What message does Ukraine's Operation Spider's Web send to Russia and US?
Eighteen months in the making, Ukraine's Operation Spider's Web saw hundreds of AI-trained drones target military aircraft deep inside Russia's borders.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Sunday's attacks will go down in history.
He followed them up with a proposal for an unconditional ceasefire as the two sides met in Istanbul.
The European Union is preparing its 18th package of sanctions on Russia, while US President Donald Trump has threatened to use 'devastating' measures against Russia if he feels the time is right.
So, is the time right now?
And after the audacious attack, does Zelenskyy finally hold the cards?
Presenter: Dareen Abughaida
Guests:
Hanna Shelest – Security studies programme director at the Ukrainian Prism think tank
Pavel Felgenhauer – Independent defence analyst
Anatol Lieven – Eurasia programme director at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft
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Al Jazeera
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UK prepares for war: How much will it cost?
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Instead of a dramatic increase in troop numbers, the SDR recommends using technology, drones and software to 'increase lethality tenfold'. To do this, the MoD plans to deliver a 1 billion pound ($1.35bn) 'digital targeting web', an AI-driven software tool designed to collect battlefield data and use it to enable faster decision making. More details about the SDR will be provided in the upcoming Defence Industrial Strategy, expected in the coming weeks, but UK defence companies will be among the big winners from the new SDR. Though supposedly a 10-year review, past SDRs suggest its shelf life might be more limited. The last SDR was published in 2021 and recommended 'a strategic pivot towards the Indo-Pacific region to counter China's influence and deepen ties with allies like Australia, India, and Japan', in line with strategic priorities of the time. This SDR, undertaken in the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, has re-oriented the UK's geographical priorities. In the coming years, those could change again. Proposals to prepare the UK's armed forces to be 'battle ready' will cost at least 67.6 billion pounds ($91.4bn) through to the late 2030s, according to costings and estimates provided in the SDR. Before Monday's announcement, the government had already pledged to increase spending on defence from 2.3 percent currently to 2.5 percent by 2027, an increase of about 6 billion pounds ($8.1bn) per year. This would raise 60 billion pounds over 10 years – a bit shy of the cost projected by the SDR. The government has said it will cut overseas aid to fund that 0.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) rise in defence spending. Critics say this will not be enough and that the measures outlined by the SDR will cost more like 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). James Cartlidge, the shadow defence secretary, said the 'authors of the strategic defence review were clear that 3 percent [not 2.5 percent] of GDP 'established the affordability' of the plan.' In February, the Labour government said it had 'an ambition' to raise defence spending to 3 percent in the next parliament (after 2029), but Cartlidge said: 'That commitment cannot be guaranteed ahead of the next general election.' According to researchers at the Institute for Fiscal Studies – an independent, London-based research organisation – raising defence spending to 3 percent of GDP by 2030 would require an extra 17 billion pounds between now and then, which the government has not yet accounted for. But the UK could be required to raise spending even more than this. In discussions taking place in advance of the NATO summit in The Hague later this month, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is understood to be pushing for member nations to commit 5 percent of GDP towards defence-related spending. Rutte has proposed that NATO's 32 members commit to spending 3.5 percent on hard defence and 1.5 percent on broader security, such as cyber, by 2032. 'At this Ministerial, we are going to take a huge leap forward,' Rutte stated before a meeting of defence ministers in Brussels on Thursday this week. 'We will strengthen our deterrence and defence by agreeing ambitious new capability targets.' He specified air and missile defence, long-range weapons, logistics, and large land manoeuvre formations as among the alliance's top priorities, according to a briefing note from NATO on Wednesday. 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Al Jazeera
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Europe's swing to the right is 'deeply worrying'
Theresa Fallon, director of the Centre for Russia, Europe, Asia Studies, discusses the Dutch government's collapse after the exit of a far-right party in the coalition, ahead of the NATO summit.
