Three threads ran through today's coverage: Washington's outreach to Moscow, Berlin's balancing act between the US and China, and a growing argument over whether "hybrid warfare" has become too vague to guide policy.

Washington and NATO

  • The Pentagon directly pressured NATO allies to tone down public criticism of Russia, Reuters reports citing sources, as President Trump signals a possible meeting with Vladimir Putin and weighs easing sanctions on Moscow — a shift that could narrow the leverage Ukraine and its European backers hold heading into any negotiation (more).

Germany

  • Germany's chancellor is pushing for an EU-wide, not purely national, counter-offer in the trade standoff with Washington, while treading carefully through an Asia tour to avoid tilting toward either the US or China — it remains unclear whether this reflects a coordinated German-EU strategy or an improvised response to pressure from both sides (more).

Analysis

  • A Nunissum analysis argues the label "hybrid warfare" has stretched to cover Belarus-linked sabotage of European infrastructure, jamming of satellites in orbit, and a civil-defense debate in India alike, and an American strategist contends the term no longer distinguishes genuinely new threats from ordinary sabotage — the open question is whether NATO or the EU will adopt narrower, domain-specific categories instead (more).