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Semafor security

NATO agrees ambitious defense spending expansion

The US and NATO leadership pushed to increase the alliance’s spending target from 2% of each member country’s GDP to 5%.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and British Defence Secretary John Healey.US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his British counterpart John Healey. Yves Herman/Reuters.

Iran nuclear talks appear to stall

Tehran ‘is drafting a negative response’ to the latest American proposal, an Iranian diplomat said.
The Arak nuclear complex in Iran. The Arak nuclear complex in Iran. Wikimedia Creative Commons photo/Nanking2012/CC BY-SA 3.0.

UK moving to ‘war-fighting readiness’ to counter global threats

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK would move to ‘war-fighting readiness’ as it seeks to deter Russian aggression.
Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer.Andy Buchanan/Pool via Reuters

Trump will likely ‘walk away’ from both Russia and Ukraine if he can’t get a peace deal: Ian Bremmer

If Trump fails to convince Moscow to agree to a ceasefire, he will likely walk away from both Ukraine and Russia, Bremmer said at Semafor’s World Economy Summit.
Eurasia Group and GZERO’s Ian Bremmer.Kris Tripplaar/Semafor

US scales back Greenland visit after criticism

US President Donald Trump’s expansionist overtures are creating a ‘permissive space’ for other world leaders bent on territorial acquisition, analysts argued.
Demonstrators in Greenland holding a sign reading “We are not for sale.”Christian Klindt Soelbeck/Ritzau Scanpix/via Reuters

DOGE reviews nuclear contractors

A review of National Nuclear Security Administration contractors has sparked concern within the agency that it could lose manpower at a critical time.
Workers in a firing tankFlickr Creative Commons Photo/NNSA

UK clamps down on Russian espionage, as Moscow ramps up pressure on Europe

Russia is increasingly reliant on private intelligence operatives and criminals to carry out espionage missions, UK security experts said.

Trump ratchets up pressure on Ukraine as Republicans urge a thaw

While military aid may be paused, his other options range from a revived minerals deal to looser Russia sanctions.

Iran expands stockpile of near-weapons grade uranium by 50%

Tehran’s growing uranium stockpile is of “serious concern,” the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog warned.

How Trump toppled his party’s national security orthodoxy

The president has seen little pushback so far from Republican hawks.

Starmer plans to hike UK defense spending to counter ‘tyrants like Putin’

Keir Starmer said the increased investment was necessary because ‘tyrants like Putin only respond to strength.’

Zelenskyy: ‘Nobody decides anything behind our back’ as US, Russia hold Ukraine talks

The Ukrainian leader sharply criticized Tuesday’s US-Russia bilateral talks in Riyadh.

At least 28 injured in suspected car-ramming attack in Munich

The incident happened about a mile away from the venue of the Munich Security Conference, which is set to begin Friday.

Russia to target Americans with ‘nuclear winter’ propaganda, Estonia intelligence says

The Kremlin plans to resurrect Cold War-era concerns about the contested nuclear winter theory to reduce US support for Ukraine, Estonian intelligence said.

Europe mulls toughening defense as US isolationism grows

On the agenda for Monday’s talks will be the ramping up of joint defense spending and the issue of whether future military systems should be made in Europe.

Trump’s controversial intelligence picks face Senate scrutiny

Despite pushback from Democrats, the Republican-controlled Senate seemed poised to confirm Kash Patel as FBI director, while Tulsi Gabbard may be less assured.

US funding freeze impacts Syrian chemical weapons clean-up

The US foreign aid freeze is impacting Syria’s White Helmets as they work to find and recover chemical weapons stockpiles left by the Assad regime.

Israel’s Netanyahu to meet Trump in DC on Feb. 4 as Gaza talks resume urgency

The meeting comes as negotiators struggle to agree on the second phase of a fragile ceasefire in Gaza.