Daily Brief Pre-NATO Summit Brief: China Tests the Pacific, Russia Tests the Alliance On the eve of the NATO summit in Ankara, the headline issue was supposed to be Ukraine. The first day of the summit is heavily built around Ukraine — from bilateral meetings, including Prime Minister Mark Carney’s meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to foreign ministers’ discussions and broader allied coordination. By Olga Nesterova • 4 min read
"The Patrouille de France flying over the Statue of Liberty. What a symbol. 250 years of shared history." | Photo shared by President Macron on X Daily Brief America Turns 250, Russia Strikes Kyiv, and Canada Deepens Its Indo-Pacific Push Good evening. The United States is preparing to celebrate its 250th birthday this weekend with major events across Washington, New York and cities throughout the country. But the festivities are arriving alongside extreme heat, extensive security operations and — particularly in New York — an extraordinary concentration of major events. Here is By Olga Nesterova • 11 min read
Daily Brief Daily Brief: Canada Day, Russia Strikes Kyiv, Britain Rearms and Venezuela’s Earthquake Toll Rises Happy Canada Day! 🇨🇦 Happy Canada Day to our Canadian readers, subscribers and supporters! Canada has been part of ONEST’s international community from the beginning, and Canadian institutions, diplomats, officials and readers continue to play an important role in our reporting. Thank you for reading, sharing our work and supporting By Olga Nesterova • 15 min read
Daily Brief ONEST Brief: Iran’s Fragile Deal, China’s Expanding AI Power and Europe’s Shadow Fleet Crackdown The United States and Gulf states publicly rallied behind the preliminary agreement with Iran today, even as Tehran asserted control over shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz and questions grew over what Washington has actually secured. Here is what happened today. Rubio Seeks Gulf Support for the Iran Agreement By Olga Nesterova • 8 min read
President Donald Trump meets NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the White House, June 24, 2026 | Screenshot from official White House livestream. Daily Brief ONEST Brief: Hormuz Opens Carefully, Europe Prepares for NATO, and the Iran Deal Meets Reality Hormuz Is Moving Again, But the Dispute Is Shifting Oman has established a temporary shipping corridor through the Strait of Hormuz in coordination with the International Maritime Organization. The move comes as maritime traffic begins cautiously returning. Three previously stranded supertankers passed through the Strait on Tuesday, while seven empty By Olga Nesterova • 6 min read
Daily Brief ONEST Brief: NATO Tensions, Iran’s Regional Outreach, and Europe’s New East-West Corridor Trump’s dispute with Italy expands ahead of a tense NATO meeting, Iran promotes a new regional security architecture, the EU invests in routes bypassing Russia, and Ukraine presses allies for firm air defense delivery dates. Meloni Tries to Close the Dispute as NATO Defends Europe’s Role Italian Prime By Olga Nesterova • 9 min read
Daily Brief ONEST Brief: Iran Talks Move Markets, Starmer Steps Down, and Europe Opens the Door to the Taliban The United States and Iran left Switzerland without a final agreement, but Washington is already presenting the talks as a diplomatic victory. Britain is preparing for its seventh prime minister in a decade. And Europe’s new focus on deportations has brought Taliban officials to Brussels for the first EU- By Olga Nesterova • 10 min read
Image: White House livestream | Screenshot by ONEST Daily Brief The Switzerland Talks Descend Into Threats, Snubs and Contradictions The United States and Iran arrived in Switzerland for talks intended to move their memorandum of understanding toward implementation. Instead, the Lake Lucerne Summit exposed how little the parties appear to agree on — including whether negotiations are still functioning, whether the Strait of Hormuz is open, what the agreement requires By Olga Nesterova • 8 min read
Daily Brief ONEST Brief: Canada Rewrites the Law, China Consolidates Power, and the Middle East Truce Falters June 19, 2026 Canada enacted major criminal justice and election-security reforms, China consolidated political control while preparing its economy for prolonged geopolitical pressure, and renewed fighting in Lebanon disrupted the first steps toward implementing the U.S.–Iran memorandum. Ukraine, meanwhile, pressed Europe to turn political support into EU By Olga Nesterova • 13 min read
Ukraine Defense Contact Group Meeting | Photo shared by President Zelenskyy on X Daily Brief ONEST Brief: U.S.-Iran MOU, Ukraine’s Winter Warning, and NATO’s Quiet Handoff The day after the G7, the diplomatic map moved fast. Ukraine pushed Europe for speed, Iran published the text of its reported agreement with the United States, and NATO’s transition toward a Europe-led conventional defense continued without much public drama — which may be exactly the point. Ukraine asks By Olga Nesterova • 5 min read
G7 2026 session on AI | Photo shared by Ursula v/d Leyen Daily Brief G7 Day 2: Trump Signs Iran Framework as Canada Builds a New Direction and Ukraine Waits for Action Day 2 of the G7 Summit in Évian centered on three tracks: Canada’s push into defense and critical minerals partnerships, Ukraine’s effort to keep Trump publicly aligned, and Trump’s signed but unfinished Iran framework. By Olga Nesterova • 4 min read
G7 2026 Summit, Official Family Photo | Shared by PM Modi on X Daily Brief G7 Day 1: Canada Moves Toward Europe, Ukraine Back on the Agenda, and the Middle East Deal Looms Over Évian The first full day of the 2026 G7 Summit in Évian showed three major storylines moving at once: Canada’s deeper turn toward Europe, Ukraine’s return to the center of the agenda, and the unresolved questions surrounding the reported U.S.-Iran deal. For Canada, the message was clear: By Olga Nesterova • 3 min read
