Welcome back to World Brief, where we\u2019re looking at international efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a 7.6 magnitude earthquake off Indonesia\u2019s coast, and Armenia having to choose between Russia and the European Union.<\/p>\n
Strait Talk<\/p>\n
The United Kingdom hosted virtual talks<\/a> on Thursday focused on forming a coalition to explore ways to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Representatives from more than 40 countries attended, highlighting what British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper called \u201cthe strength of our international determination\u201d to secure the strategic waterway.<\/p>\n Welcome back to World Brief, where we\u2019re looking at international efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a 7.6 magnitude earthquake off Indonesia\u2019s coast, and Armenia having to choose between Russia and the European Union.<\/p>\n Strait Talk<\/p>\n The United Kingdom hosted virtual talks<\/a> on Thursday focused on forming a coalition to explore ways to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Representatives from more than 40 countries attended, highlighting what British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper called \u201cthe strength of our international determination\u201d to secure the strategic waterway.<\/p>\n Yet, one empty chair loomed large over the meeting. The United States was notably absent from Thursday\u2019s talks, after U.S. President Donald Trump argued that it was the responsibility of other countries that rely more on the strait to resolve the issue. \u201cGo to the strait and just take it, protect it, use it for yourselves,\u201d Trump said during a nationwide address<\/a> late Wednesday. \u201cIran has been essentially decimated. The hard part is done, so it should be easy.\u201d<\/p>\n Since the Iran war began on Feb. 28, Iranian forces have taken effective control<\/a> of the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world\u2019s oil normally transits. At least 23 direct Iranian attacks on commercial vessels in the Persian Gulf have been recorded thus far, according to Lloyd\u2019s List Intelligence, a shipping data firm. Such insecurity has sparked an unprecedented disruption to global energy flows, causing oil and gas prices to soar and depleting fuel stocks around the world.<\/p>\n Trump has repeatedly urged European countries to deploy their militaries to the region to help reopen the strait. But the United States\u2019 Western allies have resisted getting directly involved. \u201cThis is not our war, and we\u2019re not going to get dragged into it,\u201d British Prime Minister Keir Starmer<\/a> said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n But weeks of energy shocks that have forced nations to tap their strategic oil reserves<\/a> and institute emergency conservation measures may have finally outweighed this hesitancy. Thursday\u2019s coalition attendees did not agree to any concrete solutions; however, they vowed to hold more detailed discussions involving military planners in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n What such a plan might look like remains unclear. One European official told Reuters<\/a> on Thursday that any first phase would likely focus on making sure that Hormuz is clear of mines, followed by a second phase aimed at protecting tankers crossing the strait. This would align with a joint statement<\/a> issued last month by many of the same governments that attended Thursday\u2019s meeting. That statement called on Tehran to \u201ccease immediately its threats, laying of mines, drone and missile attacks and other attempts to block the Strait to commercial shipping.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council convened<\/a> on Thursday to vote on a Bahrain-sponsored resolution that would authorize countries to use military force to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The draft is supported by several Gulf Arab nations.<\/p>\n Yet, French President Emmanuel Macron has expressed<\/a> concerns with such a plan. During his trip to South Korea on Thursday, Macron said that reopening the strait by force was \u201cunrealistic\u201d and could \u201conly be done in coordination with Iran\u201d following the establishment of a cease-fire. Paris has pushed for the creation of an international mission that would escort ships through the waterway.<\/p>\n Bahrain\u2019s foreign minister said<\/a> he hoped that the Security Council would vote on the draft resolution on Friday.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Most Read<\/p>\n What We\u2019re Following<\/p>\n Major earthquake damage. A 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck<\/a> off the coast of Indonesia on Thursday, severely damaging buildings, triggering small tsunami waves, and killing at least one person. According to Indonesia\u2019s Search and Rescue Agency, at least four others were injured, three of whom were hospitalized.<\/p>\n The quake\u2019s epicenter was just 93 miles from the densely populated Indonesian islands of Ternate and Sulawesi. Although local authorities are still assessing the extent of the damage, particularly in remote areas, they believe that further casualties<\/a> are unlikely. The tsunami alert has been lifted.<\/p>\n Indonesia sits on the \u201cRing of Fire,\u201d a roughly 25,000-mile belt of seismic activity along the Pacific Ocean where around 75 percent of the world\u2019s active volcanoes are located and 90 percent of all earthquakes occur. Indonesia, specifically, has experienced<\/a> several devastating earthquakes and tsunamis in recent years.<\/p>\n A tough choice. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned<\/a> Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Wednesday that Armenia cannot be part of both the European Union and the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union. Moscow is \u201ccompletely calm\u201d about Yerevan\u2019s efforts to forge closer ties with the EU, Putin told Pashinyan. However, the Russian leader said that being part of both economic blocs was \u201cimpossible,\u201d and he stressed the importance of Armenia\u2019s relationship with Russia, noting how Armenia receives Russian natural gas at a much lower cost than European prices.<\/p>\n Armenia has sought to bolster ties<\/a> with the West after the United States brokered the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace deal<\/a> last August. Pashinyan has declared his intent to join the EU, and he suspended Armenia\u2019s participation in the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization in 2024. However, the EU remains hesitant to approve Armenia\u2019s membership bid, and the bloc has not discussed any trade deals with the country in the interim.<\/p>\n This puts Pashinyan in a tight spot<\/a>, especially as Armenia has long held close (but recently fraught) ties with Russia. Relations became strained in 2023, when Armenia accused Russian peacekeepers stationed in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region of failing to stop Azerbaijani forces from seizing the territory. On Wednesday, Putin argued<\/a> that Pashinyan\u2019s decision in 2022 to recognize the region as part of Azerbaijan had made it impossible for Russia to intervene.<\/p>\n Normalizing ties. The U.S. Treasury Department removed<\/a> sanctions on Venezuelan leader Delcy Rodr\u00edguez<\/a> on Wednesday. Lifting sanctions will allow her to travel to the United States (opening up the opportunity for a White House visit) and conduct business with U.S. companies without threat of prosecution. Rodr\u00edguez is the only member<\/a> of the Venezuelan government from whom the United States lifted sanctions.<\/p>\n \u201cWe value President Donald Trump\u2019s decision as a step toward normalizing and strengthening relations between our countries,\u201d Rodr\u00edguez wrote on Telegram<\/a>. \u201cWe trust that this progress will allow for the lifting of current sanctions against our country, enabling us to build and guarantee an effective bilateral cooperation agenda for the benefit of our people.\u201d<\/p>\n The move is part of the Trump administration\u2019s effort to normalize ties with Caracas since U.S. forces captured then-Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a> in January. Last month, the U.S. State Department announced<\/a> plans to reestablish diplomatic ties with Venezuela, and this week, it formally began<\/a> operations to reopen the U.S. Embassy in Caracas.<\/p>\n Rodr\u00edguez has advocated for closer ties with the United States since taking over as interim leader, including by liberalizing Venezuela\u2019s economy and opening Caracas to U.S. investment. These policies appear to have appeased Trump\u2014who has stopped short of supporting Venezuelan opposition leader Mar\u00eda Corina Machado<\/a>\u2014even though Rodr\u00edguez has largely kept her predecessor\u2019s repressive regime in power. However, Machado had a closed-door meeting<\/a> with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday in Washington to discuss a path toward restoring democracy in Venezuela.<\/p>\n Odds and Ends<\/p>\n