Overview
- EU leaders endorsed the Readiness 2030 plan with early projects on drones and air defense, a 40% joint procurement target by late 2027, key contracts by end‑2028, and provisions to integrate Ukraine into Europe’s defense industry.
- Washington sanctioned Rosneft and Lukoil this week and, according to U.S. officials, has additional measures prepared that could hit Russia’s banking sector and oil‑export infrastructure while pressing Europe to increase pressure and use frozen assets.
- At London’s ‘Coalition of the Willing’ talks, European leaders pledged further military assistance, prioritized long‑range strike and air defenses, and pushed to deploy frozen Russian assets, though EU leaders have not fully signed off on a large loan due to Belgian concerns.
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the U.S. to extend oil penalties to the entire Russian sector and called for long‑range missiles, with NATO’s Mark Rutte saying the Tomahawk request remains under review by President Trump.
- Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev, visiting the U.S., said Russia, the United States and Ukraine are ‘quite close’ to a diplomatic solution, a claim made as Moscow faces new sanctions and as allies coordinate tighter measures.