Several Nato allies are baulking at committing to a specific multiyear spending pledge on military aid for Ukraine that’s aimed at giving Kyiv more predictability over the long term.
European Union (EU) ambassadors agreed to a new package of sanctions on Belarus as the bloc tries to crack down on Russia’s circumvention of penalties imposed over its invasion of Ukraine.
Slovakia has moved to protect its main gas provider from legal claims on concerns that payments from European buyers of Russian gas could be seized after a court awarded damages to German utility Uniper for undelivered Gazprom supplies.
Nato allies struggle to agree on long-term funding for Ukraine
Several Nato allies are baulking at committing to a specific multiyear spending pledge on military aid for Ukraine that’s aimed at giving Kyiv more predictability over the long term.
Despite early enthusiasm for Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg’s proposal — where allies would spend at least €40-billion per year on lethal and non-lethal aid for Ukraine — nations are now at loggerheads over how to make the spending commitment work for future years, according to people familiar with the Nato discussions.
The allies won’t have any problem hitting the €40-billion target this year — the US alone will surpass that with its supplemental package of $60-billion for Ukraine. But political and legal hurdles in several capitals mean that governments will probably need to reassess the goal every year to see if the commitment should be increased or reduced, depending on the situation on the battlefield, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Some allies are wary of formalising the pledge with a concrete figure and simply want to promise to continue the same level of support, the people said. Meanwhile, others worry about publishing the precise numbers around their donations, amid concerns that could expose information about the true extent of their aid.
The multiyear plan was proposed in late May and is due to be presented to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a summit of Nato leaders in Washington in early July, After scrapping an initial idea for allies to commit to $100-billion over five years, Stoltenberg proposed the annual €40-billion commitment in line with average annual contributions since Russia’s invasion in 2022.
Read more: Nato approves Dutch leader Rutte to succeed Stoltenberg
While many details still need to be agreed upon, including around the accounting, allies may be able to land a deal if the €40-billion in aid for Ukraine can be discounted against Nato’s existing pledge to spend at least 2% of GDP on defence, the people said. That, however, would risk cutting into allies’ own defences, especially if finance ministries don’t agree to raise overall spending levels.
The donation pledge for Ukraine will be a key part of a broader package for Kyiv that aims to underscore the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s support for the long term and pave the way for the country’s eventual membership to the 32-member military alliance. In addition to providing more predictability, the pledge could also pressure some laggard nations to spend more to help Ukraine.
Nato defence ministers agreed in June that the organisation would take on a greater role alongside the US-led Ramstein group to identify what military equipment Ukraine needs. Nato will now also coordinate weapons deliveries to allies’ hubs, as well as training for Ukrainian soldiers outside the country. Allies are discussing whether to establish a special representative based in Kyiv to oversee the efforts, the people said.
EU agrees on Belarus sanctions to target Russia’s circumvention
European Union ambassadors agreed to a new package of sanctions on Belarus as the bloc tries to crack down on Russia’s circumvention of penalties imposed over its invasion of Ukraine.
“With this package we increase the pressure on both countries & make our sanctions against Russia even more effective,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in a post on X.
The latest package focuses mostly on goods that could be used for military purposes but falls short of aligning the penalties completely with those imposed on Russia. Moscow maintains a customs union with Belarus.
The bloc last week agreed to a 14th package of sanctions on Russia, targeting Russia’s shadow fleet of tankers, and transshipments of liquefied natural gas to third countries.
Slovakia protects gas provider from legal risks of Russia supply
Slovakia has moved to protect its main gas provider from legal claims on concerns that payments from European buyers of Russian gas could be seized after a court awarded damages to German utility Uniper for undelivered Gazprom supplies.
“According to the approved regulation, it will not be possible to seize the gas in the transition or distribution network, nor the claims of a third party from a particularly significant contract for the supply of natural gas,” state-run company SPP said on Wednesday.
The move — legislators approved the amendment earlier this month — could open the door to other countries making similar changes to protect their gas supplies. Hungary had made a similar provision preemptively.
Read more: Europe set to receive Russian gas for now amid fears of cutoff
Earlier in June, a Stockholm-based tribunal awarded Uniper more than €13-billion in damages for losses incurred when Gazprom stopped deliveries following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. With the Russian gas giant unlikely to pay, there is uncertainty whether payments from its European importers, such as SPP, could be seized as part of the compensation.
The new Slovak law protects the gas in pipelines and also safeguards SPP payments from third-party claims, a company spokesperson confirmed over email.
Russia set to continue espionage trial of US reporter in August
A Russian court opened the espionage trial of imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on Wednesday, then ordered the next hearing to take place in nearly seven weeks’ time.
Gershkovich and the newspaper have denied Russian Federal Security Service accusations that he was spying for the CIA when he was detained in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg during a reporting trip in March last year. It’s the first time since the Cold War that Russia has tried a US reporter for alleged espionage, which can carry a 20-year sentence.
The trial at the city’s Sverdlovsk Regional Court is taking place behind closed doors and the next hearing was scheduled for 13 August, according to the Interfax news service, which cited the court.
Gershkovich (32) is all but certain to be convicted. That could end up paving the way for an eventual swap as Russian officials have said talks on a possible exchange deal could only take place after a court verdict.
It’s unclear how long the whole trial will last or when the verdict will be handed down, though Russian prosecutions almost always end in the conviction of the accused.
The trial “is unfair to Evan and a continuation of this travesty of justice that already has gone on for far too long”, WSJ Editor-in-Chief Emma Tucker said in a letter to readers published on Tuesday. “This bogus accusation of espionage will inevitably lead to a bogus conviction for an innocent man who would then face up to 20 years in prison for simply doing his job.”
The State Department has formally determined that Gershkovich was “wrongfully detained,” allowing the US to negotiate on his behalf.
Read more: Russia detains US journalist in ‘dark turn’ for ties
Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a 5 June meeting with foreign media that intelligence services of the two countries were in contact and that the US was taking energetic steps to secure the reporter’s release.
In an interview with US media personality Tucker Carlson in February, Putin said “certain conditions” were being discussed to release Gershkovich, and alluded to the case of a man he called a “patriot” who was jailed for murder in a European country. That was an apparent reference to Vadim Krasikov, who is serving a life sentence in Germany for the 2019 killing of a former Chechen rebel in Berlin.
Russia has previously suggested it’s seeking Krasikov’s return in prisoner-swap talks.
Russia’s oil exports drop the most in three months
Russia’s weekly crude exports fell by the most in more than three months in the seven days to 23 June, with maintenance at key ports also trimming the less volatile four-week average.
Work at Primorsk on the Baltic Sea and Kozmino on the Pacific coast cut shipments through Russia’s two busiest oil terminals, with no departures from either for four days during the week. But flows should recover in the week to 30 June, with loadings already restarted at both affected ports.
Separately, the vessels that Moscow relies on to transport its oil are increasingly being targeted by Western authorities seeking to deplete the Kremlin’s war chest. The European Union is the latest to slap sanctions on specific ships, identifying 17 crude oil and refined products carriers in its latest round of sanctions, as well as designating state-controlled shipping company Sovcomflo.
Three crude tankers recently sanctioned by the UK gathered in the Baltic Sea, where two of them feature in loading programmes for the ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga. It is unclear whether they will actually take on cargoes, though, with one seeming to have been replaced in the line-up already.
The slump in weekly export volumes was partly offset by a week-on-week increase in oil prices, which was particularly strong for shipments from Western ports. As a result, the gross value of Russia’s crude shipments fell by 14% in the seven days to 23 June, compared with an 18% drop in shipments.
North Korea fires ballistic missile in show of force after Putin’s visit
North Korea fired a ballistic missile that failed soon into flight, in an attempted show of force about a week after it struck a military mutual defence pact with Russia that alarmed the US and its allies.
The missile was launched at about 5.30am on Wednesday from an area near Pyongyang, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JSC) said in a message sent to reporters. An analysis was being done by South Korean and US intelligence authorities to find out more details, it said.
The missile flew about 250km and exploded midair east of the North Korean coastal city of Wonsan, spreading debris over several kilometres, Yonhap reported a JCS official it did not identify as telling local reporters. The missile was probably carrying a hypersonic glide vehicle, a warhead designed to manoeuvre at high speeds to avoid interception, the official was cited as saying. DM