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Europe should not restart buying Russian gas even if there is peace in Ukraine, according to the EU’s energy commissioner, Dan Jorgensen. The European Commission aims to ban EU Russian gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports by the end of 2027. Jorgensen said “in my view if there is peace in Ukraine we should still not restart Russian gas imports”, Reuters news agency reported.
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Jorgensen said EU countries and companies would not be offered compensation but would be legally safe in breaking their contracts with Russia. “We have a very clear opinion from the legal team of the commission, stating that since this will be a prohibition, a ban, the companies will not get into legal problems. This a force majeure,” said Jorgensen, meaning the ban was outside their control.
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The death toll stood at 14 and seemed likely to rise on Tuesday morning after a Russian mass drone attack struck several districts of Kyiv. “Enemy drones are coming over the city from three directions. There is also the danger of missiles,” posted the mayor, Vitali Klitschko. One strike damaged the top floor of an apartment block and other areas in the Solomianskyi district near the city centre. Rescue teams went to strikes in several other districts of Kyiv. At least 55 people were injured in one of the deadliest nights in the Ukrainian capital since the full-scale war began in spring 2022, Shaun Walker writes from Kyiv.
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As air defences were activated, Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, said: “Russia is continuing its war on civilians.” Tymur Tkachenko, head of the city’s military administration, said there was a fire in Darnytskyi district on the eastern edge of the capital. “This is a very difficult night,” he wrote. In Russia, the defence military said 51 Ukrainian drones attacked the border Belgorod regionover three and a half hours late on Monday.
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North Korean troops have sustained more than 6,000 casualties fighting for Russia against Ukraine – more than half of the about 11,000 soldiers initially sent to the Kursk region by Kim Jong-un’s regime, according to the British defence ministry.
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Zelenskyy on Monday said that he wanted to discuss buying US weapons with Donald Trump, adding that getting them for free was not on the agenda. Zelenskyy was in Vienna before travelling to the G7 summit in Canada; however, Trump left the G7 on Monday early, citing the situation in the Middle East. Earlier, Zelenskyy said he wanted to discuss with Trump “the defence package that Ukraine is ready to buy”.
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“I can’t imagine and I don’t want to imagine … how to live without and fight without the help of the United States,” Zelenskyy continued. “I think we all have to work to make sure that the alliance between America and Europe doesn’t fall apart.” Zelenskyy said he viewed the G7 summit as a “very important” opportunity to see “what kind of pressure we can all exert to stop [Vladimir] Putin, so that he stops the fire, stops the war … we will discuss frozen Russian assets with the leaders, and we will also discuss sanctions”.
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Trump has shied away from imposing further sanctions on Russia – on Monday saying “I’m waiting to see whether or not a deal is signed”, of which there has been no sign. He also wants Russia readmitted to the G7. Trump said over two weeks ago that he would know in about two weeks whether Putin is “tapping him along” and not genuine about peace negotiations.
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The Guardian’s Russian affairs reporter, Pjotr Sauer, says Ukraine’s daring Operation Spiderweb will make military commanders across the world rethink national security. On 1 June, Ukraine launched a daring attack on Russian air bases, inflicting billions of dollars of damage to warplanes using inexpensive drones smuggled in on top of lorries…..
ISW…Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, June 17, 2025
- Reducing US military aid to Ukraine will neither lead to a sustainable peace in Ukraine nor compel Russian President Vladimir Putin to reassess his theory of victory.
- The Kremlin continues to attack Ukraine using rhetoric presenting an anachronistic reading of Ukraine’s history, denying the existence of an independent Ukrainian language and culture, and discrediting the Ukrainian government.
- Russian officials are also attempting to rhetorically split Ukraine from its Western partners and advocating for an escalation of Russian strike tactics in Ukraine as part of wider efforts to intimidate the West into weakening its support for Ukraine.
- Russian officials continue to promote anti-NATO and anti-Western rhetoric, likely as part of the Kremlin’s continued efforts to prepare Russian society for a potential future war against NATO.
- Ukrainian forces continue to strike Russian military and defense industrial targets in the Russian rear.
- Ukraine and Russia exchanged the bodies of killed in action (KIA) soldiers on June 11, in accordance with agreements previously reached during talks in Istanbul.
- Ukrainian forces advanced near Borova. Russian forces advanced near Chasiv Yar, Toretsk, Pokrovsk, and Novopavlivka.
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