Europe's East
Land mines: EU efforts needed across Eastern Partnership
The 2020 conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as the more recent war in Ukraine, has refocused attention on the need for enhanced EU de-mining assistance across Eastern Partnership countries, writes Samuel Doveri Vesterbye.
Ukraine reconstruction: what to expect from Lugano meet
Leaders from dozens of countries and international organisations will gather in Switzerland next week to discuss rebuilding Ukraine, with the aim of providing a "Marshall Plan" for the war-ravaged country.
Indonesia leader targets food crisis during Russia-Ukraine peace mission
Indonesia's president ended a trip to Ukraine and Russia saying he hoped for progress reintegrating global food and fertiliser supply lines disrupted by the conflict, and offered to be a diplomatic bridge between the two nations.
Missile kills 10 in Odesa after Ukraine retakes Snake Island
A Russian missile strike in Ukraine's southern port of Odesa early on Friday (1 July) killed at least 10 people, a regional official said, a day after Ukraine drove Russian forces from the strategic Black Sea outpost of Snake Island.
Help from Ukraine: Zelenskyy says his country is is now exporting electricity to EU
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the launching of power transmissions to Romania was the start of a process that could help Europe reduce its dependence on Russian hydrocarbons.
Russia abandons Snake Island in victory for Ukraine
Russian forces abandoned the strategic Black Sea outpost of Snake Island on Thursday (30 June), in a major victory for Ukraine that could loosen the grip of Russia's blockade on Ukrainian ports.
Indonesian president offers to take message from Zelenskyy to Putin
Indonesian President Joko Widodo offered on Wednesday (29 June) to deliver a message from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Russian leader Vladimir Putin to try to boost peace hopes.
‘Please don’t betray us’: Ukrainians call on EU Parliament to reject green label for gas and nuclear
Ukrainian activists and politicians leaders have urged the European Parliament to reject plans to label nuclear and gas as ‘green’ investments, saying this would be a “gift to Putin”.
US intelligence chief: Putin still wants most of Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin still wants to seize most of Ukraine, but his forces are so degraded by combat that they likely can only achieve incremental gains in the near term, the top US intelligence officer said Wednesday (29 June).
Russia steps up attacks in Ukraine after landmark NATO summit
Russia pressed on with its offensive in eastern Ukraine on Thursday (29 June) after NATO branded Moscow the biggest "direct threat" to Western security and agreed plans to modernise Kyiv's beleaguered armed forces.
Zelenskyy tells NATO Ukraine won itself a place in ‘common security space’
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told NATO leaders on Wednesday (29 June) the alliance should reserve a place for Ukraine in the European security architecture.
Dozens missing after strike on Ukraine mall, Russia presses attacks on east
Dozens of people were still missing on 29 June after a Russian missile strike on a shopping mall in central Ukraine two days ago, while a regional governor said the situation was "very difficult" in Lysychansk in the east.
EU insurance ban targets Russian oil exports
An EU ban on insuring ships transporting Russian oil could potentially hurt Moscow more than its embargo on the nation's crude, analysts say.
US talking with India on Russia oil price cap
Talks on agreeing and implementing a price cap on Russian oil exports have begun with large oil consuming countries, including India, and will soon start with smaller consumers in Africa and Latin America, US officials said on Tuesday (28 June).
Russian embassy in Sofia launches appeal for war donations
A blogpost of the Russian embassy in Sofia, inviting citizens to make donations for “the military participating in the special operation to protect the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics” is making waves in Bulgaria. EURACTIV Bulgaria took a closer look at the appeal.
The ‘Big Package’: How Russia was driven to default
Russia's first major international debt default in over a century, which Washington said became a fact on Monday (27 June), follows months of co-ordinated Western sanctions that left Moscow with cash but no access to the international financial network.
Erdogan family firm gifts Bayraktar drones to Ukraine
Turkish drone-manufacturer Baykar, which has President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's son-in-law as one of its directors, offered three of its drones to the Ukrainian army on Monday (27 June).
Russia’s Medvedev says any NATO encroachment on Crimea could lead to World War Three
Any encroachment on the Crimea peninsula by a NATO member-state could amount to a declaration of war on Russia which could lead to "World War Three," Russia's former president, Dmitry Medvedev, was quoted as saying on Monday.
G7 denounces ‘war crime’ as Russia missile strike kills 16 in shopping mall
A Russian missile strike on a crowded mall in central Ukraine killed at least 16 people in what Group of Seven leaders branded "a war crime" at a meeting in Germany where they looked to step up sanctions on Moscow.
‘Russian state terrorism must be stopped to restore peace in Europe’
The missile attack on the shopping mall in Kremenchuk is yet another example of state terrorism, and the world must consider Russia as a terrorist state, writes Roman Rukomeda. Roman Rukomeda is a Ukrainian political analyst. This is his 56th account...
The Brief – Has war reached the diplomatic stage?
This week marks an upturn in the international diplomatic activity of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The logical question is whether this signals a will to find a diplomatic solution to the war he started in Ukraine.
Biden urges G7 to stay together as leaders target Russian gold, oil price
US President Joe Biden told allies “We have to stay together" against Russia on Sunday as G7 leaders gathered for a summit dominated by war in Ukraine and its impact on food and energy supplies and the global economy.
Russia steps up missile strikes on Ukraine as G7 leaders gather
Russian missiles struck an apartment block and close to a kindergarten in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Sunday, in strikes US President Joe Biden condemned as "barbarism" as world leaders gathered in Europe to discuss further sanctions against Moscow.