DefenceTalkMilitants have seized the Iraqi city of Tikrit as a militant offensive sweeps closer to Baghdad, prompting the UN Security Council to convene crisis talks Thursday, with the US said to be considering air strikes on the rebels. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) seized the second city of Mosul on Tuesday […]https://www.defencetalk.com/un-calls-crisis-talks-as-iraq-militants-advance-on-baghdad-59870/

DefenceTalkFriend or foe? Russian intervention in Ukraine has set off an anguished debate within NATO over how to deal with a newly assertive Moscow ready to defy the West. For some, President Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea in March shows Russia has ditched the post-Cold War rulebook, redrawing borders by intimidation and force. For others, […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russia-friend-or-foe-for-nato-59771/

DefenceTalkNATO and Russia had a “very frank” exchange of views on the Ukraine crisis Monday but found no common ground in the first such meeting since Moscow annexed Crimea, officials said. “I can say it was a very frank exchange of views,” alliance spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said after a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council which […]https://www.defencetalk.com/nato-russia-fundamentally-differ-over-ukraine-crisis-59767/

DefenceTalkPresident Barack Obama today announced the United States plans to keep nearly 10,000 American troops in Afghanistan next year — a level largely in line with what U.S. commanders had requested — and that nearly all U.S. forces will leave the country by the end of 2016, bringing to an end a U.S. military mission […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-to-keep-nearly-10000-troops-in-afghanistan-in-2015-59716/

DefenceTalkNorth Korea on Thursday fired shells into waters near a South Korean warship on patrol south of the disputed Yellow Sea border, prompting an evacuation of residents on a nearby island, officials said. Two shells fell near the South Korean ship, which was sailing near the frontline island of Yeonpyeong, the South’s defence ministry said. […]https://www.defencetalk.com/north-korea-fires-shells-near-south-korean-warship-59692/

DefenceTalkSyria’s army broke a siege of Aleppo prison Thursday, cutting off a major rebel supply route, as Damascus allies China and Russia vetoed a bid to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court. The Western-proposed UN Security Council resolution, which would have covered war crimes committed by both sides in the civil war, comes less […]https://www.defencetalk.com/syria-army-breaks-year-old-aleppo-prison-siege-59690/

DefenceTalkThe U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center is researching and developing smoke screen compositions to keep pace with the changing face of conflict. The U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center, known as ECBC, is currently completing a multi-year effort to refine several smoke screen compositions that will allow troops to mask themselves from enemy fire. […]https://www.defencetalk.com/army-develops-smoke-screens-for-future-battles-59678/

DefenceTalkFrance has delayed plans to pull troops out of its former colony Mali after a fresh bout of clashes in a key town. France said earlier this month it was ending its “frontal war phase” in Mali after sending troops there in 2013 to free the country’s vast desert north from Islamists and Tuareg rebels […]https://www.defencetalk.com/france-defers-troop-pull-out-after-mali-clashes-59688/

DefenceTalkAccording to the German magazine Spiegel, NATO is examining scenarios in the event of a Russian military move in Eastern Europe. Alarm bells are already ringing in eastern states, and NATO is keen to show it could cope. The article, which appeared in Spiegel’s online edition in German on Sunday, cites an internal North Atlantic […]https://www.defencetalk.com/spiegel-nato-unprepared-if-russia-moved-into-baltic-members-59621/

DefenceTalkRussian President Vladimir Putin heads to China on Tuesday to shore up eastern ties as relations with the West plunge to new lows over the Ukraine crisis. During a two-day visit to Shanghai, Putin and Chinese host Xi Jinping will seek to clinch a raft of agreements including a landmark gas deal crucial for Moscow […]https://www.defencetalk.com/putin-heads-to-china-as-ukraine-sinks-ties-with-west-59617/