A series of Russian missile tests in waters near Japanese-claimed islands in the northwestern Pacific on Aug. 20 outraged Tokyo and has raised questions about the extent to which Russian and Chinese naval and aerial forces are engaged in a coordinated campaign to antagonize Japan, a close U.S. security ally.

The flagship of Russia’s Pacific Fleet — the guided-missile cruiser Varyag — and a nuclear submarine joined the missile tests, which occurred less than a week after the Chinese and Russian ambassadors to Tokyo released a joint statement pledging to resist moves to change the result of World War II.

Asia Editor Andrew Salmon examines the situation in a dispatch from the region, writing that Russian President Vladimir Putin may be pursuing provocations against Japan to shore up his nationalist-hawkish base at a moment when Moscow’s assault against Ukraine has slowed to a crawl and Kyiv’s drones are hammering targets across Russia.

Tehran is doubling down on its most powerful remaining leverage: squeezing the global oil market to extract a more favorable deal with the Trump administration. Key Iranian officials warned over the weekend of “seismic” retaliation against the country’s Middle East neighbors and the U.S. ahead of what the Trump administration describes as a massive new economic sanctions push, expected to be announced this afternoon.

Mohsen Rezaei, the recently appointed secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, threatened in remarks to Iranian state media that Tehran will do whatever it can to fully stop energy exports from the region.

Maritime traffic through the crucial Strait of Hormuz is already at a near standstill amid an ongoing U.S. naval blockade as the Iran war approaches the six-month mark. Iran’s rial currency hit a record low Monday as White House officials prepared to announce new economic pressure, including secondary sanctions on countries that continue to do business with Iran.

Talks between Israel and Syria were held in Jordan on Sunday as Washington seeks to ease tensions in the region after the Israeli military struck a Syrian air base last week. Regional reports suggested that Roman Gofman, the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, met with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani.

Sources said the focus was on establishing “practical mechanisms” for de-escalation and the elimination of Israeli operations in Syrian territory. Israeli media reports cited several “red lines” adopted by negotiators ahead of talks, including the banning of Turkish military activity in Syria and the demilitarizing of the Syrian side of the Golan Heights.

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa has remained publicly open to negotiating with Israel and has repeatedly said his country poses no threat to its southern neighbor. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains skeptical that the new Syrian government is stable enough to combat Islamic terrorism within its borders.

Ukraine has already begun an unusually early race to prepare its battered energy system for another winter of Russian bombardment, building smaller power sources, protecting substations and preparing backup systems to keep heat and water flowing if Moscow renews the massive attacks that brought major cities close to the breaking point last winter.

Threat Status Special Correspondent Guillaume Ptak reports from Kyiv that Ukraine’s preparations come even as Russian strikes on energy infrastructure continue through the summer, a campaign that has included increased Russian attacks on the Ukrainian domestic oil and gas industry.

An Aug. 9 attack on Odesa damaged power facilities, leaving parts of the southern city without electricity, mobile communications and water. Ukrainian authorities later said power had been restored to about 90,000 customers. Four days later, a Russian attack damaged infrastructure at the Danube port of Izmail and knocked out electricity in part of the city.

Mr. Trump’s pursuit of a meeting with Kim Jong-un is “in the interest of world peace,” according to Joseph R. DeTrani, who writes in an op-ed for The Washington Times that such a meeting “would de-escalate” tensions and give the U.S. an opportunity to move toward the goal of “getting North Korea to halt its nuclear and missile programs in return for the easing and lifting of sanctions.

“North Korea is a de facto nuclear weapons state and recognizing it as such should not be difficult. Getting it to implement a moratorium on its nuclear and weapons programs would be progress,” writes Mr. DeTrani, a former associate director of national intelligence and an opinion contributor to Threat Status.

“Sanctions relief and a path to a normal relationship with the U.S. could convince Mr. Kim that a moratorium would be in North Korea’s interest,” he writes. “Our goal should continue to be the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, though we must realize that this could take years to achieve.”

• Aug. 25-26 — Counter UAS Summit, Institute for Defense and Government Advancement

• Aug. 27 — 2026 Navy Summit, Potomac Officers Club

• Aug. 27 — Artificial Intelligence and Autonomy on the Modern Battlefield, Atlantic Council

• Sept. 3 —The AI Open-Weight Debate: Balancing Innovation and Security, Center for a New American Security

• Sept. 9 — Bend but Do Not Break: Shaping the Future of the All-Volunteer Force, Center for Strategic & International Studies

• Sept. 12-13 — AFA National Convention, Air & Space Forces Association