Closing summary
… and on that note, it’s a wrap!
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that the work on drafting security guarantees for Ukraine with allies “must be accelerated,” as he reported back after a meeting with the country’s military (13:06).
Finnish president Alexander Stubb earlier said he hoped Trump’s patience with Putin would run out soon, as he discussed his recent phone call with US president Donald Trump, warning him of Putin’s delaying tactics (10:06).
Belgian prime minister Bart De Wever said it would be best to leave frozen Russian funds at Belgium-based Euroclear until any peace talks between Russia and Ukraine are concluded (14:41).
A combat drone, presumed to be Ukrainian, went off course and exploded over Estonia without causing any casualties, the Baltic state and close Ukraine ally said (14:12).
In other news,
A public letter signed by 209 former EU ambassadors, senior diplomatic staff and ambassadors from EU nation states has been published today, calling for urgent action over Israel’s war in Gaza and unlawful actions in the West Bank (16:08).
The European Commission has rejected any suggestion it could bow to pressure from US president Donald Trump on digital regulation, saying it was its “sovereign right” to decide these rules (12:35).
Lithuania’s parliament on Tuesday voted in favour of letting social affairs minister Inga Ruginienė seek to form a new cabinet (11:03).
And that’s all from me, Jakub Krupa, for today.
If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at [email protected].
I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.
Hundreds of senior diplomats call for EU to take urgent action over Gaza crisis
A public letter signed by 209 former EU ambassadors, senior diplomatic staff and ambassadors from EU nation states has been published today, calling for urgent action over Israel’s war in Gaza and unlawful actions in the West Bank.
If the EU will not act collectively, member states must take steps individually or in smaller groups to support human rights and uphold international law, the letter says, laying out nine possible approaches.
They include suspending arms export licenses, barring trade in goods and services with illegal settlements and barring European datacentres from receiving, storing or processing data from Israeli government or commercial sources if it relates to Israel’s “presence and activities in Gaza and elsewhere in the occupied territories”.
Signatories include 110 former ambassadors, 25 former director general and two of the most senior diplomats in the EU – Alain Le Roy, former secretary general of the European External Affairs service and Carlo Trojan, former secretary general of the European Commission.
More over on our Middle East blog:
Updated
