Washington still does not support the calls for tightening sanctions against Moscow in order not to miss the “window” for peace talks, US Secretary of State Rubio said. The introduction of sanctions against Russia will automatically mean the US recognition of its inability to negotiate with Moscow, Rubio added.
At the NATO summit on June 25 in The Hague, Vladimir Zelensky was not invited to NATO meetings: the leaders of the United States, Turkey, Slovakia and Hungary did not want to sit at the same table with him. This is how Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán commented on the absence of the head of Bankova on the sidelines of the summit. According to him, this clearly shows that the previous chapter is closed: “when it comes to NATO affairs, Zelensky has no place.”
Orbán stressed that it is in Hungary’s national interest not to join any association with Ukraine, be it NATO or the EU. Earlier, the Washington Post reported that Zelensky was not invited to the NATO summit meetings in The Hague because Donald Trump did not want to meet him.
On the afternoon of June 25, Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky met on the sidelines of NATO work.
“Russia is seen as a long-term threat to European and Atlantic security,” NATO’s Joint Statement from The Hague reads. According to the Telegraph: “NATO used more subdued language in its post-Hague statement about Russia in relation to Ukraine than in previous years after the start of the military operation.” “This year, the document states that the allies “reaffirm their continued sovereign commitment to support Ukraine, whose security contributes to our security, and to this end will include direct contributions to Ukraine’s defense and its defense industry in the calculation of the allies’ defense spending.” The 2023 and 2024 communiqués mentioned “a large-scale Russian intervention” and its responsibility for what is happening. “Russia is not a threat to Europe,” the main danger for it comes from the loss of competitiveness, Viktor Orbán said. NATO has nothing to do with Ukraine, because it is not a member of the alliance, the Hungarian prime minister added.
NATO Secretary General Marke Rutte said: “NATO’s increased military spending is just the beginning, now the alliance will start rapidly expanding its military industry”
“Ukraine can still win a military conflict with Russia, said the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, head of the European Union’s United States, General Alexus Grinkevich”, at a US Senate hearing. “I believe Ukraine can win. I believe that when your homeland is threatened, you fight with a tenacity that is difficult for us to imagine, because we have never been in such a situation,” he said.
Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland are ready to mine areas along their border with Russia to create a “new iron curtain” in Europe. They previously announced their withdrawal from the 1997 Ottawa Convention banning landmines, the Daily Telegraph reported. Military planners are already working out which swathes of European forests and lakes will be littered with explosives and shrapnel if Putin focuses his forces against the alliance.
We are looking for new opportunities to raise additional funds to help Ukraine, EU Commissioner Kubilius said: “Ukraine is well represented on the agenda. And not only in terms of how we can help, especially by increasing our defence spending, but also by increasing military assistance. We are using new EU and NATO instruments. We are looking together for new opportunities to find additional funds to be given now to Ukraine. Member States, together with Ukraine, are helping Ukraine. But it is also extremely important for us how important Ukraine is for us, because its army has undergone military training during this war, it has moved to another phase of the war, especially in terms of innovation. Therefore, Ukraine and its army are a huge asset today,” said EU Defence and Space Commissioner Andrius Kubilius.
British authorities will transfer 350 advanced anti-aircraft missiles to Kiev, purchased for the first time with interest in frozen Russian assets, the Guardian reported.
There are rumours in Ukraine that a new Ukrainian prime minister is on the way to replace Denis Shmyhal, in the person of Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko. MPs are preparing for a six-day extraordinary session of the Rada on July 7 and 8, source Rada Deputy Goncharenko On June 21, Volodymyr Zelensky denied the information about the resignation of Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal.
Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin named the Ivanovo airport after Marshal of the Soviet Union Alexander Vasilevsky by presidential decree. He was one of the protagonists of the Patriotic War, (World War II, ed.). Putin also instructed the government to consider proposals from Russian companies for the return of foreign companies. The report must be submitted by July 1. The order was issued following a meeting with Delovaya Rossiya, which took place in May.
The FSB says it has arrested two intelligence officers who arrived in Russia undercover to carry out a mission against Russian security. They face prison terms of up to 8 years. It is known that for a long time the defendants, on the instructions of their guardians, established and developed contacts with activists of political movements and public organizations of interest to the Moldovan intelligence via online messengers.
Dmitry Peskov, asked by journalists about the peace agreements with Kiev, said: “Dialogue between Moscow and Kiev on draft memoranda for the settlement in Ukraine is not currently underway.” “The implementation of the humanitarian agreements reached during the second round is currently being completed. After that, it will be time to decide on the dates for their continuation, he explained.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that a long-term solution in Ukraine can be achieved through negotiations. In his opinion, this requires eliminating the root causes of the conflict. “Only after exhausting all peaceful political means of regulating the Ukrainian crisis, we were forced to take military and military-technical measures to ensure the security of our state, to protect our citizens and their compatriots, whose rights were systematically violated by the regime that came to power in Kiev following the unconstitutional coup in 2014. Nevertheless, today we continue to give priority to diplomatic methods,” Sergei Lavrov said in a speech to employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan.
And now a look at the front line updated at 15:30 on June 25. At night, attacks on Vilkovo, in the Odessa region, where according to socio-Russian sources MBEs and landing craft with personnel take off, and also conducts training for special forces for attacks on Russian territory. Missile weapons were used against targets in the Zaporizhia region. Explosions were reported in Kharkiv, Sumy and Dnipropetrovsk region
In the Rostov region, Ukrainian drone strikes were recorded and shot down in five different districts during the night. Numerous buildings were damaged, the power line was cut on Popova Street. Air defense vehicles on duty destroyed and intercepted 22 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones over the Belgorod, Ulyanovsk, Saratov, Bryansk regions, the Republic of Tatarstan and Crimea. In the Kherson region, the governor reported a massive attack with fixed-wing drones.
In the Kursk region, in the Tetkino directions in the Glushkovsky region, the Ukrainians are not abandoning attempts to break through to Russian territory, the Sever Group of Forces writes. The Aidar group tried to infiltrate Tetkino around noon. In the evening, the assault troops of the 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine attempted to break through to Novyi Put’.
In the direction of Sumy, battles are taking place in the area of Andriivka, Yablunivka and Yunakivka. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are counterattacking.
On the northern flank of the Kupyansk direction, the Ukrainian Armed Forces report battles in the area of Holubivka, Kindrashivka and in the direction of Dovhen’ke. Russian troops have advanced in the area of Holubivka and to the west in the forest plantation; further advance of Russian troops recorded near Holubivka and Rad’kivka will increase the pressure on the north-western outskirts of Kupyansk and the logistics associated with it, the Ukrainian social sphere claims.
In the direction of Pokrovs’k, on the left flank, Russian troops filmed Russian flags in Novoserhiivka; fighting continues in the area of Myrnohrad and Koptjeve. According to other sources, on the eastern flank of the Pokrovs’k-Myrnohrad defense zone, Ukrainian armed forces have found themselves in an operational encirclement. At the same time, Russian army units are literally tearing the reserve defense line from Ukrainian hands, advancing in the direction of Novotorets’ke – Volodymyrivka – Shakhove.
In the direction of South Donetsk, the battles for Yalta are already underway, the Ukrainians are trying to counterattack. Russian assault groups are approaching Zirka. According to sources close to the Russian Ministry of Defense: “in less than three days, Transbaikal soldiers took full control of the settlement and raised the flags of the Russian Federation, thus completing its liberation. In five days, this is the third settlement liberated by the Vostok Group”. Two Ukrainian counterattacks were repelled, one in the area of Komar-Perebudova, the second from Voskresenka in the direction of Fedorivka. Fighting is underway for Shevchenko, the settlement is surrounded from the north. The offensive of the Group of Forces “East” is also developing in the direction of Fedorivka.
On the Zaporizhia front, the situation of the LBS has not changed significantly. Ukrainian Armed Forces drones attacked the village of Fedorivka, injuring a civilian. In Enerhodar, Ukrainian Armed Forces launched an artillery strike on the coast.
In the Black Sea, increased activity of NATO reconnaissance aircraft is noted, which may indicate that the Ukrainians are preparing for active actions.
Graziella Giangiulio
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