On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Washington Roundtable, sponsored by L3Harris, Vago Muradian is joined by Hudson Institute’s Dr. Patrick Cronin, American Defense International’s Michael Herson, CNAS’s Jim Townsend, and CSIS’s Dr. Dov Zakheim to discuss congressional efforts to advance defense authorization, appropriations and reconciliation legislation amid growing election pressures; President Trump’s efforts to ease Russian sanctions and negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine as Putin maintains his demands and escalates attacks on Black Sea shipping; upcoming US, Ukrainian and Russian talks in Abu Dhabi, European diplomatic outreach to Moscow, and preparations for a multinational exercise to support Ukraine; potential US troop reductions in Europe and growing tensions between Washington and its European allies; Israel’s election results and the prospect of renewed US and Israeli military operations against Iran; expanding defense cooperation among Pakistan, Turkey, Qatar and Indonesia; Xi Jinping’s latest political purges, takeaways from the ASEAN defense ministers’ meeting, and Japan’s evolving defense posture; and US intelligence warnings about alleged Chinese espionage involving a close associate of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.
