WASHINGTON, May 8 -- Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release: * * * Blumenthal Joins 13 Colleagues to Demand Trump Administration Resume Russian Oil Sanctions * [Hartford, CT] -Today, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Member of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, and 13 Senate colleagues urged the Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent to fully resume sanctions on Russian oil and use every available tool to cut into Russia's war windfall profits.   more

WASHINGTON, May 9 -- The Center for Strategic and International Studies issued the following commentary on May 8, 2026, by non-resident senior associate Christopher B. Johnstone and Gregg Rubinsteinl, former adjunct fellow (non-resident), both of the CSIS Japan Chair: * * * Japan's New Defense Export Policy: Will Industry Seize the Day? On April 21, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced long-anticipated changes to policy governing defense exports, effectively eliminating restrictions on sal  more

WASHINGTON, May 9 -- The Center for Strategic and International Studies issued the following Critical Questions Q&A on May 8, 2026, involving Edgard Kagan, senior adviser and Freeman Chair in China Studies: * * * Trump-Xi Summit in Beijing: Managing the World's Most Important Relationship President Donald Trump's May 14-15, 2026, visit to the People's Republic of China (PRC) will likely represent a relatively modest step toward greater stability and predictability in the world's most importan  more

WASHINGTON, May 8 -- The Jamestown Foundation posted the following commentary on May 7, 2026, by Paul Goble, specialist on ethnic and religious questions in Eurasia, in the foundation's Eurasia Daily Monitor: * * * Kyiv to Expand Its Outreach to National Minorities within Russia Executive Summary: * Kyiv's efforts to develop alliances with non-Russian minorities inside the Russian Federation have not attracted as much attention as its use of drones against the invader. They are proving impor  more