Key developments on June 24: * Ukraine reports increase in Russian chemical weapons attacks on battlefield * Zelensky dismisses Lieutenant General accused by soldiers of heavy losses * Russian saboteurs likely behind arson attack on German factory, security officials tell WSJ * EU Council announces 14th round of sanctions against Russia * At least 5
President Volodymyr Zelensky will attend the European Union summit in Brussels on June 27 and sign a security agreement with the EU, Polish media RMF reported, citing an unnamed senior EU diplomat.
The EU Council adopted the 14th round of sanctions against Russia on June 24, aimed at tackling the circumvention of existing measures and to further restrict profits from Russia's energy industry.
"We have a process in order to make this work quickly. The first tranche of money will come next week, in July. The second will come some months later," Josep Borrell said during the press briefing in Luxembourg.
The four outlets are Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Voice of Europe, RIA Novosti, and Izvestiya.
The European Union’s foreign policy will soon be under new management. While Ursula von der Leyen seems well positioned to carry on as European Commission president, there will be a new president of the European Council and a new foreign policy chief. They will inherit an unenviable agenda that
The EU has developed a legal workaround to prevent Hungary vetoing a move to use profits from frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine, the Financial Times reported on June 24.
The new package adds 116 individuals and entities to the sanctions list, and adds a number of additional measures, including the prohibition for any EU facilities to be involved in the transshipment of Russian liquified natural gas (LNG) to any third-party countries.
Germany’s vice-chancellor expressed readiness to discussions with Beijing regarding EU tariffs but adopted a more stringent stance on Chinese exports to Russia during the first visit to mainland China by a senior European politician since the tariffs were introduced.
Editor’s note: This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, neighboring Slovakia, with its own experience of decades of Russian occupation in the 20th century, became one of the staunchest supporters of Ukraine. Under the guidance of then-Defense Minister Jaroslav
Ukraine will receive the first payment of 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion) from the profits of Russian assets frozen in the EU "before the summer break," EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said on June 21.
The announcement follows an agreement by EU ambassadors from last week. Officials in both Kyiv and Brussels were pushing for the June starting date before Hungary takes over from Belgium in chairing the EU.
"This package provides new targeted measures and maximizes the impact of existing sanctions by closing loopholes," the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council said on social media.
The EU is expected to further curtail imports of key food commodities from war-torn Ukraine, just two weeks after implementing a controversial new preferential trade scheme.
The EU is expected to join 16 countries, including the U.S., Japan, U.K., Germany, and France, that have signed similar bilateral treaties to help Kyiv repel Russia's aggression.
In more than two years of the full-scale war, Poles see Ukrainian refugees more negatively in almost all aspects, except for accepting Ukrainian children to schools, according to a survey by the University of Warsaw and the University of Economics and Humanities in Warsaw published by Rzeczpospolita on June 18.
Russia is "working hard" to counter the expulsion of diplomats from Germany by turning to blackmail and the lure of big payouts to recruit spies, Berlin officials said on June 18.
Under the "roam like at home" (RLAH) program, Ukrainians will not pay additional charges to use their mobile phone for communications and the Internet in the 27 EU countries. The same rules will apply to users of European operators traveling to Ukraine.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb noted that this week has favored Ukraine. He highlighted the G7 summit, the start of EU negotiations, NATO support, and Ukraine's summit, which gathered over 100 representatives. "(Ukraine is) much stronger than what it was three weeks ago, let alone three months ago," he said.
EU ambassadors agreed on the framework for the EU accession talks for Ukraine and Moldova, allowing talks to start on June 25, the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU announced on June 14.
"Free movement of holders of Russian diplomatic and service passports, accredited in one host state, across the whole Schengen area is easing malign activities," the letter to EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.
Far-right populist parties performed exceptionally well in the European Parliament elections, finishing first in France, Italy, and three other countries. They won nearly a quarter of the seats in the Parliament, just behind the center right. With Europe already reeling from Russia's war in Ukraine, the threat of a second
Editor’s note: This is issue 59 of Ukrainian lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak’s weekly “Ukrainian Economy in Brief” newsletter, covering events from June 3–June 10, 2024. The digest highlights steps taken in the Ukrainian parliament related to business, economics, and international financial programs. The Kyiv Independent is republishing with
Key developments on June 11: * New assistance announced for Ukraine at Ukraine Recovery Conference * Ukraine controls Ivanivske near Chasiv Yar, battles ongoing in Staromaiorske, military says * Ukraine shot down Russian Su-25 aircraft, military says * Media: G7 to create Ukraine aid fund using income from frozen Russian assets * It's time for
Russia might be storing up to 100 nuclear warheads in Kaliningrad Oblast, located approximately 260 km (160 miles) from Warsaw, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski claimed on June 11, during the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin.
Ireland is not a member of NATO, and has one of the lowest rates of defense spending across the EU, at around .2% of its GDP.
Ukraine will receive 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion) in Russian frozen assets revenue in July and 1.9 billion euros ($2 billion) under the Ukraine Facility already this month, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on June 11.
The changes, which were approved by the parliament the previous week, apply some wartime treason laws to peacetime, extend punishments, and create a new category of laws for assisting a foreign state.
Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction are impossible to separate from the country’s EU integration and accession aspirations. If the country wants to enter the EU, it will have to get its rules and regulations in line with the bloc, across every field. Many of these reforms will involve sectors
Ursula von der Leyen said she wants to continue to cooperate with "those who are pro-European, pro-Ukraine, pro-rule of law."
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo announced plans to resign after the defeat of his party, the liberal Open VLD, in the country's federal elections held June 9.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced snap elections on June 9, after the far-right National Rally emerged as the projected winner of the French elections for the European Parliament.
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