Latest news on Russia and the war in Ukraine

The Biden administration is continuing to grapple with the fallout from a major leak of Pentagon intelligence documents that exposed details on Ukraine, the Middle East, China and more.

Among the revelations from the leaks are details of purported U.S. spying on allies like South Korea, Egypt and Israel.

“If the report is true, it would be an action that can never be acceptable between allies of 70 years, and an infringement of sovereignty and diplomatic foul play that breaks bilateral trust head-on,” South Korean lawmaker Park Hong-keun said of the espionage reports.

Israel also denied details from the leaks that said that the country’s intelligence agency, Mossad, encouraged its officers to protest against their own government over controversial judicial reforms. The leaks also revealed what appeared to be a secret plan by Egypt to sell ammunition and rockets to Russia, and exposed figures on how many British special forces are in Ukraine.

Australia’s defense chief called the intelligence breach a “serious incident” and stressed the importance of trust in alliances. Top Biden administration officials have been holding phone calls with foreign counterparts in an effort to mend ties.

The leaked files — the veracity of which CNBC is not able to confirm — are likely real, according to a senior U.S. official cited by NBC News. Officials warn, however, that some of the files may have been altered.

— Natasha Turak

Russia’s reliance on China as one of its key remaining allies is growing amid its increasing isolation as a result of its invasion of Ukraine. Because of that, Moscow risks becoming something of an economic dependent on Beijing, the director of the CIA said.

“Russia is becoming more and more dependent on China and, in some respects, runs the risk of becoming an economic colony of China over time, dependent for export of energy resources and raw materials,” CIA director WIlliam Burns said while delivering remarks at Rice University in Houston.

China’s yuan has already become much more prominent in Russian markets. According to Russia’s central bank, Russians purchased 41.9 billion rubles worth of the Chinese currency in March. That’s more than three times the 11.6 billion rubles worth of yuan bought in February, the bank said.

During Chinese premier Xi Jinping’s state visit to Russia in March, he and Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged to continue their close friendship, while Western countries warned Beijing against supplying weapons to Moscow. So far, there has been no indication that China has done such a thing, U.S. officials say.

Trade overall between Russia and China jumped by 29.3% to $190 billion in 2022, up from $147 billion the year prior, according to Chinese customs figures cited by the South China Morning Post.

— Natasha Turak

Financial Times analysis of SWIFT data found that the renminbi’s share of trade finance has more than doubled since the start of the Ukraine war.

Analysts told the FT that the shift could be attributed to the rising cost of dollar financing, as well as increased use of China’s currency to carry out trade with Russia.

FT analysis of data from the international payments and financing platform showed the yuan’s share of trade financing grew from less than 2% in February 2022 to 4.5% a year later. While that approaches the euro’s 6%, the newspaper noted that still pales in comparison to the dollar’s 84.3% as of February 2023.

Even before the war, Beijing had pushed to increase international usage of China’s currency. Last month, the Kremlin said it supports using the yuan in transactions between Russia and its trading partners.

The FT report comes after Western nations sanctioned Russia and tried to cut it off from the global financial system.

— Audrey Wan

President Joe Biden spoke with the family of detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich reporter from Air Force One.

“We appreciate President Biden’s call to us today, assuring us that the U.S. government is doing everything in its power to bring him home as quickly as possible,” Gershkovich’s family said in a statement that was shared by Dow Jones, the parent company of the Wall Street Journal.

“There is a hole in our hearts and in our family that won’t be filled until we are reunited. We are grateful for the outpouring of support from his colleagues, friends and everyone standing with Evan and advocating for his immediate release.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Biden told reporters that he had previously tried to call Gershkovich’s family on Monday.

Gershkovich was arrested last month on allegations of espionage. The State Department formally moved to declare Gershkovich’s detention a wrongful one, which opens up additional resources to secure his release.

— Amanda Macias

Three ships carrying 62,460 metric tons of barley and sunflower meal left Ukraine’s ports of Chornomorsk.

The vessels are destined for China.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative, a deal brokered in July between Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations, eased Russia’s naval blockade and reopened three key Ukrainian ports. Ukraine and the UN pushed for a 120-day extension of the deal in March but Russia agreed to only 60 days, which would expire in May.

So far, more than 750 ships have sailed from Ukrainian ports since the deal launched.

— Amanda Macias