No, says Russia, we won’t show you ours as Washington ships more ammo to Ukraine and China tightens the noose around Taiwan

(Originally published Aug. 9 in “What in the World“) The U.S. is giving Ukraine another $1 billion in weapons, ammunition and other aid to fight the Russian invasion, the biggest infusion of arms yet and bringing to $9.8 billion the price tag for the proxy war there under the Administration of U.S. President Joe Biden.

The new aid includes more of the rockets Ukrainian forces are using to destroy bridges in the Russian-occupied city of Kherson, the U.S.-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or Himars. Russia has retaliated by nixing the resumption by U.S. inspections of its nuclear arsenal under the terms of the New START Treaty, the 2011 accord that limits the number of nuclear weapons either Russia or the United States may deploy. Inspections were suspended in 2020 due to the pandemic.

China, meanwhile, is extending indefinitely its military exercises around Taiwan in retaliation for U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit last week. Taiwan says China is also carrying out a wave of cyberattacks against it. Given that the exercises disrupt commercial traffic, they could represent a partial, undeclared blockade.