The President's Daily Brief - June 17th, 2024: Ukraine Peace Efforts, Deadly Day in Gaza, & an ‘Unmanned Hellscape’

Episode Date: June 17, 2024

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief:   Just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin presented his vision for a resolution to the war in Ukraine, 80 nations signed on to a letter asserting that sustainable peace can only be secured if Ukraine's territorial integrity remains intact. We'll turn to the conflict in Gaza where Israel sustained its most deadly single day since January as the IDF announces a tactical pause on its offensive. We’ll shift our focus to the Taiwan Strait and revelations that a quote “unmanned hellscape” could await China if it chooses to attempt an invasion of the island nation. Lastly, in today’s Back of the Brief, another ISIS-linked incident in Russia as inmates, some already convicted of terrorism offenses, take hostages inside a Russian prison.   To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. Email: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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I'm Mike Baker. Your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. Just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin, you remember him, well, just days after he presented his fairly ridiculous vision for a resolution to the war in Ukraine, a war which he, of course, started, 80 nations signed onto a letter asserting that sustainable peace can only be secured if Ukraine's territorial integrity remains intact. The dueling statements, highlight that Russia and Ukraine are still miles apart on any potential peace plan. Well, that would be because Putin is living in an alternative reality. Later, we'll turn to the conflict in Gaza, where Israel sustained its most deadly single day since January, as the IDF announces a tactical

pause on its offensive. Then, we'll shift our focus to the Taiwan straight and revelations that a, quote, unmanned hellscape could await China. if it decides to attempt an invasion of the island nation. And finally, in today's back of the brief, another ISIS-linked incident in Russia, as inmates, some already convicted of terrorism offenses, take hostages inside a Russian prison. And spoiler alert, it didn't end well for the ISIS inmates. But first, today's PDB spotlight. As we reported last week, President Putin issued his demands for a lasting peace in Ukraine.

After the rest of the world had a well-deserved chuckle over Putin's demands, Ukraine and dozens of other nations have now issued their response. During a two-day peace summit held in Switzerland this weekend, oh, that sounds like fun, 80 nations and representatives, including Ukraine, signed a communique, reaffirming their commitment to the country's sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity. They emphasized that disputes must be resolved peacefully and condemned the use of force against any state's territorial integrity or political independence.

Well, all that should do it, right? That's going to create world peace. The communique highlighted three crucial areas, nuclear safety, food security, and the treatment of prisoners of war. Firstly, it stressed that nuclear installations, including Ukraine's Zapparizia plant, must operate safely under Ukraine's control and in line with international standards. It stated that Russia's continued threat or use of nuclear weapons in the conflict is unacceptable. Yeah, so take that, Putin. Secondly, it underscored the importance of Ukraine's food security, calling for safe navigation in the black and Azov seas, and condemning attacks on merchant ships and ports. Finally, the communique called for the release in exchange of all prisoners of war and the return

of deported and unlawfully displaced Ukrainian children and civilians. The leaders believe that peace requires dialogue and concrete actions guided by the principles of the United Nations Charter. Okay. Signatories of the communique included the U.S., Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Canada, and Japan. However, not every attendee signed on to the letter. Around two dozen nations, including India, which, frankly, refines a lot of Russian oil, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa, refused to go along. Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Faharan al-Sad, said that any credible talks would need to involve, quote, difficult to compromise. Hmm, there's a statement of the obvious. Also absent

was China, and that's a surprise, which skipped the summit dismissing the event as, quote, feudal. Well, they may not be wrong there. According to reports, China is lobbying for its own alternative peace plan, while, of course, at the same time, helping to prop up Russia's economy and providing military support to Putin. Russia, of course, was not invited to attend. Now, late last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin outlined his own plan for peace, promising that Russia would immediately order a ceasefire in Ukraine

and begin negotiations with Kiev if Ukrainian leaders abandoned their bid to join NATO, hand over the entirety of four Ukrainian provinces to Moscow, and unconditionally withdraw all troops from their front lines. Oh, is that all? Putin's demands were called manipulative and absurd by Kiev, and were met with derision by many world leaders. Now, in looking at this peace summit, honestly, besides giving world leaders a chance to vacation in Switzerland for a couple days, and who doesn't want that, the idea that they gathered together to produce a letter calling for peace, well, it's a perfect example of the useless diplomacy. They could have saved the jet fuel and carbon emissions and done a Zoom call.

And the White House sent Vice President Kamala Harris to represent the U.S. government. Now, I don't want this to sound, I don't know, cynical or wrong, but sending Harris to a serious gathering of world leaders to discuss a global crisis is like taking a knife to a gunfight. During the gathering, the Italian Prime Minister, Georgia Maloney, described Putin's terms as, quote, propaganda, adding that if Russia does not agree to Ukraine's terms, we will force it to surrender, end quote.

Germany's chancellor, Olaf Schultz, had a similar negative reaction to Putin's proposal. In an interview with German media, he said, quote, what Putin is ultimately proposing is to legitimize his imperialist raids, end quote. All right, coming up after the break, the IDF announces a tactical pause in its rafa offensive just hours after it sustains its deadliest single day of combat since January. Plus, a U.S. commander in the Pacific reveals the U.S. military's plan to create a, quote, hellscape to thwart a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan.

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Subscribe now at Bloomberg.com. Welcome back. Turning now, to the conflict in Gaza, where Israeli soldiers faced a costly weekend. In the deadliest single incident for the Israeli army since January, eight soldiers were killed in an explosion in southern Gaza on Saturday. The soldiers were returning from an overnight operation in the Tal-Sultan neighborhood of Rafa, when an armored vehicle they were traveling in was hit by a major blast around 5.15 a.m. local time. According to a preliminary investigation by the IDF, an initial blast detonated

explosive engineering material leading to the mass casualties. The incident occurred during a broader operation targeting the Tal al-Sultan area, which has been a key focus for Israeli forces in recent weeks. Now, the Al-Qasam brigades, Hamas's armed wing, claimed responsibility for the attack, stating they had fired a rocket at the armored vehicle after setting up an ambush. Three other IDF soldiers were killed in a separate incidents across the Gaza Strip, bringing the weekend's total to 11. Speaking of the incidents, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said, quote, today we paid another heartbreaking price in our just war for the defense of the homeland.

With deep sorrow in heavy mourning, I bow my head together with all the citizens of Israel and mourn the fall of our heroic warriors, end quote. To date, Israel says 308 of its soldiers have been killed in the invasion of Gaza in total. Now, hours after the deadly incident, the Israeli military announced a tactical pause in its offensive in the southern Gaza Strip to allow the delivery of more humanitarian aid. The army said the pause would begin in the Rafa area at 8 a.m. local time and remain in effect until 7 p.m. It said the pause would begin in the rafa area at 8 a.m.m. It said the pause would begin in the pause. would take place every day until further notice. That 11-hour window would allow for the increased

delivery of humanitarian aid after UN agencies suspended the use of the U.S. Bill Pier on the Gaza coast. The IDF was quick to note that the pauses did not mean an end to the Israeli military's ongoing offensive. In a statement posted to X, IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said, quote, there is no cessation of fighting in the southern Gaza Strip and the fighting in Rafa continues, end quote. Okay, shifting our attention now to the Taiwan Strait. The U.S. military is reportedly developing an aggressive new strategy to counter a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan.

In a recent op-ed in the Washington Post, columnist Josh Rogan is giving us a glimpse into what that strategy could look like, claiming that the Pentagon aims to transform the Taiwan straight into a, quote, unmanned hellscape. That sounds ominous. The strategy includes the deployment of tens of thousands of advanced unmanned weapons to swarm China's People's Liberation Army, the PLA. The goal is to disrupt and delay Chinese forces just long enough to give Taiwanese, Americans, and allies enough time to mount a defense. According to the op-ed, Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, said, quote, I want to turn the Taiwan straight into an unmanned hellscape using a number of classified

capabilities so I can make their lives utterly miserable for a month, which buys me the time for the rest of everything, end quote. This scenario is intended to check any rapid Chinese invasion and takes lessons learned from Ukraine's use of drone technology against Russia, and that includes unmanned submarines, surface vessels, and aerial vehicles. This would provide U.S. and allied forces with the necessary time to establish logistics and forward-based forces in the West Pacific. Now, not to be picky, but you'd think we'd already have logistics and forward-based forces sorted out at this stage of the global game. Regardless, let's drill a little further into the strategy.

Back in March, the Department of Defense announced a $1 billion replicator program to mass-produce unmanned systems in every. domain. A key concept in the program is the U.S. Navy's so-called Project Overmatch, which integrates information flows into a single unified system. Now, if you don't understand what that means, well, frankly, you're in good company. Only folks fluent in government speak can decipher much of the verbage used here. Suffice it to say, Project Overmatch is critical for the Admiral's Hellscape Plan, because it enables a force of small asymmetric systems to deliver powerful coordinated strikes against Chinese forces in the strait. The unmanned vehicles would be delivered by ships, submarines, and aircraft, creating a dispersed network across the West Pacific. However, the timeline

for the deployment of these systems, well, that remains uncertain. And despite the promise of unmanned weapon systems, the op-ed cautions that they alone would not be enough to counter China's expanding military capabilities. In China, the PLA is advancing its nuclear, naval, air, cyber intelligence, and electronic warfare capacities, with a budget possibly reaching $700 billion annually, far exceeding the officially disclosed amount, emerging as a significant threat as the world's number two military spender. Additional concerns include America's inadequate countermeasures against China's hypersonic missiles, the vulnerability of U.S. space assets, and delays in arms deliveries to Taiwan. Now, Josh Rogan's op-ed concludes with a stark warning. If the U.S. does not

take decisive action, Chinese leader Xi Jinping, quote, may soon conclude that Taiwan is his for the taking, end quote. All right, coming up in today's back of the brief. Another ISIS-linked incident in Russia, where several men linked to the Islamic State took hostages inside a detention center in the city of Rostov. I'll be right back. If data management is slowing down your business, you need the Intuit ERP. If one entity is here and one here, and one here, you need the Intuit ERP. If scaling your business feels like start starting over, you need the Intuit ERP. Intuit Enterprise Suite is the AI-native ERP solution that consolidates, migrates, and automates, all in one place.

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where special forces carried out a rescue operation, freeing a pair of prison guards held by six ISIS-linked militants at a detention center. On Sunday, six ISIS members, Hailing from Russia's Southern Republic of Ignushesia, reportedly broke out of their cell by knocking out window bars, descending several floors by rope, and taking two guards hostage using knives and fire accidents from Russian media reports.

They demanded free passage out of the prison during negotiations with authorities. Now, one of the hostage takers, shown in the video by the 112 telegram channel, brandished a knife beside a bound guard and wore a headband with the Islamic State flag. Initially, the prison service did contemplate negotiations, and then apparently they thought, nah, that ain't happening. Russian special forces decided to storm the prison, resulting in

intense gunfire and the elimination of all six hostage takers. Video footage published on Russian telegram channels showed the aftermath. The Federal Penitentiary Service confirmed the success of the special operation in a statement that the criminals were eliminated and the hostages were released unharmed. The incident underscores ongoing security challenges in Russia, where ISIS-linked militants continue to target authorities and civilians. You remember, back in March, an offshoot of the Islamic State claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on a Moscow concert hall, killing at least 140 people and injuring hundreds of others. And that, my friends, is the president's daily brief from Monday, 17 June. And of course, to listen to the show,

free, well, become a premium member of the President's Daily Brief by visiting PDB Premium.com. It's as simple as that. Not to mention, although I'm about to, I hope you are able to catch the latest weekend edition of the PDB. That's the PDB Situation Report, available on the First TV, our YouTube channel, and of course, all podcast platforms. I'm Mike Baker. I'll be back later today with the PDB afternoon bulletin. Until then, stay informed, stay safe. Stay cool. Ryan Reynolds here for MintMobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same premium wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying.

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