Nato says it has not seen a change in Russia’s nuclear posture despite its announcement that it is stationing nuclear weapons in Belarus. However, secretary general Jens Stoltenberg cautioned that “the nuclear rhetoric of Russia is reckless and dangerous. Nato allies are monitoring closely what Russia is doing”. He went on to say “so far we haven’t seen any changes in the Russian nuclear deployment posture that requires a change from us, but we will remain vigilant.”
As the Nato summit got underway in Vilnius, Stoltenberg said Ukraine has come much closer to Nato, and that should be reflected in all Nato decision-making. He said the wording of the final communique from the summit was being worked upon, and he was confident it would send a positive message on Ukraine’s path to membership.
Rishi Sunak said he hoped that there would be “demonstrable progress” towards Ukraine’s eventual membership of Nato at the two days leaders summit, but did not give any timescale or set any conditions the country might have to meet before becoming a member. The prime minister said that “Ukraine’s rightful place is in Nato” as he flew out to the summit, saying Nato would “stand by the language of Bucharest in 2008,” Sunak added, referring to the summit where Ukraine’s eventual membership was agreed in principle, but no timetable or road map was set out to the long running frustration of the country’s leaders.
France will start supplying long-range missiles to Ukraine, which will allow Kyiv’s forces to defend themselves, president Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday. “I have decided to increase deliveries of weapons and equipment to enable the Ukrainians to have the capacity to strike deeply while keeping our doctrine to allow Ukraine to defend its territory,” he said, while declining to give further details on how many or the types of missiles.
Hungary’s foreign minister Péter Szijjártó said on Tuesday that there was no concrete timetable set out for Ukraine’s Nato accession in the proposed closing statement of the summit in Vilnius.
Szijjártó also said Hungary’s ratification of Sweden’s Nato membership is “only a technical issue” now and the government backs Sweden’s bid.
Turkey agreed on Monday to allow Sweden to join Nato, setting the stage for the allies to showcase their unity at a summit focused on supporting Ukraine against Russia’s invasion. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s block on Sweden’s membership bid had cast a cloud over preparations for Tuesday’s meeting, but the countries ironed out their differences in eleventh-hour talks in Vilnius.
Nato’s policy towards Russia increases the risk of direct conflict between bloc members and Moscow, Russia’s RIA news agency cited the Russian ambassador to Belgium Alexander Tokovinin as saying.
Ukraine has said it shot down 26 Russian drones overnight, however two got through and caused damage in Odesa. Suspilne reported “Two kamikaze drones hit the administration building of a port facility in Odesa: two port terminals, including a grain one, caught fire. The fire was extinguished, there were no critical damages or injuries.”
Russia’s state-owned Tass news agency is reporting a claim by a retired member of occupation forces in Luhansk that Russia has made significant progress in the direction of Kupiansk.
Ukraine said on Monday its troops had caught occupying Russian troops “in a trap” in the shattered eastern city of Bakhmut, where its forces have been gaining ground as part of their counter offensive. Russian accounts of the fighting said Moscow’s forces have repelled or contained Ukrainian advances in the east and south.
Hungary’s farm minister will go to Turkey for talks with his Turkish counterpart about extending the deal that allows Ukraine to export grain from its Black Sea ports. István Nagy said he was holding talks on behalf of countries in central and eastern Europe that had been affected by increased Ukrainian grain flows. The deal is due to expire next week. Moscow has repeatedly said it sees no grounds to extend it, complaining that western sanctions are impacting on its agricultural exports.
Russian president Vladimir Putin met with Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner leader, just days after a short-lived rebellion by the mercenary chief and his private army, according to the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. A three-hour meeting took place on 29 June, which also involved commanders from the military company Prigozhin founded, Peskov said. Prigozhin has had a longstanding conflict with Russia’s top military brass which on 24 June culminated in an armed mutiny in which he led his fighters into Russia.
