Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov cited a “very productive” NATO summit meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania, and described a total of more than $1.5 billion in military pledges. He indicated that it included Scalp missiles, Leopard tanks, Patriot anti-aircraft missiles, and training of pilots on F-16 fighters. on Twitter.
Russia’s main Ural crude oil price breach The cap, set by the Group of Seven industrialized nations, is a blow to the sanctions effort and arguably an economic victory for Moscow. According to price reporting agency Argus Media, Urals crude topped $60 a barrel on Wednesday, surpassing a G7 ceiling set last year in an effort to restrict revenue for Moscow’s war machine.
The latest developments
Biden criticizes election interference in the position Trump supported Putin
President Joe Biden affirmed the US commitment to NATO and accused Moscow of meddling in the election in the same Helsinki location where former President Donald Trump said he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin about US intelligence sources.
At a news conference Thursday with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, Biden said he “fully guarantees” the US’s dedication to NATO. As president, Trump — the 2024 Republican frontrunner — has repeatedly threatened to pull the United States out of the coalition if members don’t reach the group’s goal of spending 2% of GDP on defense annually.
“There is no doubt that there is overwhelming support from the American people, there is overwhelming support from members of Congress, both the House of Representatives and the Senate, both parties, despite the fact that there are some extremist elements in one party. We will stand,” Biden said at the presidential mansion on the Baltic Sea. together”.
Biden also stressed the Kremlin’s role in meddling in the 2016 election, another departure from Trump.
“They really interfered in the American elections,” Biden said. “So this wouldn’t be anything new. They did it last time, they tried it.”
Five years ago in the same presidential palace, Trump downplayed the Kremlin’s role in the 2016 US elections, saying he believed Putin, who had just denied Russia’s involvement.
Russian businessman says UK seized his luxury yacht Canary Wharf just to look ‘tough’
United kingdom detained His lawyers have told a British court that the £38m luxury yacht owned by a Russian businessman is unlicensed in a bid to appear tough and force him to publicly criticize the Russian regime.
Sergei Naumenko, a real estate developer and food importer who is not on any sanctioned list, has sued Britain’s Department of Transport, saying he has never been involved in political activities and has no connections with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Immobilizing the roughly 60-meter yacht last year contravened Naumenko’s rights to the “peaceful enjoyment of property” under the European Convention on Human Rights, his lawyers said in documents submitted to the court before Thursday’s hearing.
The government insists the boat was seized because Naumenko fit the criteria for a person “associated with Russia.”
The billionaire’s lawyers said the UK was effectively trying to force Naumenko to criticize the Russian government without considering how it would affect him and his business at home.
“Disproportionate action against individuals cannot be justified by a general desire to appear tough, whether that message is intended for consumption by local voters or elsewhere,” his lawyer Nigel Geffen said in court submissions.
Biden on Prigozhin: I’m going to be careful what I eat
Biden indicated that Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin could be in danger after carrying out an attempted mutiny last month and briefly seizing a Russian military facility.
“If I were him, I would be careful what I ate,” Biden said at a news conference Thursday in Helsinki following a three-country European trip. “I will watch my menu.”
The joke was a reference to high-profile cases of Russian security services using nerve agents and polonium to poison and kill Putin’s political enemies.
Biden said world leaders at the NATO summit in Vilnius discussed not knowing where Prigozhin is currently, and uncertainty about how the insurgency will affect Russian operations in Ukraine and the future of the Wagner Group.
Russia is holding the Deputy Minister of Digital on charges of bribery
Russia’s Investigative Committee has arrested Deputy Minister for Digital Development Maxim Parshin over allegations of corruption, local news services reported Thursday.
The state news agency TASS quoted the press service of the Basmanny Court in Moscow as saying that Parshin is accused of taking a large bribe. The Interfax news service reports that the court is considering a request to place him in pre-trial detention until September 12.
Biden says he does not believe Russia can withstand years of war in Ukraine
Biden said he did not believe Putin could continue fighting his war in Ukraine for years, citing the economic and political toll in Russia.
“I don’t think Russia can keep the war going,” Biden said Thursday at a news conference in Helsinki, when asked by a reporter if the war, already approaching the 18-month mark, could drag on for years.
“I think there will be a circumstance where ultimately President Putin will decide that it is not in Russia’s interest — economically, politically or otherwise, to continue this war, but I can’t predict exactly how that will happen,” Biden added. Putin has already lost the war. Putin has a problem. real.”
Russia has finally reduced its crude oil exports, at the most inopportune moment
Russia is finally cutting off crude oil exports, at the most advantageous moment possible.
Moscow has pledged to limit shipments to global markets by 500,000 barrels per day next month. It is a show of unity with Saudi Arabia, the OPEC+ leader, but also an attempt to answer months of questions about whether Russia can really cut oil production – as announced in February – while increasing crude exports at the same time.
August gives Moscow the perfect opportunity to make these important gestures at minimal cost. Companies can redirect crude away from export terminals to local refineries, which will operate at a higher rate thanks to the end of spring maintenance and a period of generous state subsidies.
Indeed, Russia should be able to meet its export target without the need for additional production cuts.
“As it seeks to strengthen its ties with Saudi Arabia, Russia is preparing to make good on its pledge to cut exports,” said Victor Katona, senior crude oil analyst at market intelligence firm Kpler. “The export cut of 500,000 barrels per day will be fully absorbed by the local refining sector.”
Russian officials have given repeated assurances that the country’s production cut of 500,000 barrels per day was implemented in March. But there is no official data to support this – the numbers were compiled in April – and tanker tracking data shows exports rising steadily from that month through mid-May.
Austin says there is no doubt that Ukraine will join NATO after the war
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said he had “no doubt” that Ukraine would join NATO after the end of the conflict with Russia.
Austin told CNN that coalition members want to move quickly on Ukraine’s proposed post-conflict membership, provided it meets conditions such as improving its military equipment and training, adopting judicial reforms and more. Ukraine’s membership was a major topic of discussion at a NATO leader’s summit this week in Vilnius, Lithuania, where Zelensky made a fresh push to join.
“I have no doubt that this will happen,” Austin said in an interview from Vilnius. “And we heard just about everything — all the countries in the room saying the same thing, and I think that was reassuring to President Zelensky.”
The outbreak of the Russian general “Spartacus” arouses the hostility of the ruling party
A Russian general who accused army commanders of “treacherously” ousting him for criticizing troop losses in the war in Ukraine has sparked a political dispute within Putin’s ruling party, in the latest sign of tensions around the military in the wake of a revolt by Wagner’s mercenaries.
Major General Ivan Popov, whose callsign refers to “Spartacus,” said in an audio message that he was removed from the post of commander of Russia’s 58th Army in Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region after he spoke to defense ministry chiefs “at the highest levels, very harshly.” About the shortcomings of combat operations.
Popov told the “gladiators” in the letter that he stressed the “death and wounding of our brothers on a large scale by enemy artillery” due to the absence of countermeasures.
“Apparently, the top managers felt some kind of danger” from the criticism and quickly arranged for Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to remove him, Popov said. He said that while the Ukrainian forces could not penetrate the Russian defences, the Army High Command “struck us from behind, decapitating the army in a treacherous and brutal way at the most difficult and tense moment”.
Popov’s accusations and the political rift over his dismissal underline continued tensions between officials after Prigozhin’s June 24 mutiny aimed at deposing Shoigu and Army General Staff Chief Valery Gerasimov for their failure in Russia’s disastrous invasion of Ukraine.
Another top general, Sergei Surovikin, has not appeared in public since the revolt ended, as the security services seek to determine whether elements of the military knew of Prigozhin’s plans in advance. Surovikin, who has been repeatedly praised by the Wagner founder, has been questioned by investigators about his mercenary links, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Putin appointed Gerasimov as head of the Russian invasion force in January in place of Surovikin, a career military officer dubbed “General Armageddon” for his harsh tactics during operations in Syria. He also sided with Shoigu, a longtime ally who has served at Putin’s side for decades. DM
