What We’re Watching: Another Trump deadline for Putin passes, UAE warns Israel about West Bank, Chinese hack broader than first known

What is the “coalition of the willing” willing to do?

Russian President Vladimir Putin has blown past another deadline set by US President Donald Trump to end the war in Ukraine. After their Alaska meeting, Trump gave Moscow two weeks to stop fighting, but Russian drone strikes have nearly doubled since. Still, Putin said negotiations remain possible “if common sense prevails,” though he warned he is prepared to press on by force. In Paris today, European allies are debating how to turn vague promises of security guarantees into concrete commitments of troops, weapons, and funding. Many countries are still unwilling to commit to troops on the ground. Trump insists Europe must take the lead on the ground before Washington will provide a “backstop” to maintain a potential ceasefire in Ukraine.

Are the Abraham Accords under threat?

The United Arab Emirates warned Israel yesterday that annexing the West Bank would be a “red line” and “would severely undermine the vision and spirit of [the Abraham] Accords,” after far-right Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich called for the annexation of most of the territory earlier on Wednesday. The UAE is one of the founding signatories of the Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Arab states and Israel, and is by far the largest economy to have signed them. US President Donald Trump has tried to encourage other countries – most notably Saudi Arabia – to join the diplomatic agreement, but the UAE’s warning suggests there are greater downside risks right now.

Major Chinese hack even larger than first feared, say security officials

Chinese hackers – with the backing of their government – may have seized information from nearly every one of the 340 million Americans during a massive years-long cyberattack called Salt Typhoon. The finding comes after security officials have spent the last year examining the scope of the attack, discovering that it was far wider than initially understood. Salt Typhoon first gained headlines last year when it emerged that the hackers targeted US President Donald Trump’s phone. The vast scale of the breach is a sign of China’s growing offensive cybersecurity capabilities.