China

• The U.S. approved a potential $619 million weapons sale to Taiwan that would include anti-aircraft missiles and shells for fighter jet guns. The approval was a jab at China, which sent military planes into Taiwanese airspace twice over the past two days.
• Canada's opposition parties called for an investigation into alleged Chinese meddling in 2019 and 2021 elections. Two-thirds of Canadians suspect China meddled and PM Trudeau has acknowledged attempted Chinese interference, but Trudeau's party has resisted an investigation - likely to avoid tensions with a top trading partner.

• SecState Blinken met his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, in the most senior U.S.-Russia interaction since Russia invaded Ukraine.
• The 10-minute meeting wasn't scheduled - the two ran into each other on the sidelines of a G20 meeting - but Blinken said he demanded an end to Russia's "war of aggression" in Ukraine, its return to the New START nuclear treaty, and the release of American Paul Whelan from Russian prison.
• The interaction showed a U.S. desire to directly engage Russia at a senior level: we may see more such meetings soon.

• A group of pro-Ukrainian partisans claimed to capture a border village in Russia's Bryansk region. Russia acknowledged a "terrorist" attack but said it was easily repelled. Kyiv denied any involvement in the incident and called Russia's outcry a "classic deliberate provocation."
• Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin posted a video saying his forces had "practically surrounded" Bakhmut, leaving besieged Ukrainian forces with just one road in or out.

• On Wednesday, North Kivu cautiously announced that cargo transport could resume on roads controlled by M23 rebels, and the first convoy delivered supplies to blockaded villages and returned to Goma without incident.
• However, the province closed the roads again less than 24 hours later, after M23 rebels reportedly killed a truck driver and stole his cargo.