WESTERN PERSPECTIVE
EU leaders back security commitments for Ukraine
European Union leaders declared on Thursday they would make long-term commitments to bolster Ukraine's security as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged them to start work on a new round of sanctions against Russia.
At a summit in Brussels, the leaders restated their condemnation of Russia's war against Ukraine and said the EU and its member countries "stand ready" to contribute to commitments that would help Ukraine defend itself in the long term.
In a text summarising the conclusions of the summit, the leaders said they would swiftly consider the form these commitments would take.
Josep Borrell, the bloc's foreign policy chief, suggested they could build on existing EU support, such as the European Peace Facility fund that has financed billions of euros in arms for Ukraine and a training mission for Ukrainian troops.
"The military support to Ukraine has to (be for the) long haul," Borrell told reporters, suggesting the EU could establish a Ukrainian Defence Fund, modelled on the Peace Facility.
"The training has to continue, the modernisation of the army has to continue. Ukraine needs our commitment to continue ensuring their security during the war and after the war," he added.
France - a champion of a greater security and defence role for the European Union - proposed the text, diplomats said.
But it was amended to accommodate concerns from militarily neutral countries and from staunch supporters of transatlantic cooperation such as the Baltic states, who see European security as mainly a matter for NATO, with a strong U.S. role.
The final text said the EU would contribute "together with partners" and "in full respect of the security and defence policy of certain Member States".
The EU's statement feeds into a discussion among NATO members and military powers such as the United States, Britain, France and Germany over measures to assure Ukraine that the West is committed to enhancing its security over the long term.
Ukraine has argued the best way to assure its own security and that of Europe is for it to join NATO. But Kyiv has acknowledged that is not possible during the war and NATO allies are divided over how quickly it could happen afterwards.
Addressing the EU leaders via video link, Zelenskiy thanked them for an 11th package of sanctions against Russia, which was approved earlier this month and aimed at stopping other countries and companies from circumventing existing measures.
"It is important not to stop imposing sanctions," he said, according to the text of his speech posted on the Ukrainian president's website.
"The fewer pauses there are, the less Russia will adapt to the pressure on it and the less it will think of ways to circumvent the sanctions," he said.
Zelenskiy also alluded to last weekend's abortive mutiny by the Wagner mercenary group in Russia.
"The weaker Russia is, and the more its bosses fear mutinies and uprisings, the more they will fear to irritate us. Russia's weakness will make it safe for others, and its defeat will solve the problem of this war," he said.
** Kremlin gives no detail on fate of 'General Armageddon' Surovikin after mercenary mutiny
The Kremlin declined on Thursday to give any details about the fate of Russian General Sergei Surovikin, whose status and location have not been made public since an abortive armed mutiny by mercenaries on Saturday.
Nicknamed "General Armageddon" by the Russian press for his aggressive tactics in Syria's war, Surovikin - who is a deputy commander of Russian forces in Ukraine - has been absent from view since Saturday, when he appeared in a video appealing to mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin to call off his mutiny.
Surovikin had looked exhausted in that video and it was unclear if he was speaking under duress. There have since been unconfirmed reports that he is being questioned by the security services.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov referred questions about Surovikin to the defence ministry, which has so far made no statement about him.
Asked by reporters if the Kremlin could clarify the situation with Surovikin, Peskov said: "No, unfortunately not.
"So I recommend that you contact the defence ministry; this is its prerogative."
When a reporter asked if President Vladimir Putin still trusted Surovikin, Peskov said: "He (Putin) is the supreme commander-in-chief and he works with the defence minister and with the chief of the General Staff."
Questions about "structural units within the ministry," Peskov said, should be addressed to the defence ministry.
The ministry did not reply to a Reuters request for clarity on the fate of Surovikin, one of Russia's most respected generals who previously commanded Russian forces in Ukraine for several months.
Russia's most senior generals have dropped out of public view in the wake of the mutiny aimed at toppling the top military brass, amid a drive by Putin to reassert his authority.
The mutiny, which Putin said could have tipped Russia into civil war, amounts to the biggest challenge to the Russian state since the 1991 hardline coup attempt against Mikhail Gorbachev as the Soviet Union crumbled.
Putin, Russia's paramount leader since 1999, thanked the army and law enforcement agencies for preventing what he said would have been devastating turmoil of the kind last seen after the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.
PUTIN, PRIGOZHIN
The 70-year-old former KGB spy was shown on Wednesday visiting a mosque at the ancient, pre-Arab Naryn-Kala citadel in the Derbent fortress on the shores of the Caspian Sea, around 2,000 km (1,240 miles) south of Moscow.
The Kremlin said Putin also chaired a meeting about the development of tourism in the region. Putin, pictured in sunglasses and without a tie, was shown speaking to local residents who took selfies with him.
The fate of Prigozhin, who rose to become Russia's most powerful mercenary, remains unclear.
A private jet linked to Prigozhin flew from St Petersburg, the former imperial capital of Russia, to Moscow on Thursday, though it was unclear who was on the aircraft.
The Kremlin's Peskov said he did not have information about Prigozhin's current location.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said this week that he had persuaded Putin not to "wipe out" Prigozhin, adding that the mercenary chief had flown to Belarus.
Speaking about the causes of the mutiny, Colonel-General Andrei Kartapolov, an influential lawmaker who chairs the lower house of parliament's defence committee, said Prigozhin had refused to sign contracts for his mercenaries to serve under the defence ministry.
As a result, Kartapolov said, Prigozhin had been told his mercenaries would no longer fight in Ukraine and no longer receive money from the Russian state.
Putin said on Tuesday that Prigozhin, Wagner and his Concord catering company had received at least $2 billion from the Russian state over the past year.
RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE
Ukraine outraged over Western expectations – Economist
Officials in Kiev are frustrated by western demands that they accelerate their counteroffensive against Russia, despite already using all available resources on the battlefield, the Economist reported on Wednesday, citing a Ukrainian intelligence source.
The outlet noted that the Ukrainian army had suffered heavy casualties during the first weeks of the widely-anticipated counteroffensive, without making any significant gains so far, prompting Ukrainian commanders to try to protect their depleted forces.
Ukrainian officials hoped for swifter progress, but have since pointed to a number of obstacles, such as effective Russian aviation, large minefields and bad weather.
The slow pace of the counteroffensive has reportedly started worrying Kiev’s Western backers, according to The Economist, with officials arguing that a lack of shock and momentum will cost more lives in the long run.
Politico also reported on Monday that certain Western officials have called Ukraine’s Armed Forces “too cautious” and are demanding that its troops hurry up and make significant battlefield gains soon.
The unnamed Ukrainian intelligence source, however, told the Economist that such statements coming from the West are hypocritical.
“Let me put this as diplomatically as I can,” he told the outlet. “Certain partners are telling us to go forward and fight violently, but they also take their time delivering the hardware and weapons we need.”
Earlier this week, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba told top EU diplomats that Kiev needed more artillery systems and missiles. He also insisted on speeding up the training of Ukrainian pilots on advanced fighter jets, and called for more sanctions against Moscow.
Publicly, Western officials have pledged to support Ukraine for “as long as it takes” to defeat Russia. However, the slow progress and lack of results of Kiev’s counteroffensive could jeopardize future military assistance, the Financial Times has reported.
Meanwhile, Russia has repeatedly pointed out that the continued delivery of Western weapons to Ukraine would fail to change the outcome of the conflict and only serve to prolong it and cause more unnecessary bloodshed.
** Russia’s strike on Kramatorsk eliminates two Ukrainian generals, 50 officers — top brass
Two Ukrainian generals and up to 50 officers along with about 20 foreign mercenaries and military advisers were eliminated in Russia’s strike on the Kiev forces’ deployment site in Kramatorsk, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Thursday.
"According to the updated information, a June 27 precision strike on the temporary deployment site of the Ukrainian army’s 56th motorized infantry brigade in the city of Kramatorsk eliminated two generals, up to fifty officers of the Ukrainian armed forces and also up to twenty foreign mercenaries and military advisers who participated in a staff meeting," the spokesman said.
Reuters/RT/Tass
