India and China continue a standoff over a disputed border region in the Himalayas. On Monday, China’s defense ministry spokesman Col. Wu Qian said India should pull its troops back from the Doklam Plateau, warning, “China’s determination and resolve to safeguard national security and sovereignty is unshakable.”
India has been calling for both sides to withdraw forces.
In other border related news, Kurt Volker, U.S. special envoy to Ukraine, said violence in eastern Ukraine is a “hot war,” not a frozen conflict. Russian aggression is to blame for the violence, he said Sunday while visiting Ukraine.
Russia made other headlines, too. On Monday, Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s advisor and son-in-law, testified in a closed door Senate meeting that he did not collude with Russian officials. In his 11-page statement, Kushner writes, “I had no improper contacts. I have not relied on Russian funds to finance my business activities in the private sector.”
This comes just days after the new White House communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, defended Donald Trump, Jr.’s communications with certain Russian individuals. “The kid took a nothing meeting,” Scaramucci said of the president’s son, who is 39 years old.
The president has more to do this week than fending off Russian collusion allegations and comparing that U.S. media to sewage. On Tuesday, amid tensions surrounding a shrine in Jerusalem, Trump is set to host Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri in the White House, where, per an administration statement, the two will discuss “issues of mutual concern, including the fight against terrorism, the economy, and refugees.”
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