World Review: Trump and Xi to Meet and US Sanctions on Russia

A brief synopsis of this week's show

President Trump and Xi meet in Osaka 2019 for the last in person meeting. Photo courtesy of China’s Ministry of Foereign Affairs.

Each Friday morning, I host a video podcast called World Review with Ivo Daalder where journalists from major news outlets around the world join me to discuss the latest global news stories of the week.

Today, October 24, we discussed President Trump’s upcoming trip to Asia and new US sanctions on Russia. Joining me this week were Jane Perlez, host of the Face-Off podcast on US-China relations and long-time reporter of the New York Times, and Anton LaGuardia, diplomatic editor of The Economist. My thanks to Louisa Brög for helping to draft this summary.

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While I encourage you to watch or listen to the episode (and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts!), here are a few interesting things I took away from our discussion:

• Ahead of the first meeting between Trump and Xi Jinping since 2019, we looked at how the balance between Washington and Beijing has shifted. China has taken a page from the US playbook, learning how to weaponize interdependence and leverage its chokehold over rare earths to advance its interests. Anton noted that Taiwan and other US allies in the region have reason to be worried, as Trump has repeatedly prioritized short-term gains over long-term strategic interests. Yet we may be overestimating Chinese power. Jane reminded us that China is facing serious domestic challenges, most notably rising youth unemployment, which may pose difficulties for the government if left unaddressed.

• Next, we looked at the war in Ukraine. After repeatedly changing his public stance, President Trump announced sanctions on Russian oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft. Anton viewed the initial reactions as indicating that the sanctions are having some effect, but will Trump change his mind again and backtrack? Much will hinge on whether China and India reduce their purchases of Russian oil. Whether this will be part of the discussions at the upcoming Trump-Xi Summit will be a telling first sign. If left aside, we can expect the impact of the sanctions on the war to be minimal as China continues to provide crucial support to the Russian war economy.

Those are my quick takes on this week’s episode here on World Review. To get the full story, please listen to the episode itself.