inherited a mess when she took over editing this newsletter. And we thank our producer, Jeffrey Horst, for dealing with our craziness.
| | A message from Lockheed Martin: Our mission is to prepare you for the future by engineering advanced capabilities today.
Many of today’s military systems and platforms were designed to operate independently. Through our 21st Century Security vision, Lockheed Martin is accelerating innovation, connecting defense and digital to enhance the performance of major platforms, to equip customers to stay ahead of emerging threats. Learn more. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
