Closing summary
The European Union did not approve the 18th Russia sanctions package on Tuesday, the EU’s foreign chief Kaja Kallas said after a meeting with EU foreign ministers in Brussels. She said she was “really sad” the sanctions did not get approved, but hopeful a deal will be reached on Wednesday, adding that the ball is in Slovakia’s court. Slovakia has been blocking the EU’s latest sanctions package until its concerns are addressed over a separate EU proposal to phase out imports of Russian gas by 1 January, 2028.
EU foreign ministers will discuss Russian frozen assets during an informal meeting at the end of August, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday after a meeting with the ministers in Brussels. “It’s important that everybody hears everybody’s arguments, and then we can also come up with compromises to address these sensitivities”, Kallas said.
Kallas also spoke briefly about Georgia – worrying that “the assault on democracy by the Georgian Dream is growing more severe” and saying that “Georgia’s democratic backsliding will come at cost” – and Moldova, stressing that the country is “a prime target of Moscow’s hybrid war” and warning that anyone attempting to destabilise the country will face EU sanctions. She later returns to Georgia, saying that suspending EU visa-free regime for Georgia could be on the table as the Georgian government needs to “ensure and uphold the protection of fundamental rights of all Georgian citizens.”
On the Middle East, Kallas says there are “positive signs” in the aftermath of last week’s humanitarian deal between the EU and Israel when it comes to Gaza, but “Israel needs to take more concrete steps to improve the humanitarian situation on the ground.” She added: “I also presented ministers an inventory of different measures that could be taken in relation to the review done in June. So we had a discussion on this, and these are choices that the member states have to make.”
Ukraine is waiting for further details of the “billions of dollars” worth of US military equipment promised by Donald Trump on Monday, amid confusion as to how many Patriot air defence systems will be sent to Kyiv. At a meeting at the White House with the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, on Monday, Trump said an unnamed country was ready to immediately provide “17 Patriots” as he said a “very big deal” had been agreed for European allies to buy weapons from the United States and then ship them to Ukraine.
Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte has said secondary sanctions could hit countries like China, Brazil and India if Russia is not serious about peace talks to end its war on Ukraine. Speaking on the final day of his visit to Washington DC, Rutte also said Europe would “find the money” for Ukraine to continue defending itself from Russian aggression ahead of any peace talks.
Swedish defence minister Pal Jonson confirmed to Reuters that the country will contribute to efforts to boost arms supplies to Ukraine following US president Donald Trump’s decision to supply billions of dollars of weapons. “We welcome the American decision to make possible increased sanctions against Russia and to pave the way for the delivery of Patriots and other weapon systems to Ukraine,” Jonson said in an emailed comment to Reuters.
Marjorie Taylor Greene has criticized Donald Trump over his new pledge to send “billions of dollars” worth of weapons to Ukraine, accusing him of breaking a campaign promise by continuing the very aid that Republicans spent years blocking under Joe Biden. “MAGA did not vote for more weapons to Ukraine,” the Georgia congresswoman, one of Trump’s most staunch allies in Washington, wrote on X on Tuesday, referring to the “Make America great again” moniker adopted by Trump’s base of supporters. “MAGA voted for no more US involvement in foreign wars.”
Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal has just confirmed he filed his resignation from the post, a day after president Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked his deputy, Yulia Svyrydenko, to lead the government after a reshuffle. In a Telegram message posted alongside a picture of his hand-written resignation note, he said: “Thank you to our defenders who are holding the front and protecting Ukraine! Thank you to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the trust! Thank you to the entire team for their tireless work for our country! Glory to Ukraine!”
US president Donald Trump has allegedly encouraged Ukraine to consider strikes deeper into Russia, and asked Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy if he could target Moscow if given long-range weapons by the US. Quoting “people briefed on the discussions” and the leaders’ call on 4 July, the paper reported that Trump wanted Russians to “feel the pain” and asked Zelenskyy “can you hit Moscow? … can you hit St Petersburg too?”
Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said Moscow was ready to negotiate with the US after Trump’s comments last night, but added it didn’t want to bow to any ultimatums, Reuters reported. Separately, the Kremlin said that Trump’s statements were “serious and required analysis.”
The Port of Antwerp-Bruges has been turned into a giant car park with thousands of cars, vans, trucks and tractors bound for the US sitting idle as manufacturers try to avert the worst of Donald Trump’s tariffs. Figures released by the port show a 15.9% drop in the transport of new passenger cars and vans to the US in the first six months of 2025 compared with the same period last year, with a sharp decline emerging in May – one month after the US president announced his “liberation day” tariffs.
The EU’s Ombudsman on Tuesday demanded the European Commission explain why it fast-tracked proposals to curb sustainability laws, in response to a complaint by campaigners accusing Brussels of weakening the rules without consulting the public. In February, the Commission proposed legal changes that would exempt thousands of smaller European businesses from European Union sustainability reporting rules - a move designed to simplify regulation for industries struggling to compete with rivals in China and the US, where president Donald Trump is rolling back regulation, Reuters reported.
Ukraine is waiting for further details of the “billions of dollars” worth of US military equipment promised by Donald Trump on Monday, amid confusion as to how many Patriot air defence systems will be sent to Kyiv.
At a meeting at the White House with the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, on Monday, Trump said an unnamed country was ready to immediately provide “17 Patriots” as he said a “very big deal” had been agreed for European allies to buy weapons from the United States and then ship them to Ukraine.
Ukraine is currently believed to have only six functioning Patriot air defence batteries, which can intercept fast-moving Russian cruise and ballistic missiles.
Maj Gen Vadym Skibitskyi, the deputy head of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, the HUR, said it was unclear what the US president meant. “We don’t know exactly,” he said, adding that Ukraine was grateful for the assistance and had reacted “positively” to the White House’s announcement.
The general also confirmed that Trump and the Ukrainian president, Volodomyr Zelenskyy, had discussed the possibility of the US providing long-range Tomahawk missiles in a call earlier in July but no agreement had been reached.
Skibitskyi said Trump in his comments on Patriots could have been referring to interceptor missiles, launching stations or entire batteries comprising multiple launchers and radar and control systems, which cost more than a billion dollars each. “Seventeen is a huge number if we are talking about batteries. If it’s launchers, that’s possible,” he added.
