USA: priorità a Kyiv su difesa aerea; Mark Rutte prossimo segretario NATO 🗞️ Rassegna 21/06/2024

NATO

(Bloomberg) Rutte Clinches NATO Top Job After Romanian Leader Drops Bid

• Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte secured the unanimous support of NATO members to become the next head of the military alliance after Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said he was withdrawing as the only other candidate still in the running.
• Iohannis said he had flagged to allies last week that he would drop out, according to a presidential statement published on Thursday, which also said that the Black Sea nation now supported the outgoing Dutch leader to helm the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
• Rutte’s path was cleared when Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban backed him after receiving a written pledge to respect a deal made with Stoltenberg, giving Budapest an opt-out from the alliance’s commitments to Ukraine. 
• Rutte now has the support of NATO’s 32 members to succeed current Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, whose mandate is set to expire in October.

Ucraina

USA - Ucraina:

(Associated Press) US will redirect air defense inceptor missiles to Ukraine that other allies had on order

• The White House announced Thursday that it will rush delivery of air defense interceptor missiles to Ukraine by redirecting planned shipments to other allied nations, as Washington scrambles to counter increased Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
• The U.S. was already sending Ukraine a consistent stream of interceptors for its air defense systems, including for the Patriot missile batteries and the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, or NASAMS. But Kirby said that more was urgently needed as Russia’s military has accelerated missile and drone attacks against cities and infrastructure centers “trying to destroy Ukraine’s energy system ahead of this winter.”
• The number of interceptors to be sent isn’t clear but Kirby said it could involve “hundreds” of Patriot interceptor missiles. [He] said Ukraine will get prioritized shipments as soon as systems roll off assembly lines for the next about 16 months, and those will provide the country with “enough capability” during that period.
• Kirby said the move means “a range of countries” will face delays in receiving missile systems that are being diverted to Ukraine but that the shift would not affect Taiwan or what it “continues to need and receive for self-defense” in the face of potential threats from China.

Russia - Corea del Nord - Corea del Sud - Ucraina:

(Associated Press) South Korea will consider supplying arms to Ukraine after Russia and North Korea sign strategic pact

• South Korea said Thursday that it would consider sending arms to Ukraine, a major policy change that was suggested after Russia and North Korea rattled the region and beyond by signing a pact to come to each other’s defense in the event of war.
• According to the text of the deal published by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA, if either country gets invaded and is pushed into a state of war, the other must deploy “all means at its disposal without delay” to provide “military and other assistance.” But the agreement also says that such actions must be in accordance with the laws of both countries and Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, which recognizes a U.N. member state’s right to self-defense.
• South Korea, a growing arms exporter with a well-equipped military backed by the United States, has provided humanitarian aid and other support to Ukraine, while joining U.S.-led economic sanctions against Moscow. But it hasn’t directly provided arms to Kyiv, citing a longstanding policy of not supplying weapons to countries actively engaged in conflict.
• Speaking to reporters in Hanoi, where he traveled after Pyongyang, Putin said Thursday that supplying weapons to Ukraine would be “a very big mistake” on South Korea’s part. If that happens, Putin said that it would lead to “decisions that are unlikely to please the current leadership of South Korea.”

Russia

USA - Russia:

(Reuters) Biden bans US sales of Kaspersky software over Russia ties

• The Biden administration on Thursday announced plans to bar the sale of antivirus software made by Russia's Kaspersky Lab in the United States, citing the firm's large U.S. customers, including critical infrastructure providers and state and local governments.
• Moscow's influence over the company was found to pose a significant risk, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on a briefing call with reporters [...] The software's privileged access to a computer's systems could allow it to steal sensitive information from American computers or install malware and withhold critical updates, enhancing the threat, a source added.
• The new restrictions on inbound sales of Kaspersky software, which will also bar downloads of software updates, resales and licensing of the product, kick in on Sept. 29, 100 days after publication, to give businesses time to find alternatives. New U.S. business for Kaspersky will be blocked 30 days after the restrictions are announced.
• Sales of white-labeled products — that integrate Kaspersky into software sold under a different brand name — will also be barred, the source said, adding that the Commerce Department will notify companies before taking enforcement action against them.
• The Commerce Department will also entity list two Russian and one UK-based unit of Kaspersky for allegedly cooperating with Russian military intelligence to support Moscow's cyber intelligence goals.
• Kaspersky's Russian business is already subject to sweeping U.S. export restrictions over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. But its UK-based unit will now be effectively barred from receiving goods from American suppliers.

Politica internazionale

Medio Oriente

Arabia Saudita:

(The Guardian) More than 1,000 hajj pilgrims die amid temperatures approaching 52C in Mecca

• The death toll from this year’s hajj has exceeded 1,000, with more than half of the victims unregistered worshippers who performed the pilgrimage in extreme heat in Saudi Arabia.
• The new deaths reported on Thursday included 58 from Egypt, according to an Arab diplomat who provided a breakdown showing that of 658 Egyptians who died, 630 were unregistered pilgrims.
• About 10 countries have reported 1,081 deaths during the pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam which all Muslims with the means must complete at least once.
• The national meteorological centre reported a high of 51.8C (125F) this week at the Grand Mosque in Mecca.
• Saudi authorities reported clearing hundreds of thousands of unregistered pilgrims from Mecca this month, but it appears many still participated in the main rites which began last Friday. This group was more vulnerable, because without official permits they could not access air-conditioned spaces provided for the 1.8 million authorised pilgrims to cool down.