DefenceTalkDefenceTalkItaly on Friday revoked approval for arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates over the conflict in Yemen, making permanent an 18-month temporary suspension. “Today I am announcing that the government has revoked the authorizations underway for the export of missiles and aircraft bombs to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates,” […]https://www.defencetalk.com/italy-blocks-arms-sales-to-saudi-arabia-permanently-76709/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkOne week into the job, US President Joe Biden has sent a clear warning to Beijing against any expansionist intentions in East and Southeast Asia. In multiple calls and statements, he and his top security officials have underscored support for allies Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, signalling Washington’s rejection of China’s disputed territorial claims in […]https://www.defencetalk.com/in-multiple-messsages-biden-warns-beijing-over-expansionism-76698/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkRussia on Wednesday urged US President Joe Biden’s new administration to take a “more constructive” approach in talks over the extension of the New START treaty, Washington’s last arms reduction pact with Moscow. “We expect that the new US administration will take a more constructive approach in its dialogue with us,” the Russian foreign ministry […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russia-urges-biden-to-be-more-constructive-on-arms-treaty-76680/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkNuclear-armed North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un vowed to strengthen its military capabilities at a key ruling party meeting, state media reported Thursday, just weeks before Joe Biden’s inauguration as US president. In his work report to the Workers’ Party congress Kim pledged to place “the state defence capabilities on a much higher level, and […]https://www.defencetalk.com/north-koreas-kim-pledges-to-strengthen-defence-capabilities-kcna-76635/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkPresident-elect Joe Biden has chosen Lloyd Austin, who led US troops into Baghdad in 2003 and rose to head the US Central Command, as the first African-American secretary of defense, US media reported Monday. A veteran of conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, the retired four-star army general, 67, beat out the favorite for the job, […]https://www.defencetalk.com/biden-picks-general-lloyd-austin-as-first-black-pentagon-chief-76594/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkChina’s top diplomat on Monday called for the resumption of talks with the incoming US administration of president-elect Joe Biden, as relations between the world’s two largest economies continued to nosedive. Beijing and Washington have locked horns over issues from trade and China’s human rights record to its expansionist ambitions in the South China Sea. […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-calls-for-new-talks-with-us-after-biden-win-76587/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkAustralia’s prime minister angrily denounced a “repugnant”, “outrageous” and “appalling” tweet from a top Chinese government spokesman Monday and demanded Beijing formally apologise. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian sparked the outrage when he posted a staged image of a man dressed as an Australian soldier holding a bloody knife to an Afghan child’s throat. […]https://www.defencetalk.com/australia-pm-slams-chinese-officials-repugnant-tweet-76575/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkThe NATO alliance should seek a more political role as the lynchpin of the West, ministers will hear this week, despite disputes about its strategy. Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will present foreign ministers with a report from an outside expert panel, arguing the case for NATO as a policy hub. “I will then develop my […]https://www.defencetalk.com/nato-seeks-more-political-role-despite-divisions-76572/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkThe EU will once again have a cooperative US partner when Joe Biden becomes president, but Europeans should harbour no illusions: Washington will be no globo-cop nor NATO’s big protector, leaders and analysts say. “Great day for US and Europe, we look forward to working together with new administration to rebuild our partnership,” the EU’s […]https://www.defencetalk.com/eu-must-learn-to-live-without-us-leadership-under-biden-say-analysts-76535/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkChina said Monday it would impose sanctions on Lockheed Martin, a Boeing defence division and other US firms involved in arms sales to Taiwan, the self-governed island that Beijing views as its territory. The two US giants were involved in a recent sale of nearly $2 billion worth of missiles to Taiwan, alongside Raytheon, and […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-to-sanction-us-firms-over-taiwan-arms-sale-76528/