TOP NEWS U.S. Diplomat’s Retirement Points to Administration’s Divide on North Korea Wall Street Journal Rick Perry going to London to hold nuclear cooperation talks with Saudi officials Washington Post Russia’s Lavrov says the US is training Europe to use nuclear weapons against it CNBC EAST ASIA U.S. Diplomat’s Retirement Points to Administration’s Divide on North Korea Wall Street Journal2/27/18 The sudden departure of the top U.S. diplomat on North Korea issues underscores persistent divisions in the Trump administration over the value of diplomacy with North Korea. South Korea says sanctions do not aim to bring down North Korea Reuters2/27/18 Sanctions on North Korea aim to pressure it to abandon its nuclear ambitions, not to “bring down” the country, South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha told the U.N. Conference on Disarmament on Tuesday. North Korea Evades Sanctions With Help From Ships of Many Names Bloomberg2/27/18 As Washington and Seoul try to maintain a unified front against North Korea, the case of two cargo ships shows how Kim Jong Un’s regime keeps finding ways to evade increasingly tough international sanctions aimed at halting its nuclear weapons program. FM Kang urged int’l unity for peaceful resolution of N. Korean nukes in Geneva disarmament conference Yonhap News Agency2/27/18 Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha called for international unity for a peaceful resolution of North Korea’s nuclear issue at the Conference on Disarmament held in Geneva, Switzerland on Monday, her ministry said. MIDDLE EAST Rick Perry going to London to hold nuclear cooperation talks with Saudi officials Washington Post2/26/18 Energy Secretary Rick Perry will fly to London this week to discuss a nuclear cooperation agreement with senior officials from Saudi Arabia, which is planning to build two reactors along the Persian Gulf, according to an administration official. Moscow warns against revision of Iran nuclear deal Xinhua2/28/18 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday warned of dangers which may emanate from a revision of the Iran nuclear deal. RUSSIA/FSU/EUROPE Russia’s Lavrov says the US is training Europe to use nuclear weapons against it CNBC2/28/18 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday that the U.S. was still deploying “strategic arms” in Europe and was training European countries to use nuclear weapons, violating a major nuclear arms agreement called the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). In 2011, a Russian Submarine Fire Nearly Caused a Nuclear Disaster Popular Mechanics2/27/18 Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Rogozin has admitted that a December 2011 incident involving a nuclear missile submarine almost became one of the worst nuclear weapons disasters ever recorded. OPINION AND ANALYSIS Trump’s team is floating an attack on North Korea. Americans would die. Washington PostDavid Kang 2/27/18 The Trump administration has been floating the idea of a “bloody nose” attack on North Korea that advocates believe could punish its aggressive threats without starting a war. This is dangerous: North Korea will respond, Americans will die, and nobody knows how bad a war could become. We Now Return to Your Regularly Scheduled Nuclear Crisis SlateFred Kaplan 2/27/18 The Olympics are over, and the high-stakes Trump-Kim showdown is no closer to resolution. President Trump’s Iran strategy is predictably failing Washington PostJennifer Rubin 2/27/18 The initial indications suggest, as we predicted, Trump’s approach is a flop. Addressing fears about the Nuclear Posture Review and limited nuclear use War on the RocksFrank Miller 2/28/18 A solid array of facts undercuts each of the critics’ charges and sustains the Nuclear Posture Review’s (for which I served as a senior advisor) case that deploying modified Trident warheads actually strengthens deterrence. SPECIAL INTEREST How a Sneak Attack By Norway’s Skiing Soldiers Deprived the Nazis of the Atomic Bomb Smithsonian2/27/18 Seventy-five years ago, in Operation Gunnerside, a stealthy group of commandos took out a crucial Nazi chemical plant.