Hungary’s vote on Sweden’s NATO bid delayed again
The Hungarian parliament’s house committee on Thursday rejected a proposal to schedule a vote on the ratification of Sweden’s NATO membership for next week, a lawmaker of the opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) party said.
— Karen Gilchrist
Russia opens criminal cases against 160 ‘foreign mercenaries’ fighting for Ukraine
Russia’s Investigative Committee on Thursday said it has opened criminal cases against 160 “foreign mercenaries” charged with participating in hostilities in support of Ukraine, in accordance with a Google translation of a report from Russian state news agency Tass.
Cases have been launched for the prosecution of foreigners from 33 countries, the committee said.
Russia has repeatedly accused Western powers, chiefly the US, of fighting a proxy war against Moscow in Ukraine. The federation began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last yr, citing concerns that Kyiv’s potential accession to the NATO military alliance posed security risks to Moscow.
— Ruxandra Iordache
Wagner withdrawal agreement specifics could still be under negotiation, ISW notes
Parties within the Belarus-brokered amnesty deal between the Kremlin and paramilitary Wagner Group leader and failed insurrectionist Yevgeny Prigozhin “should still be negotiating the specifics of the agreement,” the Institute for the Study of War said in its Wednesday report.
Prigozhin’s attempted coup over the weekend culminated in his exile to Belarus, following negotiations overseen by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko.
The ISW said that Russian bloggers are speculating that the Wagner riot is “already having widespread impacts on the Russian command structure,” while the alleged arrest of Col. Gen. Sergei Surovikin on Wednesday possibly indicates “that the Kremlin intends to purge” the Ministry of Defense of figures viewed as disloyal.
— Ruxandra Iordache
Denmark warns on the risks of relaxing EU standards to fast-track Ukraine accession
The EU risks instability if it relaxes its accession standards regarding democracy and corruption to fast track the membership bids of Ukraine and other candidate countries in light of their geopolitical circumstances, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen told the Financial Times.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy requested the country’s expedited accession to the European bloc after Russia’s invasion in February last yr. The EU granted Ukraine candidate status in June 2022, but faces challenges to strengthen its judiciary system and combat local anti-corruption.
Zelenskyy has continued to demand Ukraine’s entry into each the EU and the NATO military alliance.
The Denmark foreign ministry didn’t immediately reply to a CNBC request to verify the comments to the Financial Times.
— Ruxandra Iordache
Israel questions that defense systems given to Ukraine may reach Iran
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed concerns that Israeli-manufactured defense systems, including the U.S. funded Iron Dome, could reach Iran, in the event that they were transferred to Ukraine.
The repossession could be possible due to close partnership between fellow U.S. sanctioned Russia and Iran, Netanyahu said. Moscow has used Iranian drones within the war in Ukraine, although Tehran has previously said it didn’t supply Russia such weapons to make use of against Kyiv.
“We’re concerned also with the chance that systems that we might give to Ukraine would fall into Iranian hands and may very well be reverse engineered, and we might find ourselves facing Israeli systems used against Israel,” Netanyahu told the Wall Street Journal in a televised interview.
U.S. senators Chris Van Hollen and Lindsey Graham have in recent days urged Israel to lift its veto on the transfer of the Iron Dome system to Ukraine, a joint statement said on June 23.
— Ruxandra Iordache
Death toll after Kramatorsk missile attack rises to 12
At the very least 12 people were killed and 60 were injured in a Russian missile attack that hit a restaurant within the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, the Ukrainian state emergency services said on Twitter, in accordance with a Google translation.
The toll of the dead included three children.
Emergency rescue operations have now accomplished, the services said.
The U.S. State Department on Wednesday “unequivocally” condemned Russia’s targeting of civilians in its latest alleged attacks against populated Ukrainian sites.
A Kremlin spokesperson reiterated Russia’s position that Moscow doesn’t goal civilian infrastructure in response to Kyiv’s accusations regarding the strike at Kramatorsk.
CNBC couldn’t independently confirm the military progress on the bottom.
— Ruxandra Iordache
U.S. condemns latest deadly Russian missile attacks
Rescue teams work to search out out survivors under the rubbleafter a Russian missile attack hits Ria restaurant in Kramatorsk, Ukraine on June 27, 2023.
Narciso Contreras | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
The U.S. State Department condemned the latest Russian attacks on populated areas in a every day briefing, calling it one other example of the country’s “continuing escalation and the sheer brutality of its war of aggression.”
At the very least 13 people died in multiple missile attacks in Ukraine. In town of Kramatorsk, at the very least 10 were killed after a missile struck a neighborhood restaurant.
“The U.S. unequivocally condemns the targeting of civilians and offers our sincere condolences to those lost on this most up-to-date strike in town center,” said Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson on the State Department. “We’re appalled by this, but unfortunately not surprised by Russia’s conduct.”
—Chris Eudaily
Countdown began on Kremlin regime, Ukraine official says
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with servicemen on the Kremlin in Moscow on June 27, 2023.
Mikhail Tereshchenko | AFP | Getty Images
Ukraine sees an end to the leadership of Russian President Vladimir Putin on the horizon, following recent tensions between Russia’s defense officials and frontline-prominent paramilitary troop Wagner.
“I feel the countdown has began,” Andriy Yermak, close adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said in a Kyiv briefing, in accordance with the BBC.
Former Putin ally Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin briefly turned arms against Moscow over the weekend, dealing an unprecedented blow to the Kremlin regime despite the militia group’s ultimate withdrawal.
Prigozhin has accepted exile into Belarus in exchange for calling off the revolt, which unveiled the depth of cracks in Russian unity.
— Ruxandra Iordache
Switzerland follows EU in widening sanctions on Russia
Swiss flag at Geneva Lake on December 31, 2018 in Geneva, Switzerland.
Athanasios Gioumpasis/Getty Images
Switzerland on Wednesday prolonged its financial and travel sanctions on Russian entities and individuals, following similar measures announced by the European Union on Friday.
Members of Russia’s armed forces, including recruits of the Wagner mercenary group that staged last weekend’s aborted mutiny, were amongst those targeted, a press release said.
The sanctions also include asset freezes and a ban on travel to and transit through Switzerland. The measures also goal people and organizations that support the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.
The EU last week announced an eleventh package of sanctions, which also took aim at sanctions circumvention, including through intermediary countries.
— Karen Gilchrist