BLINKEN’S MEETINGS SPEED-RUN: Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN is on his11th visit to the Middle East this week, but it's unclear how if at all these meetings can lead to any diplomatic breakthrough when his first 10 visits came up short. A day after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, President ISAAC HERZOG, Minister of Strategic Affairs RON DERMER and Defense Minister YOAV GALLANT, Blinken slated a call with Jordanian Foreign Minister AYMAN SAFADI and met with both Saudi Foreign Minister FAISAL BIN FARHAN AL SAUD and Saudi Crown Prince MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN in Riyadh. On the agenda in all the calls and meetings today were potential off-ramps for the war in the Gaza Strip and how to broker a diplomatic solution in Lebanon. In one conspicuous note, Blinken also “expressed appreciation for Saudi Arabia’s role in promoting stability and peace in the region,” per a State Department release about the meeting between him and the Saudi Crown Prince. It’ll be a challenge for the gamut of calls and meetings to lead to a drop in the temperature in the Middle East. Israel and Hamas remain sharply at odds and unlikely to reach a cease-fire deal imminently, and Israel continues to launch strikes in Gaza and southern Lebanon. Israel’s military is also threatening to imminently respond to Iran’s Oct. 1 ballistic missile attack. WHO’S AFRAID OF UKRAINE IN NATO: The U.S. and Germany are slow-walking Kyiv’s bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, our own STUART LAU, VERONIKA MELKOZEROVA, Robbie and JONATHAN LEMIRE report. Four U.S. and NATO officials and diplomats told POLITICO that Berlin and Washington are keeping Ukraine from receiving an immediate invitation to join the transatlantic alliance, which Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY has framed as a critical piece of his victory plan to end the country’s war against Russia. The worries, per officials, is that they could end up getting ensnared in a war with Russia over the invitation. Of course, the U.S. and Germany are not the only opponents to Ukraine joining NATO — Hungary and Slovakia are blocking Ukraine’s entry owing to their warm ties with the Kremlin, and many other alliance members are content to hide behind Washington and Berlin’s opposition. But the two countries’ reservations will likely keep the Baltic and Polish-supported push to welcome Kyiv into NATO frozen in place for the time being. SULLIVAN LAUDS BIDEN’S CHINA LEGACY: National security adviser JAKE SULLIVAN touted the success of Biden administration efforts to counter Chinese economic and trade policies harmful to the U.S. in a speech at the Brookings Institution think tank Wednesday. As our own PHELIM KINE writes in, Sullivan argued that administration moves including targeted tariffs on Chinese imports and investment in critical minerals essential to the green transition have placed the U.S. in a stronger economic position in its relationship with China. Sullivan didn’t mention Democratic presidential candidate KAMALA HARRIS in his comments. But their timing of the talk — just 12 days prior to the U.S. presidential election in which the economy is front-and-center — is a tacit nod to Harris’ role in an administration claiming to have knocked back Beijing while helping build back the U.S. industrial base. And while Sullivan also didn’t mention former President DONALD TRUMP , he did take a swing at his more aggressive China proposals, condemning “indiscriminate, broad based tariffs” that “will harm workers and businesses, both in the United States and our partners.” The specter of Beijing’s growing economic might — what Sullivan called the threat of a “second China shock” — was threaded throughout his remarks. Diversification of supply chains is essential “so that no country, particularly China, can hold us hostage,” Sullivan said. Opponents have questioned the value of economic brinkmanship with Beijing given the continued trade ties between the U.S. and China. Sullivan also nodded to “a PRC cyber threat to our critical infrastructure” and warned of Chinese-connected vehicles getting "daily software updates" and "sending reams of information back" to China as a growing national security risk. BEIJING’S NOT INTO LABELS: Beijing is fed up with all this talk about how its close ties with the authoritarians in Iran, Russia and North Korea — and their mutual antipathy for what Biden officials often call “the rules-based international order” — have created a malign axis. As Phelim also writes in, China’s Foreign Ministry issued a 500-plus word statement today dumping on the whole “axis” narrative. “By arbitrarily labeling China, Russia, DPRK and Iran as an ‘axis,’ the U.S. mirrors its own mentality of bloc confrontation onto other countries, creating ‘imaginary enemies’ and compelling others to choose sides,” the statement said. Some have termed the budding foursome a new “axis of evil.” Brookings is partial to “axis of revisionists,” while the Global Taiwan Institute has coined the phrase “axis of disorder.” Meanwhile, Trump’s former deputy security adviser MATT POTTINGER prefers the “axis of chaos.” IT’S WEDNESDAY: Thanks for tuning in to NatSec Daily! This space is reserved for the top U.S. and foreign officials, the lawmakers, the lobbyists, the experts and the people like you who care about how the natsec sausage gets made. Aim your tips and comments at rgramer@politico.com and ebazail@politico.com, and follow Robbie and Eric on X @RobbieGramer and @ebazaileimil. While you’re at it, follow the rest of POLITICO’s global security team:@dave_brown24,@HeidiVogt,@RosiePerper,@nahaltoosi, @PhelimKine, @ErinBanco,@connorobrienNH,@paulmcleary,@reporterjoe,@magmill95, @johnnysaks130, and @JGedeon1
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