Biden approved a secret memorandum on national security — it concerns Russia, China, Iran and North Korea

The US President Joe Biden approved a new memorandum on national security. It is intended to be a road map for the administration of the US President-elect Donald Trump to counter the growing cooperation between China, Iran, North Korea and Russia.

The Washington Post writes about it.

The Biden administration began working on the document back in the summer. It was designed as a guide to help the new administration determine its approach to dealing with the United Statesʼ main adversaries from day one, the two officials said.

The memorandum has four general recommendations: improving interagency cooperation of the US government; accelerating the exchange of information with allies about the actions of Americaʼs adversaries; how to better use sanctions and other economic instruments; how to manage simultaneous crises involving adversary states.

For a long time, the USA was worried about the strengthening of cooperation between China, Iran, North Korea and Russia. But their partnership grew after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation in 2022.

The memorandum emphasized that Moscow, isolated due to the invasion of Ukraine, turned to Iran for drones and missiles, and to North Korea for troops and artillery. China supported Russia with dual purpose components for the military industry.

In response, Russia sent fighter jets and air defense assistance to Iran, provided fuel and funding to North Korea, and China gained access to Russian technology as they worked together to deepen military-technical cooperation.

Sources in both the Biden administration and the incoming Trump administration say they have sought to coordinate their actions on national security issues during the transition — even though Biden and Trump have sharply divergent views on many issues. According to one of the interlocutors, Bidenʼs memorandum "does not try to force the Trump administration into a framework" or incline it to one or another policy option.

This memorandum will not be published due to the confidentiality of some of its findings.

For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine please follow us on X.