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War in Ukraine

Ukraine’s Electricity Grid Operator Begins Emergency Shutdowns in Seven Parts of the Country

  • The operator cited strains on the system due to a record heatwave (Reuters)
  • The searing temperatures further hamper the grid’s integrity after Russian attacks severely weakened its system (Reuters)

NATO Names China a ‘Decisive Enabler’ of Russia’s War in Ukraine

  • The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) said in its summit communiqué that China was a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war against Ukraine with their “no limits partnership;” the summary called on Beijing to stop sending the Kremlin “weapons components” and other inputs for its defense industrial base (NATO)
  • The statement brings European allies in line with Washington’s previous denunciations of China’s relations with Russia, adding that Beijing’s actions would yield unspecified negative impacts to “its interests and reputation” (NYT).The communiqué also voices support for Ukraine’s “irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including NATO membership” (WaPo)

NATO Allies Announce Plans to Send New Air Defense Systems to Ukraine

  • The United States, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Romania will send Ukraine the equipment for five additional air defense systems in the coming months, U.S. President Joe Biden said yesterday at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance’s summit in Washington; other allies will provide Kyiv with additional air defense equipment and munitions, Biden added (AP)
  • The support will help ensure that Kyiv “will prevail” in the war, which will result in Ukraine “remaining a free and independent country,” Biden said in yesterday’s speech; he described the alliance as “more powerful than ever” as it faces a “pivotal moment” in Russia’s war in Ukraine (BBC)

NATO Turns Seventy-Five at Washington Summit

  • Leaders of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries begin their annual summit in Washington today, with attention focused on the alliance’s relations with Ukraine the day after Russia launched one of the largest missile attacks in the war to date; Ukraine called a day of mourning today as the attack is being discussed in an emergency UN Security Council meeting (VOA)
  • NATO is expected to pledge some $43 billion in aid to Kyiv for one year (FT)
  • Ukraine also signed a security pact with Poland ahead of the summit yesterday (Politico)
  • Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke to an audience of several prominent Republicans at the Reagan Institute; he referenced former U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s commitment to strength against adversaries and said that decisions to be “strong and uncompromising” should be made now instead of waiting “for November” (Ukrainian Presidency)
  • In an interview after the speech, he said that he hopes U.S. policy toward Ukraine will not change if former President Donald Trump is reelected (AP)

Russian Attacks Across Ukraine Kill Dozens, Target Children’s Hospital

  • At least thirty-three people were killed and dozens injured in missile attacks across the country; the barrage damaged the largest pediatrics hospital in Kyiv, where at least two people died and several were trapped under rubble (BBC)
  • The city’s mayor said it was “one of the worst attacks” on the capital in the entirety of the war (Guardian)

Hungary’s Orbán Visits Kyiv for First Time Since Start of War

  • Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is in the Ukrainian capital despite previous reluctance to back aid to Ukraine in the European Union (EU) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) (FT)

Russia Carries Out Air Attacks on Kyiv, Kharkiv

  • A guided bomb killed one person in Kharkiv yesterday, while fragments of a missile damaged an apartment building in Kyiv, officials said (Reuters)
  • Ukraine’s electricity provider warned that blackouts could break out today as Russia continues to barrage Ukraine’s energy infrastructure (RFE/RL)
  • Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported that NATO plans to establish a civilian post in Kyiv as part of long-term measures to support Ukraine (WSJ)
  • Separately, when Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia was asked about former Trump’s claims that he could settle the war within twenty-four hours if elected president, Nebenzia said “the Ukrainian crisis cannot be solved in one day” (Reuters)
  • In last week’s presidential debate, Trump said Russia’s current demands that it retain all land it currently occupies were unacceptable; Nebenzia countered that any peace deal would need to reflect conditions on the ground (CNN)

United States and Israel in Talks With Ukraine to Provide Eight Patriot Air Defense Systems

  • Unnamed sources told the Financial Times the potential deal would likely involve the launchers first being shipped from Israel to the United States, underscoring a shift in Israel’s posture toward Russia (FT)
  • Meanwhile, the European Union committed to a deal to support Ukraine on security policy matters including weapons deliveries, military training, and demining (EU)

Ukraine Begins EU Accession Talks

  • European Union (EU) leadership celebrated the formal start to the process of adding the two countries to the bloc, which is expected to take years; EU officials worked to begin accession talks before Hungary assumed the rotating presidency of the bloc on July 1, as Budapest had held up some of the bloc’s initiatives related to Ukraine (FT)

Russian Aerial Attacks in Kharkiv Kill Four, Wound Dozens

  • Russian aerial attacks on the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv over the weekend killed at least four people and wounded dozens more, local officials said (Kyiv Independent)
  • On Sunday, Russian authorities reported six deaths and more than one hundred wounded after Russian forces shot down Ukrainian missiles over Russia-occupied Crimea (AP)
  • Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy removed General Yuriy Sodol, commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces, from his post; while Zelenskyy did not cite a reason for the replacement, it followed public criticism by the head of a Ukrainian National Guard regiment that high numbers of Ukrainian soldiers had been killed under Sodol’s leadership (NYT)

United States to Expedite Delivery of Air-defense Interceptors to Ukraine

  • National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the delivery would be facilitated by delaying their transfers to other U.S. allies and partners, although the move would not affect Israel or Taiwan; among the countries likely to be affected are South Korea and the United Arab Emirates, an unnamed congressional official told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ)

EU Bans Russian Gas Transfers at European Ports

  • Today’s deal aims to constrain Russia’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments by banning transfers bound for third countries from one vessel to another at European ports; this is the first European Union (EU) sanctions package targeting Russian gas (FT)
  • Russia moved to cut EU member countries off from pipeline natural gas after it invaded Ukraine in 2022, but EU members have since increased their imports of LNG, which they would still be able to buy under the new agreement (RFE)

Record Twenty-Three NATO Countries Hit Defense Spending Target

  • North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries are carrying out their largest collective increase in defense spending in decades, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on a visit to Washington yesterday (Politico)
  • A NATO summit in Washington next month is due to discuss further long-term support for Kyiv (NYT)
  • Stoltenberg’s tenure as secretary-general ends later this year, and the process of choosing his successor is currently underway; yesterday, candidate and outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte met with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and pledged to allow Hungary to opt out of some activities to support Ukraine if Budapest dropped a veto against Rutte’s candidacy, unnamed sources told the Financial Times (FT)
  • Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives in North Korea today on his first official visit to the country in more than twenty years; ahead of the two-day trip, Putin published an article in North Korean state media thanking the country for its “unwavering support for Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine” (Bloomberg)

Countries Issue Statement Backing Ukraine’s Territorial Integrity at Switzerland Summit

  • At a weekend summit in Switzerland, eighty countries signed a declaration saying respect for Ukraine’s territorial integrity should serve as the basis for peace with Russia; twelve countries that attended the summit did not sign, including Brazil, India, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates (FT)
  • On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin called on Ukraine to withdraw from the four regions partially occupied by Russia in order for a cease-fire to occur; Western leaders denounced his position (BBC)

Ukraine Peace Summit to Begin in Switzerland

  • Delegations from dozens of countries will attend this weekend’s summit supporting Ukraine’s ten-point peace plan to end the war (AP)
  • U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will represent Washington; Russia and its ally China will not attend the event (Reuters)
  • The summit comes after the United States and Japan each announced new ten-year security pacts with Ukraine yesterday (NYT, Japan Times)

G7 Nations Plan New Financial Steps to Support Ukraine

  • Officials from Group of Seven (G7) countries have reached a preliminary deal on using future profits from frozen Russian assets to provide Ukraine with a roughly $50 billion loan, unnamed diplomats familiar with the deal told media; leaders are discussing the agreement’s details at this year’s annual G7 summit, which kicked off today in Italy, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in attendance (AP)
  • The summit follows Washington’s announcement yesterday of new secondary sanctions on Russia, including measures that target Chinese companies supporting Russia’s war efforts; the new U.S. sanctions treat foreign financial institutions transacting with sanctioned Russian entities as if they are dealing directly with the country’s military-industrial base (FT)
  • Moscow financial institutions were included on a new sanctions list, and Russia’s flagship stock exchange suspended trading in dollars and euros today (WSJ)

Ukraine to Privatize State Companies in Fundraising Drive

  • Kyiv will auction around twenty state-owned companies beginning this summer; the push aims to raise war funds and strengthen the country’s faltering economy, which has a budget “in the red,” Ukraine’s deputy economy minister told the New York Times. Meanwhile, Ukrainian citizens are facing extended blackouts of up to eight hours per day as the Ukrainian government attempts to conserve increasingly limited energy and power resources (BBC)

Germany Hosts Ukraine Reconstruction Conference

  • Around two thousand delegates from sixty countries are attending the two-day conference in Berlin; German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Ukraine’s reconstruction needs were too big to be addressed by governments alone and argued there is a business case for helping rebuild in areas such as pharmaceuticals, renewable energy, and information technology (DW)
  • Ahead of the event, Ukraine’s head of postwar reconstruction Mustafa Nayyem resigned, saying the government was undermining his agency (FT)
  • Separately, the United States agreed to lift a decades-long restriction on the use of American weapons by the Azov Brigade, a Ukrainian military unit controversial for its neo-Nazi origins (NBC)

Belarus, Russia to Launch Second Stage of Joint Tactical Nuclear Weapons Drills

  • A first stage of such drills occurred last month in Russia and parts of Russia-occupied Ukraine; it was not immediately clear where the new drills will be carried out (Politico)

Ukrainian Strike Destroys Rare Russian Stealth Fighter Jet

  • A Ukrainian drone strike deep within Russian territory destroyed one of Russia’s newest and most advanced fighter jets, the Su-57 (CNN)

In Normandy, Biden Links Fight for Ukraine With Allied Effort on D-Day

  • U.S. President Joe Biden hailed those who “stand against tyranny” in a Normandy, France, address today marking the eightieth anniversary of the D-Day invasion; Biden drew a link between Ukraine’s current fight for self-defense and the Allied efforts during World War II (White House)
  • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is at the ceremony today and is meeting with Biden this week over ongoing U.S. support for Ukraine’s war effort; Kyiv has become increasingly frustrated with Washington’s slow pace of aid and criticisms of corruption in Ukraine (NBC)
  • The D-Day anniversary comes as European Union elections kick off today, with policy toward the war in Ukraine a key issue for voters (FT)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Invites Asian Leaders to Swiss Peace Conference

  • While speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Zelenskyy said that China and Russia are trying to pressure other countries not to attend (Nikkei)

Report: U.S., Germany Approve Ukraine’s Use of Weapons to Strike Inside Russia

  • Washington’s approval covered limited strikes in the area of Kharkiv, unnamed U.S. officials and others familiar with the matter told Politico for a report published yesterday; the National Security Council and Russian Embassy in Washington did not immediately comment (Politico)
  • The approval is for counterfire purposes and not long-range strikes, one U.S. official said (CNN)
  • Germany announced it also will give Ukraine permission to use German-supplied weapons to strike military targets inside Russia near Kharkiv, a German government spokesperson said today (Reuters)

NATO Ministers Meet as U.S. Weighs Shift in Ukraine Weapons Policy

  • Foreign ministers from North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries begin a two-day informal meeting in Prague today, where they are expected to discuss support for Ukraine and other issues (Anadolu)
  • Separately, Blinken said yesterday that Washington will continue to “adapt and adjust” its policies after repeated calls by Ukraine for approval to use U.S.-made weapons to strike targets inside Russia (NYT)

Sweden to Provide Two Surveillance Planes in $1.3 Billion Military Aid Package to Ukraine

  • The planes are expected to be deployed alongside F-16 fighter jets provided by other European countries (Bloomberg)
  • Meanwhile, the U.S. Defense Department is readying its first new major arms plant since Russia invaded Ukraine; the Texas plant will soon produce around thirty thousand steel shells every month for howitzers that are crucial to Ukraine’s defense effort, the New York Times reported