Defense & Aerospace Report Podcast [Washington Roundtable Aug 08, ’25]

On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Washington Roundtable, Dr. Patrick Cronin of the Hudson Institute think tank, former Pentagon Europe chief Jim Townsend of the Center for a New American Security, and former Pentagon comptroller Dr. Dov Zakheim of the Center for Strategic and International Studies join Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss the geopolitical implications of President Trump’s tariff war escalation on trading partners; use of US economic might to force Russia to make a peace deal ending the Ukraine war; prospect of talks between Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin and what to expect if the two leaders meet; Washington’s heavy sanctions on New Delhi with a heavy sanctions for violating US and EU sanctions on Russian oil as furious Indian leaders consider ending US weapons purchases; Ukraine’s long-range attacks on Russia’s refineries as existing sanctions continue to weaken the Russian economy; Australia’s decision to pick Japan’s Mogami-class frigate as its next major surface warship in a $6.5 billion deal that would be the biggest Japanese export contract since World War II; Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders agree to a US-brokered deal that gives Baku the transit corridor through southern tip of Armenia it has long sought but with 99-year US economic development zone in Armenia’s Zangezur region; developments in Lebanon and Iran; and analysis of Israel’s plan to occupy all of Gaza starting with Gaza City to defeat Hamas before handing it to Arab forces and Germany’s decision to block export of German arms to Israel that could be used in Gaza.