Closing summary
… and on that note, it’s a wrap!
At least 25 people were killed and around 100 injured in Russian attacks on Ukraine overnight, just hours after US president Donald Trump said he was setting a new deadline for Russia to make progress towards ending the war or face new sanctions (9:44, 10:39).
In their first public reaction to Trump’s words, the Kremlin spokesperson said Russia “has taken note” of Trump’s comments, but its “special military operation” in Ukraine will continue (12:03).
Most senior aide to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia chose to continue its invasion, “masking it as protecting its interests” as he urged the US to ramp up pressure on Moscow (13:50).
Separately, Zelenskyy urged the Ukrainian parliament to fast-track the adoption of his revamped law on anti-corruption agencies as part of the country’s EU path (15:55) after the bloc withheld some payments in the latest tranche of aid criticising slow reforms (18:00).
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian army will now allow people over 60 to join on short-term one-year contracts to serve in non-combat roles, after a new law changing the rules was adopted today (17:23).
Elsewhere,
US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick celebrated the new EU-US trade deal as Donald Trump’s “masterclass” in negotiations, despite criticism from some European countries, most notably France (15:36).
Lutnick also said that the rules of pharmaceuticals were “key” to understanding why the EU agreed to a deal with the US, despite the industry’s criticism of the deal.
The EU’s trade spokesperson accepted the deal was “not perfect” for either side, but defended it as “giving us platform for moving forward” (12:37).
But there was a “gulf in understanding” on some of the finer details of the deal, including on whether it covered any part of the EU’s regulatory and tax rulebooks for tech (16:34).
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.
Updated
Ukraine to get reduced EU aid payment over delays in implementing reforms
The EU is set to make a reduced aid payment to Ukraine from its war-time fund for the first time, after Kyiv failed to fulfil all required reforms, AFP reported.
The European Commission has proposed paying Kyiv just over €3bn instead of €4.5bn originally foreseen in a latest instalment of aid, spokesman Guillaume Mercier said.
AFP explained that change comes after Ukraine admitted in June that it had missed three of 16 reform benchmarks, including concerning the appointment of judges to an anti-graft court.
The reduction in the aid payment was already envisioned before Ukraine’s authorities in July caused uproar by passing a law to remove the independence of two anti-corruption bodies, it added.
