What's He Thinking?

Hi Global Recap readers,

Having an opinion is simple. Acting on it, and living with the fallout, is something else entirely.

• I sometimes run the thought experiment of being president, forced to pick a side and stick with it. Nine times out of ten my answer ends up being: no clue.

• It’s brutally tough. And I bet that’s where Trump is right now.

• He’s been trying to walk a line with Putin just enough to get him to negotiate, but meanwhile Putin keeps pounding Ukraine and grabbing territory.

And after Trump’s latest comments on Russia’s attacks (below), I can’t help but feel uneasy.

🇭🇺 HUNGARY
Banned:
Ukrainian Commander

Hungary just barred Robert Brovdi, Kyiv’s drone warfare chief and an ethnic Hungarian, from entering its borders after strikes on a Russian oil pipeline feeding Hungary and Slovakia.

• Target: Brovdi leads Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, which hit the Druzhba pipeline at least three times in recent weeks, including an Aug. 21 strike on the Unecha pumping station in Bryansk Oblast.

• Reason: Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto called the attacks an assault on Hungary’s sovereignty that jeopardized energy security and nearly triggered use of strategic reserves.

• Identity: Brovdi was born to a Hungarian family and directly claimed responsibility for the pipeline strikes.

• Reaction: Brovdi accused Budapest of profiting from sanctioned Russian resources, while Ukraine’s foreign minister and President Zelenskyy condemned the ban as moral decay and political hostility.

🇵🇱 Poland
NATO Jets Scramble

NATO fighter jets scrambled overnight after Russia launched a massive drone and missile barrage across Kyiv, hitting 20 sites and killing at least 21.

• Response: Poland confirmed it deployed allied jets early Thursday, activating radar and air defense systems across its territory.

• Damage: Kyiv officials reported nearly 100 buildings hit, including a central shopping mall, EU mission’s building and a British Council office, forcing both the EU and UK to summon Russian diplomats.

• Response: Ukrainian President Zelenskyy called it a “horrific and deliberate killing of civilians,” while the European Commission President von der Leyen said the attack shows Russia “will stop at nothing.”

• Tactics: Russia used decoy drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic weapons to overwhelm defenses, according to Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s city administration. “Everything is destroyed,” he said after surveying the wreckage.

• Trump: The White House said that Trump is "not happy" but "not surprised."

🇷🇺 RUSSIA
Medvedev Warns Austria

Dmitry Medvedev just threatened “retaliatory measures” if Austria moves to join NATO, framing it as a betrayal of the country’s constitutionally enshrined neutrality.

• Accusation: Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council and the former President of Russia, claimed Vienna is “following Finland and Sweden” by edging toward NATO under pressure from “bloodthirsty Brussels.”

• Diplomacy: He warned that Moscow could push to relocate nearly 20 international organizations, like the UN and OPEC, out of Vienna (a city long prized for hosting multilateral talks).

• Law: Medvedev argued NATO accession would breach the 1955 Austrian State Treaty and the Moscow Memorandum, which cemented Austria’s postwar neutrality, and violate the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.

• Military: Medvedev cited 2024 data of over 3,000 NATO military convoys and 5,000 alliance aircraft transiting Austrian territory as proof of “creeping militarization.”

• Politics: However, recent elections show under 10 percent support for NATO membership, with the anti-NATO Freedom Party winning 37 percent of the vote.

🇨🇳 CHINA
China Hosts
Putin, Kim

Beijing confirmed that Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un will attend its September 3 “Victory Day” military parade marking Japan’s WWII surrender.

• Invitation: Xi Jinping personally invited Kim, calling North Korea a “friendly neighbor” and citing their shared wartime history.

• Timing: Kim’s trip will be his first to Beijing since January 2019 and only his second overseas journey since the pandemic began.

• Goals: Analysts say Kim wants to boost his global profile and show Pyongyang has heavyweight allies despite sanctions.

• Motive: For Putin, this is a rare stage to counter international isolation after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

• Backdrop: Both leaders will also join more than 20 others at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Tianjin from August 31 to September 1.

🇺🇳 UNITED NATIONS
UN Staff Demand
Genocide Label

Over 500 UN employees urged rights chief Volker Turk to publicly call the Gaza war an unfolding genocide in a letter sent August 27. They say the legal threshold has been met, and silence is no longer an option.

• Accusation: The letter cites “scale, scope, and nature” of violations in Gaza as meeting the criteria for genocide under international law.

• Signatories: The Staff Committee submitted the letter on behalf of over 500 personnel inside the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

• Response: Turk acknowledged the letter, saying it reflects “moral indignation” and called for unity amid “international paralysis.”

• Pushback: Israel rejects the genocide claim, blaming Hamas for civilian deaths and accusing it of using human shields.