DefenceTalkDefenceTalkPresident Donald Trump said Wednesday he wants all US troops to leave Afghanistan by Christmas, speeding up the timeline for ending America’s longest war. “We should have the small remaining number of our BRAVE Men and Women serving in Afghanistan home by Christmas!” Trump wrote on Twitter. In a February 29 agreement reached in Qatar […]https://www.defencetalk.com/trump-says-wants-us-troops-out-of-afghanistan-by-christmas-76450/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkSudan is celebrating a landmark agreement to end decades of war, but the first step to turn promises on paper into peace is also one of the most explosive — disarmament. Collecting weapons in a country left awash with guns after years of conflict in which hundreds of thousands died is one of most delicate […]https://www.defencetalk.com/after-sudans-peace-deal-the-hard-task-begins-of-gathering-the-guns-76440/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkTaiwan will not “yield an inch” in defending itself, President Tsai Ing-wen warned Tuesday, as new figures revealed the island is scrambling fighter jets at more than double the rate of last year in response to Chinese incursions. Authoritarian China views democratic Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to one day seize it, […]https://www.defencetalk.com/tsai-defiant-as-taiwans-anti-china-jet-flights-double-76434/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkA major supplier of arms to Azerbaijan, Israel has come under diplomatic fire from Armenia over the struggle between the Caucasus neighbours in disputed Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia, a country long-seen as close to Israel’s nemesis Iran, only opened an embassy in Tel Aviv on September 17, but Yerevan recalled its ambassador barely two weeks later, citing […]https://www.defencetalk.com/israel-under-diplomatic-fire-over-arms-to-azerbaijan-76430/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkAt least 24 people have died after deadly clashes between arch foes Armenia and Azerbaijan, as the latest violence in the decades-long territorial dispute sparked international calls Sunday to halt the fighting. The worst skirmishes since 2016 have raised the spectre of a fresh war between the ex-Soviet rivals, locked since the early 1990s in […]https://www.defencetalk.com/dozens-dead-as-world-leaders-urge-halt-to-azerbaijan-armenia-clashes-76418/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkEurope and the United States need to face up to a “new Cold War with China” together, regardless of who wins the White House in November, Germany’s point man on transatlantic ties told AFP. With just five weeks to go until the US election, the German government’s coordinator for relations with the United States and […]https://www.defencetalk.com/new-cold-war-with-china-demands-us-europe-united-front-germany-76408/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkBased on the current conditions in Afghanistan, the Defense Department expects there will be fewer than 5,000 U.S. military service members in that country by the end of November, said David F. Helvey, who is currently performing the duties of assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs. “We’ve long maintained that our force presence […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-dod-anticipates-significant-troop-reduction-in-afghanistan-76380/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkTaiwan on Tuesday demanded that China “back off” and accused it of threatening peace, after a Beijing official rejected a largely respected marine boundary following recent incursions. Foreign minister Joseph Wu urged Beijing to “return to the civilised international standards” after a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said there was no so-called median line in the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-must-back-off-says-taiwan-76366/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkSecretary of Defense Mark Esper announced Wednesday an ambitious plan to expand the US Navy with a range of unmanned and autonomous ships, submarines and aircraft to confront the growing maritime challenge from China. The Pentagon chief said a sweeping review of US naval power dubbed “Future Forward” had laid out a “game-changer” plan that […]https://www.defencetalk.com/eyeing-china-pentagon-plans-larger-more-lethal-navy-76357/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkGreece’s defence minister on Wednesday dismissed reports that his country would spend 10 billion euros on an arms overhaul announced at the weekend. “It’s not a 10-billion-euro spending spree, let me make that very clear. It’s a series of very calculated, prioritised, smart moves addressing our needs to the maximum,” Nikos Panagiotopoulos told an Economist […]https://www.defencetalk.com/greek-arms-spending-will-not-cost-10-billion-euros-minister-76339/