Source: United Kingdom UK Parliament (video statements)
Yesterday we welcomed Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, back to Parliament.
Both the Speakers of the House of Commons and House of Lords received an update on the situation on the ground in Ukraine, and emphasised their unwavering support with Ukraine and its people.
Browse our Flickr set from the day: https://www.flickr.com/photos/uk_parliament/albums/72177720327078279/
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
———————————
Highlights:
Iran/Israel
Iran/Qatar
UN Charter
Security Council
Security Council/Non-Proliferation
Occupied Palestinian Territory
UNIFIL
Ukraine
Sudan
Democratic Republic Of The Congo
Chad
Refugees
Panel On Chemicals
Internet Governance Forum
Women In Diplomacy
Guests Tomorrow
__________________________________________
IRAN/ISRAEL
The Secretary-General welcomes US President Trump’s announcement of a cease-fire between Israel and Iran. He urges the two countries to respect it fully. The fighting must stop, the people of the two countries have already suffered too much, he said.
The Secretary-General hopes that this ceasefire can be replicated in the other conflicts in the region.
IRAN/QATAR
In a statement yesterday, the Secretary-General expressed his deep alarm at the further escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.
On social media, he strongly condemned the attack yesterday by Iran on Qatar, a country that has been active for peace in the region and further afield.
The Secretary-General urges all Member States to uphold their obligations under the UN Charter and other rules of international law.
UN CHARTER
Yesterday evening, the Secretary-General delivered remarks at a ceremony that took place here at the UN headquarters to welcome home the original UN Charter, 80 years after it was written. Eighty years is a blink of an eye in history, and yet, the Secretary-General said, until the United Nations, humanity never had a single place where every government and all peoples could unite to fix the world and build something better.
SECURITY COUNCIL
Hannah Tetteh, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Libya, briefed the Security Council this morning by VTC and said that the UN Mission in Libya, UNSMIL, has helped to support the preservation of the fragile truce that had been reached on 14 May, develop mechanisms to facilitate a de-escalation of tensions in order to prevent further clashes, and ensure the protection of civilians.
She warned that there are reports of continued build-up and fears among many Libyans that armed clashes will resume. UNSMIL urges all political and security actors to refrain from provocative rhetoric and actions that would only serve to deepen the lack of trust and undermine all the de-escalation efforts being made to sustain the fragile truce.
Ms. Tetteh noted the calls from many Libyans for UNSMIL to act swiftly to facilitate a Libyan led and owned political process that leads to credible elections and unified institutions. She said that UNSMIL will intensify its engagement in the coming weeks, building on the momentum generated by the Berlin meeting earlier this month.
SECURITY COUNCIL/NON-PROLIFERATION
At 3 p.m., Security Council members will meet for an open briefing on the Secretary-General’s report as requested by resolution 2231 that refers to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action otherwise known as JCPOA.
Rosemary DiCarlo, the Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, is expected to brief.
Full Highlights:
https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/ossg/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=24%20June%202025&_gl=1%2A10sej4q%2A_ga%2AMTc3MDMwNDcyOS4xNzMzMDUxOTcy%2A_ga_TK9BQL5X7Z%2AczE3NTA3ODk2MzEkbzgwJGcxJHQxNzUwNzkyOTI0JGo2MCRsMCRoMA..
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
The Prime Minister met Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof in The Hague today.
The Prime Minister met Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof in The Hague today.
The Prime Minister began by thanking Prime Minister Schoof for his hospitality, adding that he was delighted to return to the city.
Discussing the significant investment pledge made at this year’s summit, the Prime Minister said it was vital the next generation was able to enjoy the same peace and security that Allies had today.
The leaders also discussed the situation in the Middle East and agreed now was the time for diplomacy to prevail.
On Ukraine, the leaders underscored the need to secure a just and lasting peace, and to step up support through shared industrial capability and defence innovation.
The leaders looked forward to speaking again later today.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
———————————
Highlights:
Iran/Israel
Iran/Qatar
UN Charter
Security Council
Security Council/Non-Proliferation
Occupied Palestinian Territory
UNIFIL
Ukraine
Sudan
Democratic Republic Of The Congo
Chad
Refugees
Panel On Chemicals
Internet Governance Forum
Women In Diplomacy
Guests Tomorrow
__________________________________________
IRAN/ISRAEL
The Secretary-General welcomes US President Trump’s announcement of a cease-fire between Israel and Iran. He urges the two countries to respect it fully. The fighting must stop, the people of the two countries have already suffered too much, he said.
The Secretary-General hopes that this ceasefire can be replicated in the other conflicts in the region.
IRAN/QATAR
In a statement yesterday, the Secretary-General expressed his deep alarm at the further escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.
On social media, he strongly condemned the attack yesterday by Iran on Qatar, a country that has been active for peace in the region and further afield.
The Secretary-General urges all Member States to uphold their obligations under the UN Charter and other rules of international law.
UN CHARTER
Yesterday evening, the Secretary-General delivered remarks at a ceremony that took place here at the UN headquarters to welcome home the original UN Charter, 80 years after it was written. Eighty years is a blink of an eye in history, and yet, the Secretary-General said, until the United Nations, humanity never had a single place where every government and all peoples could unite to fix the world and build something better.
SECURITY COUNCIL
Hannah Tetteh, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Libya, briefed the Security Council this morning by VTC and said that the UN Mission in Libya, UNSMIL, has helped to support the preservation of the fragile truce that had been reached on 14 May, develop mechanisms to facilitate a de-escalation of tensions in order to prevent further clashes, and ensure the protection of civilians.
She warned that there are reports of continued build-up and fears among many Libyans that armed clashes will resume. UNSMIL urges all political and security actors to refrain from provocative rhetoric and actions that would only serve to deepen the lack of trust and undermine all the de-escalation efforts being made to sustain the fragile truce.
Ms. Tetteh noted the calls from many Libyans for UNSMIL to act swiftly to facilitate a Libyan led and owned political process that leads to credible elections and unified institutions. She said that UNSMIL will intensify its engagement in the coming weeks, building on the momentum generated by the Berlin meeting earlier this month.
SECURITY COUNCIL/NON-PROLIFERATION
At 3 p.m., Security Council members will meet for an open briefing on the Secretary-General’s report as requested by resolution 2231 that refers to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action otherwise known as JCPOA.
Rosemary DiCarlo, the Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, is expected to brief.
Full Highlights:
https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/ossg/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=24%20June%202025&_gl=1%2A10sej4q%2A_ga%2AMTc3MDMwNDcyOS4xNzMzMDUxOTcy%2A_ga_TK9BQL5X7Z%2AczE3NTA3ODk2MzEkbzgwJGcxJHQxNzUwNzkyOTI0JGo2MCRsMCRoMA..
Source: European Parliament
Source: European Parliament
The EU’s temporary protection regime has provided predictability and legal certainty to both displaced people from Ukraine and the EU Member States. The situation in Ukraine, as a result of Russia’s ongoing war of aggression, still requires a common European response. The EU has therefore decided to extend temporary protection for a fifth year, until 4 March 2027. Moreover, the European Commission has proposed a coordinated approach to a smooth transition out of temporary protection, when the circumstances allow.
Source: European Parliament
The intelligence threats assessments of the Member States remain outside the remit of the Commission. Therefore, the Commission is not in a position to evaluate or assess them.
The Commission officials, in their public statements, have been referring to open-source information in which Member States’ intelligence services assessed the probability of Russian aggressive actions against the EU as likely in a five-year perspective.
Commission defence industry programmes and instruments aimed at boosting European defence are proposed in the context of growing threats to European security which are proliferating in a way that poses an acute challenge to the EU way of life. This was the case even before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
However, the Russian full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine has forced the EU and its partners to confront the reality of high-intensity war returning on the European continent on a scale never seen since 1945. Consequently, in the Commission assessment the only way the EU can ensure peace is to gain the ability to deter those who could harm the EU.
Therefore, in March 2025, the Commission and the High Representative/Vice-President presented jointly the White Paper for European Readiness 2030[1] and the President of the Commission previously proposed the ReArm Europe Plan that lays down sound funding foundations to support a surge in defence.
This long-term endeavour will enable the Member States to build up their armed forces to face any scenario, including the most extreme military contingencies.
Source: European Central Bank
London, 24 June 2025
Since the extraordinary inflation surges in 2021-2022, the primary challenge facing monetary policy has been to return inflation to target in a timely manner.[1] In terms of interest rate policy, this required a rapid hiking cycle from July 2022 to September 2023, followed by a “hold at peak” phase and then a gradual reversal of the restrictive stance starting in June 2024.[2] The gradualism in the easing phase reflected ongoing uncertainty about the speed of the disinflation process.
While headline inflation is currently around the target, services inflation still has some distance to travel to make sure that inflation stabilises at the target on a sustainable basis. Still, there has been sufficient progress in returning inflation to target to consider that this monetary policy challenge is largely completed. This assessment is reinforced by the accumulating evidence that the remaining services disinflation is well on track: first, the projection errors for inflation, including for the services subcomponent, have been relatively small during the disinflation process; second, both the wage tracker data and survey indicators suggest that further deceleration in wage growth can be expected in both 2025 and 2026, facilitating further declines in services inflation.
However, this disinflation challenge has been superseded by a new set of challenges and monetary policymakers have to make sure that the medium-term inflation target is protected in a volatile environment in which, amongst other factors, there is high uncertainty about the future of long-standing international trade system.[3] This uncertainty extends beyond the calibration of new tariff regimes and includes the possibility of a broader set of non-tariff barriers, a deeper intertwining of economic policies and security policies and possible revisions to the treatment of foreign portfolio investors and foreign direct investors. In addition to policy uncertainty, geopolitical tensions, such as Russia’s unjustified war against Ukraine and the tragic conflict in the Middle East, remain a major source of uncertainty. Reflecting these developments, we have seen high volatility in energy prices this year and substantial currency repricing. There has also been considerable financial market volatility.
At the same time (and largely as an endogenous reaction to the changed security landscape), the fiscal outlook for the euro area has materially changed for the coming years, with the overall fiscal deficit looking set to remain above three per cent over the projection horizon. The near-term and medium-term implications for output and inflation of the structural changes associated with the green transition, the increasing business adoption of artificial intelligence applications and global shifts in comparative advantage are also highly uncertain, operating both on demand and supply with potentially different timelines.
Especially under current conditions of high uncertainty, it is essential to remain data dependent and take a meeting-by-meeting approach in making monetary policy decisions, with no pre-commitment to any particular future rate path. In addition to observing how activity and inflation are actually behaving, data dependence also extends to the incoming data on policy settings outside the monetary domain, since shifts in international and domestic policy regimes are highly relevant for future inflation dynamics. In this environment, the primary task for monetary policy makers is to make sure that any temporary deviations from target do not turn into longer-term deviations.
This orientation explains our June decision to cut rates by 25 basis points. The June projections were conditioned on a rate path that included a quarter-point reduction of the deposit facility rate (DFR) in June: model-based optimal policy simulations and an array of monetary policy feedback rules indicated a cut was appropriate under the baseline and also constituted a robust decision, remaining appropriate across a range of alternative future paths for inflation and the economy. By supporting the pricing pressure needed to generate target-consistent inflation in the medium-term, this cut helps ensure that the projected negative inflation deviation over the next eighteen months remains temporary and does not convert into a longer-term deviation of inflation from the target. This cut also guards against any uncertainty about our reaction function by demonstrating that we are determined to make sure that inflation returns to target in the medium term. This helps to underpin inflation expectations and avoid an unwarranted tightening in financial conditions.
It is worth noting, in particular, that the robustness of the decision was also supported by a set of model-based optimal policy simulations conducted on various combinations of the trade scenarios discussed in the Eurosystem staff projections report, even when also factoring in upside scenarios for fiscal expenditure. By contrast, leaving the DFR on hold at 2.25 per cent could have triggered an adverse repricing of the forward curve and a revision in inflation expectations that would risk generating a more pronounced and longer-lasting undershoot of the inflation target. In turn, if this risk materialised, a stronger monetary reaction would ultimately be required.
Looking ahead, our monetary policy will have to take into account not only the most likely path (the baseline) but also the risks to activity and inflation. To this end, it will be important to explore how alternative rate paths hold up in various plausible sensitivity and scenario analyses, in order to make sure we minimise the risk of extended deviations from our medium-term target.
Source: European Parliament
The draft legislation aims to address speculation on the gas market and bring down prices, by introducing greater flexibility in rules on gas storage refilling.
MEPs and the Polish Presidency of the Council reached an informal agreement on Tuesday to extend the EU’s 2022 gas storage scheme until 31 December 2027, as it would otherwise have expired at the end of 2025. The provision is designed to ensure gas supply security ahead of the winter season.
MEPs and Council also introduced several amendments to ease tensions in the gas market, as speculation surrounding the existing mandatory 90% fill rate target by 1 November each year was driving the cost of refilling during the summer.
Refilling flexibilities
The agreed text will allow Member States to achieve the 90% filling target at any point in time between 1 October and 1 December, taking into account the start of the Member States withdrawal period. Once the 90% target is met, it should not be required to maintain that level until 1 December.
Member States should have the possibility to deviate by up to ten percentage points from the filling target in case of difficult market conditions, such as indications of speculation hindering cost-effective storage filling.
The Commission may further increase this deviation by delegated act, for one filling season, if these market conditions persist.
Towards full independence from Russian imports
The competent authority monitoring gas refilling shall also include information on the share of gas originating in the Russian federation being stored in that Member State, in line with the 17 June proposals from the European Commission, which will help in monitoring whether Russian gas is stored in the EU.
Quote
“The 2022 legislation showed that Europe was able to protect its citizens in a situation where Russia was using gas as a weapon of blackmail”, said rapporteur Borys Budka (EPP, Poland). “This revision will provide for more flexibility and less bureaucracy but above all to bring Europe’s gas prices down, while we continue towards energy independence from unreliable suppliers” he said.
Next steps
The informal agreement will be put to a vote in the Industry, Research and Energy committee on the 26th of June.
Background
Gas-storage facilities provide for 30% of the Union’s gas consumption during winter months. The EU’s energy security has been a critical concern in recent years, not least in light of its dependence on non-EU countries for primary energy supplies. The 2022 energy crisis, exacerbated by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent weaponisation of gas supplies, highlighted the urgent need for additional measures to ensure stable and affordable energy supplies.
In response, the EU introduced new gas storage rules. However, the global gas market remains tight, with increased competition for liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies and persistent price volatility.
Source: European Parliament
Question for written answer E-002405/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Viktória Ferenc (PfE), Tamás Deutsch (PfE), Kinga Gál (PfE), Enikő Győri (PfE), András Gyürk (PfE), Annamária Vicsek (PfE), András László (PfE), György Hölvényi (PfE), Csaba Dömötör (PfE), Ernő Schaller-Baross (PfE), Pál Szekeres (PfE)
The ongoing war in Ukraine has had a severe impact on society as a whole, including women on the home front. Due to mass conscription and the constant existential threat of war, many of these women are alone, left caring for multigenerational families under increasing psychological strain. Rates of depression, anxiety, PTSD and burnout are rising.
At the same time, women belonging to the Ukraine’s Hungarian community often face additional linguistic and cultural barriers that limit their access to appropriate mental health services. Identity – especially cultural, national and linguistic identity – is one of the most powerful psychological protective factors, especially in crisis situations. Any efforts to promote mental health regeneration must recognise that mental health interventions cannot work in a culturally neutral environment.
Submitted: 16.6.2025
Source: European Parliament
Question for written answer E-002422/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Liudas Mažylis (PPE)
Since the Russian Federation began its occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in 2022, this piece of strategically important infrastructure has become the focus of constant military action and geopolitical blackmail. On 6 June 2025, Russian nuclear energy chief Alexey Likhachev informed the IAEA that a detailed plan to restart the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant had been drawn up. There have also been reports that Russia intends to disconnect the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant from Ukraine’s electricity grid and integrate it into Russia’s energy system. Given Russia’s ongoing military operations around the nuclear power plant, restarting it would only increase the risk of a nuclear disaster.
In light of this, could the Commission answer the following questions:
Submitted: 16.6.2025
Source: European Parliament
Question for written answer E-002413/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Marco Squarta (ECR), Pietro Fiocchi (ECR), Ruggero Razza (ECR), Mario Mantovani (ECR), Francesco Torselli (ECR), Alberico Gambino (ECR), Carlo Ciccioli (ECR), Paolo Inselvini (ECR), Francesco Ventola (ECR), Daniele Polato (ECR), Sergio Berlato (ECR), Giuseppe Milazzo (ECR), Lara Magoni (ECR), Denis Nesci (ECR)
The ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip has had serious educational consequences in recent months in that it has jeopardised access to higher education for thousands of young people. Article 16 of Regulation (EU) 2021/817 governing the Erasmus+ programme for the period 2021‑2027 provides for the possibility of targeted measures being triggered in crisis situations or exceptional circumstances so as to ensure continuity of education.
Such flexibility has already been used in response to the Ukraine crisis, through ad hoc measures such as Erasmus 4Ukraine, extraordinary scholarships and facilitated mobility.
In view of the need to support the right to education of young people impacted by conflicts in order to promote academic cohesion, resilience and cooperation at international level, it would be appropriate to consider extraordinary instruments for Gaza too, without ignoring the need to carefully check that all the requisite security conditions are fulfilled.
In the light of the above, can the Commission state whether it plans to assess, within the framework of the Erasmus+ Regulation and its flexibility clauses, the possibility of triggering an extraordinary call for proposals or specific measures to support the academic mobility of students from Gaza, conceivably also through hybrid (online or in person) learning, in partnership with European universities?
Submitted: 16.6.2025
US Senate News:
Source: United States Senator for Kentucky Mitch McConnell
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, convened today’s hearing “A Review of the President’s Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request for the Navy”. Prepared text of his opening statement follows:
“I’ll begin by welcoming Secretary of the Navy John Phelan, Acting Chief of Naval Operations Admiral James Kilby, and Commandant of the Marine Corps General Eric Smith. I’m grateful to each of you for your willingness to lead at a pivotal moment for the Department, and to the sailors, Marines, and civilian personnel who advance Navy and Marine Corps missions and keep America safe every day.
“I’m particularly grateful to the sailors who have stood watch in the Gulf and the Red Sea over the last 20 months helping to defend Israel, US interests, and freedom of navigation against Iranian-backed terrorists. And to the crews deployed there right now who launched Tomahawk cruise missiles as part of the joint operation to strike what I hope is a fatal blow to Iran’s nuclear aspirations.
“I also want to recognize the Marine Corps, whose fallen comrades were among the earliest victims of Iran’s decades-long war against the United States and Israel — those taken hostage with U.S. Embassy personnel in Tehran and the hundreds killed in Beirut in 1983, before any of us on this dais showed up in Washington.
“Generations of servicemembers carry the scars of Iran-backed attacks on American personnel in the region over the decades. Their sacrifices remind us that ‘Death to America’ is more than rhetoric.
“For too long, Tehran itself faced negligible costs for the actions of their terrorist proxies. Thanks to Israel’s initiative in turning the tables – and the President’s decision to back them up – the Islamic Republic is finally paying a steep price.
“This weekend’s events are yet a further reminder of the challenges facing the joint force today. And my colleagues and I hope to understand the extent to which you think the President’s budget request would provide the resources necessary to meet, deter, and defeat them.
“Each of the Services is grappling in its own way with the reality of renewed major-power competition and with the increasing alignment of America’s adversaries. As you know, major transformations test assumptions and service culture. They test the capacity of the industrial base. And, importantly, they hinge on transparent working relations with Congress and on robust and consistent full-year investments in major priorities.
“I’ll offer just a few observations in this vein. First, the good: Secretary Phelan, I’ve appreciated your recognition of Congress’ role in equipping the Navy and Marine Corps and the collaborative approach you’ve taken with this subcommittee. Your willingness to communicate transparently will continue to benefit our shared mission of restoring the Navy’s preeminence. I also appreciate your persistent engagement with the maritime industrial base. Your travels to see our shipbuilding challenges across the country, firsthand, have not gone unnoticed. We will not solve this problem without the private sector.
“Likewise, General Smith – The Marine Corps spent years developing a clear rationale for major transformation, made tough and deliberate choices, and engaged Congress effectively along the way. Marine Corps Force Design 2030 continues to offer other services valuable lessons as they pursue transformation efforts of their own. I look forward to hearing how the Marine Corps’ own transformation to meet future threats is going: the good, the bad, and the ugly. But, to be quite frank, the decisions this Administration has made on resourcing the Department of Defense – a full-year CR that failed to address rising costs of operations and maintenance and major modernization requirements, a one-time reconciliation investment that risks new cliffs for sustainment, and a base request for FY26 even lower than the previous Administration’s FY25 request – make each of your jobs more difficult.
“At the most basic level, an FY26 base defense topline that doesn’t keep pace with inflation – let alone with the ‘pacing’ threat of the PRC – does not show we’re serious about the tasks before us. Neither does pretending that one-time injections of funding are a substitute for consistent appropriations. For example, none of you needs me to point out the breadth of bipartisan support for accelerating procurement of Virginia-class submarines. If the Administration shares our interest in meaningfully expanding shipbuilding capacity, why are investments like this one not built into the base budget request? Why are we allocating funds under extraordinary parliamentary authorities for capabilities that would otherwise have been funded in an annual appropriation? Will the Navy even be able to complete two Virginia class subs with reconciliation money before the funding expires?
“Leaving aside the color of money, we’ll also want to hear your assessment of the impediments to delivering essential capabilities like submarines, destroyers, and amphibious vessels at the speed of relevance. This subcommittee has been consistently generous, but despite pouring billions more dollars into the effort, the timeline for producing a Virginia-class sub continues to stretch longer. Of course, we don’t just need to build platforms faster. We need to figure out how to make munitions more efficiently – especially the exquisite missile defense interceptors and long-range fires on which current operations are relying so heavily. How has the Navy handled the high operational tempo in the Red Sea? How does the FY26 request reflect the urgent need to deepen our magazines in a more cost-effective manner?
“Finally, I’m curious about the lessons your services are taking from current conflicts. What has the Navy learned from the demands of long deployments and the costs of air wing accidents on the U.S.S. Truman? What lessons is the service taking from Ukraine’s decimation of Russia’s Black Sea fleet? How is the Navy approaching force protection itself? Is it hardening major assets, both in port and at sea? Does it have sufficient resources to do so?
“What is the Marine Corps learning from Russia’s ground war in Ukraine? How does information-sharing at the cutting-edge of modern warfare inform the service’s ongoing transformation effort? To what extent is success in the face of unique Indo-Pacific circumstances dependent on things outside your control, like logistics and transportation provided by other services or commands?
“I will be curious for each of your observations. I would just suggest that any honest accounting of the task at hand will have to reckon with the deficiencies of the defense topline. If our objective is to build a force capable of projecting power globally to deter, fight, and prevail against Chinese aggression, possibly while engaged in conflict in other theatres, I don’t see how this budget request gets us there. So we’ll look forward to your testimony in just a moment.”
Source: Government of Canada – Prime Minister
Today, the Prime Minister, Mark Carney, met with the President of Latvia, Edgars Rinkēvičs, on the margins of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit in The Hague, the Netherlands.
Building on the two countries’ already strong ties, the Prime Minister and the President discussed deepening the Canada-Latvia partnership, with a focus on increasing trade and investment, including in defence and energy.
They reaffirmed their shared commitment to regional security and underscored the importance of achieving a just and lasting peace in Ukraine. They also discussed the need to increase pressure on Russia, including through sanctions.
Prime Minister Carney reiterated Canada’s support for Euro-Atlantic security, as demonstrated by its leadership through the Canada-led NATO Multinational Brigade in Latvia. He thanked the President for Latvia’s exemplary role in hosting Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members serving under Operation REASSURANCE. The operation includes approximately 2,000 personnel, making it the largest deployment of CAF members overseas.
The Prime Minister also outlined Canada’s plan to rebuild, rearm, and reinvest in the CAF – meeting the NATO 2 per cent target this year and accelerating defence investments in the years ahead.
The leaders agreed to remain in close contact.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Phil Tomlinson, Professor of Industrial Strategy, Co-Director Centre for Governance, Regulation and Industrial Strategy (CGR&IS), University of Bath
Brexit, COVID, the war in Ukraine and now Trump’s tariffs have all highlighted how vulnerable life in the UK is to disruptions in trade. Everyday items that people rely on can be subject to major shortages, delays and price rises, due to something as simple as a ship getting stuck in a canal.
This is because the UK is hugely reliant on other countries to provide much of what it needs. Medical supplies, cars, electronics and fruit are just a few of Britain’s favourite things that it tends to buy in from elsewhere.
Global supply chains deliver lower prices and wider choice to consumers but they are also often highly complex. In the car industry for example, components may move within and between companies and cross national boundaries many times, before ending up in the final assembled vehicle. This can make them vulnerable.
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In response to the disruption of recent years, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has long been arguing for what she calls “securonomics” – investing in domestic energy sources and resilient networks. So perhaps it was no surprise that the British government’s new industrial strategy plans emphasise the importance of supply chain security.
A new industrial competitiveness scheme for example, is designed to cut energy costs for the UK’s most energy intensive firms, which manufacture things like steel, ceramics and glass. This should help domestic supply capacity.
Read more:
UK plan to cut energy bills for industrial firms threatens to leave small businesses out in the cold
A reported £600 million has also been allocated to develop the UK’s logistics industry. And there is a proposal for a “national supply chain centre” to identify weaknesses, enhance domestic capability and build strategic international partnerships. Vulnerabilities and dependencies will also be more closely monitored.
Another focus will be to diversify critical supply chains by reducing the UK’s dependence on single supplier nations (such as China for rare earth elements or semiconductors). One option should be strengthening alliances with friendly nations (known as “friendshoring”) with the aim of embedding supply chains in places that can be relied upon.
The recently announced trade deals with the US and India, and signs of greater cooperation with the EU do offer some promise in this area. Trade deals help with supply chain cooperation, but could go further and include resilience initiatives (such as creating joint stockpiles of things like critical minerals) to reduce disruption in the future.
On the domestic front, the UK could still do more to incentivise “reshoring” (bringing some manufacturing or production of goods back to the UK). Reversing decades of decline in these sectors would be challenging, and require a long-term investment in domestic capacity and skills. But it could also deliver a boost to jobs and growth, potentially in parts of the UK which need it most.
Given recent geopolitics, the government has also prioritised strengthening the defence supply chain, allocating £173 million of new funding on defence infrastructure and skills. Developments are are at an early stage, but the recent UK-EU security and defence partnership is a welcome start. And more work will be needed to make UK-EU collaboration on building a resilient defence industry across Europe a reality.
Supply chains within that industry (and others, such as healthcare) can be vulnerable to cyberattacks and economic coercion from malicious groups and hostile foreign states. So enhancing cybersecurity in logistics and infrastructure will also be critical.
This will mean better protection for ports, customs systems and logistics software. There is some limited additional funding on offer for this, but more will be required, which in turn will open up new opportunities for firms in the cyber industry. Indeed, a “cyber cluster” of businesses is already emerging in central England from the government defence and technology campus at Porton Down in Wiltshire across to GCHQ – the national centre for intelligence and security – in Gloucestershire.
But with still much to do, overall Reeves has been right to stress the importance of supply chains. They are crucial to people’s jobs and homes, the medicines they need and the food they eat. And supply chain security is not just an economic issue. It is a strategic imperative for safeguarding the UK, its businesses and the welfare of its citizens.
The tone of the new industrial strategy reflects Reeves’s “securonomics” rhetoric. But how far this goes in actually strengthening supply chains and boosting their resilience remains open to question, especially in the context of limited resources and a chancellor keen to build a reputation for fiscal prudence.
Phil Tomlinson receives funding from the Innovation and Research Caucus (IRC).
David Bailey receives funding from the ESRC’s UK in a Changing Europe programme.
Paddy Bradley is affiliated with the National Innovation Centre for Rural Enterprise based at Newcastle University.
He is Chair of TransWilts Community Interest Company which aims to increase public use of trains and buses in the Wiltshire area.
He is Chair of Governors of Wiltshire College and University Centre.
– ref. New industrial strategy brings Rachel Reeves’ securonomics to life – but will it protect Britain from more supply chain shocks? – https://theconversation.com/new-industrial-strategy-brings-rachel-reeves-securonomics-to-life-but-will-it-protect-britain-from-more-supply-chain-shocks-258410
Source: Government of Canada – Prime Minister
Today, the Prime Minister, Mark Carney, met with the Prime Minister of Sweden, Ulf Kristersson, on the margins of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit in The Hague, the Netherlands.
The prime ministers discussed deepening economic and security ties between their two countries. They reaffirmed their shared commitment to strengthening NATO and maritime defence across the North Atlantic and Arctic regions. They also discussed bolstering co-operation on defence procurement.
The leaders reiterated their steadfast support for Ukraine and agreed on the imperative of achieving a just and lasting peace.
Prime Minister Carney and Prime Minister Kristersson agreed to remain in close contact.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By David Hastings Dunn, Professor of International Politics in the Department of Political Science and International Studies, University of Birmingham
After a stern warning from Donald Trump, Israel and Iran appear finally to be observing a US-brokered ceasefire announced by Donald Trump overnight on June 23. But just as it remains unclear what the state of the conflict is, many other uncertainties remain when it comes to the US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
We still don’t know the extent to which Iran’s stock of enriched uranium and the capability to use it have been destroyed. But leaving aside such practical considerations, the US bombing raid also constituted an attack on the prevailing international legal order.
In some ways, the US actions echo the 1981 Israeli strike on Osirak when the Israeli Air Force attacked and partially destroyed Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor, killing ten Iraqi soldiers and one French technician.
However, the US attack can be seen as more serious because it has been launched in a far more fragile and geopolitical environment. Moreover, the state violating the legal rules is the erstwhile guardian of the legal order –– the USA.
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The attacks appear to be the logical follow through of Trump’s withdrawal from the joint comprehensive plan of action (JCPOA) in 2018. This was the Obama-era agreement that significantly limited Iran’s enrichment of nuclear material. For Trump, that negotiated deal was imperfect, as it relied on ongoing Iranian restraint. His decision to unleash US bombers was designed to end the nascent Iranian nuclear threat once and for all.
But such unilateral actions rarely result in such black and white results. And this situation shows every indication of being no different. It is for this reason that negotiated solutions and agreed legal frameworks are generally regarded as better long-term solutions than military force.
A significant inhibition on the use of force to remove nuclear threats has been its lack of justification under international law. When the administration of George W Bush decided to launch its invasion of Iraq in 2003, the US, UK and Australian governments that spearheaded the invasion relied on the express legal justification that Iraq was already in breach of existing UN security council resolutions that required it to be disarmed of all weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
For his part, Trump relied on the argument that Iran’s nuclear facilities already posed an imminent threat to US security. This argument had been undermined by none other than Trump’s director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, just weeks previously.
Gabbard testified before Congress in March that the US “continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorised the nuclear weapons programme he suspended in 2003”.
Trump, who has a habit of ignoring his intelligence community, dismissed Gabbard’s assessment saying, “I don’t care what she said. I think they’re very close to having it”.
One thing that is striking about the June 22 US bombing campaign is the cursory attention given to any substantive legal justification. It’s a distinct contrast to Bush’s attempts – however much this strained the law to breaking point – to justify his 2003 use of force.
The US ambassador to the United Nations, Dorothy Camille Shea, made only the most limited of references to the legality of the action in her speech to the UN security council a day after the US strikes.
In our book Drones, Force, and Law we demonstrate how the defining mark of an international society is that states recognise the need to give an account of their behaviour in terms of the accepted legal rules.
Even when policymakers know that they are breaking established interpretations of the law, they rarely admit this publicly. They seek to offer a legal justification – however strained and implausible – that is in conformity with the rules.
If a state openly admitted that it was violating the law, giving a justification for its conduct only in terms of that state’s values and beliefs, then it would be treating others with contempt. It would, to quote the respected Australian international relations theorist, Hedley Bull, “place in jeopardy all the settled expectations that states have about one another’s behaviour”.
This is exactly what Trump is doing by not seeking to expressly justify the US’ use of force in legal terms. This invites others to mount a broader assault on international law itself as something that is both fragile and hypocritical in the hands of the powerful.
The US has justified its attack as aimed at preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. But a perverse consequence of the attack is that it is likely to further erode the norm against proliferation. There are two key arguments here.
The first is that all three Iranian facilities attacked were, before Israel initially attacked Iran on June 12, under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards. So, by attacking these installations, the US – like Israel four decades ago with its attack against Osirak – was signalling that it had no confidence in the multilateral mechanisms of non-proliferation. It was essentially saying that it has to rely on unilateral action.
The second consequence is that a strike aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons may instead push it – and others – to accelerate weaponisation efforts. These US attacks may confirm for many the earlier lessons from Iraq, as well as subsequently in Libya and Ukraine. States without nuclear weapons are vulnerable to regime change or military action.
If this is the lesson that is drawn by those who live in dangerous neighbourhoods and who are increasingly worried about their security, then the US action could serve as a further spur to nuclear proliferation.
Trump has shown a worrying propensity to ignore legal constraints on his power both domestically and internationally. This action, less than six months into his administration, is an alarming harbinger of his contempt for the internationally agreed legal rules restricting the use of force.
David Hastings Dunn has previously received funding from the ESRC, the Gerda Henkel Foundation, the Open Democracy Foundation and has previously been both a NATO and a Fulbright Fellow.
Nicholas Wheeler has formally received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council and the Open Society Foundations.
– ref. US attack on Iran lacks legal justification and could lead to more nuclear proliferation – https://theconversation.com/us-attack-on-iran-lacks-legal-justification-and-could-lead-to-more-nuclear-proliferation-259638
Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
KYIV, June 24 (Xinhua) — At least eight people were killed and 84 others were wounded on Tuesday in a Russian missile strike on Ukraine’s fourth-largest city of Dnipro, located in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, the head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration (OVA) Serhiy Lysak said on Telegram.
According to him, 62 victims were hospitalized, seven of them are in serious condition.
S. Lysak added that due to the Russian attack in Dnepr, civilian infrastructure was damaged, including a dormitory, a gymnasium and an administrative building, and a train was also damaged.
In addition, the head of the OVA reported that the Russian Federation attacked the city of Samara, which is located approximately 26 km from the Dnieper. There, according to S. Lysak, two people were killed and 11 more were injured. –0–
US Senate News:
Source: United States Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn)
Russia has kidnapped nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children – erasing their cultural identity and heritage
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced their bipartisan Abducted Ukrainian Children Recovery and Accountability Act.
This legislation would increase support for Ukraine’s efforts to investigate and track the nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children who have been abducted during Putin’s brutal invasion, assist with the rehabilitation and reintegration of children who are returned, and provide justice and accountability for perpetrators of these abductions.
“The mass kidnapping of Ukrainian children by Russia is an atrocity. We cannot accept a world where children are abducted during wartime and used as a form of hostage-taking for negotiations. Our bipartisan legislation will provide the necessary resources to bring them home and hold the perpetrators accountable,” said Klobuchar.
“After he started the largest war in Europe since World War II, Putin kidnapped thousands of Ukrainian children to brainwash and Russify them, trying to destroy their cultural identity and heritage. These children should be returned home as soon as possible. Our bipartisan legislation supports critical tools to identify and track the location of these children and reintegrate them into their homeland. We’re also helping hold perpetrators accountable for their atrocities to ensure justice is served,” Grassley said.
This legislation follows a bipartisan resolution that Klobuchar and Grassley led in May condemning Russia’s abduction and forcible transfer of Ukrainian children and demanding their return before reaching a final peace agreement. Additional cosponsors of that resolution include Senators Joni Ernst (R-IA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), John Fetterman (D-PA), Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Rick Scott (R-FL). You can find the full text of the resolution here.
In March, Klobuchar and Grassley were joined by Senator Durbin in leading a bipartisan letter calling for the State Department to continue supporting efforts to investigate Russia’s abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children.
To date, Ukrainian authorities have received at least 19,546 confirmed reports of unlawful deportations and forced transfers of Ukrainian children to Russia, Belarus or Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory. The abductions aim to erase the children’s Ukrainian names, language and identity. As of April 16, Ukraine and its partners have only managed to return 1,274 abducted children.
The State Department’s 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report found Russia recruits or uses child soldiers, has a state-sponsored policy or pattern of human trafficking and is among the worst hubs for human trafficking in the world.
Source: Government of Canada – Prime Minister
Today, the Prime Minister, Mark Carney, met with the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Dick Schoof, on the margins of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit in The Hague, the Netherlands.
Prime Minister Carney thanked Prime Minister Schoof for hosting the NATO Summit at such a pivotal time for the Alliance and global security.
Prime Minister Carney underscored the importance of strengthening ties with the Netherlands, as Canada deepens its partnerships with the European Union. The leaders discussed opportunities to bolster economic co-operation across key sectors, including critical minerals and defence.
They affirmed their commitment to trans-Atlantic security and their support for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine. They also discussed the situation in the Middle East and stressed the importance of de-escalation.
Prime Minister Carney and Prime Minister Schoof agreed to remain in close contact.
Source: NATO
On Tuesday (24 June 2025), Secretary General Mark Rutte called on NATO Allies, partners and industry to “unite, innovate and deliver” to ensure the Alliance is able to “win this new war of production”.
Speaking at the NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum in The Hague, Mr Rutte emphasised the significant steps the Alliance is taking to strengthen its defence industrial capacity, increase cooperation, enhance innovation, and expand hundreds of new and existing production lines. “There’s no defence without a strong defence industry, and there’s no European security without a strong transatlantic bond,” Mr Rutte said.
Urging Allies and industry to do more, better and together, the Secretary General highlighted the clear demand signal NATO is sending to the defence industry, through the massive uplift Allies have agreed in capability targets.
Joined onstage by the President of the European Commission Ursula Von der Leyen, Mr Rutte welcomed the European Union’s Readiness 2030 plan that promises to unleash up to 800 billion euros for defence, and encouraged the removal of barriers to transatlantic defence cooperation.
President Zelenskyy of Ukraine also made a speech at the event urging further security assistance and increased defence industrial cooperation between NATO Allies and Ukraine. Mr Zelenskyy highlighted Ukraine’s growing defence industry and its world-leading drone production in particular, as an attractive basis for further collaboration.
The NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum brought together defence ministers, industry leaders and experts from across the Alliance and beyond to identify practical solutions to strengthen transatlantic defence industrial cooperation, boost production capacity, support innovation, and harness the potential of the commercial space sector.
At the start of the event, business leaders from Europe and North America presented the Secretary General with an ambition statement, reflecting their collective commitment to support NATO’s Industrial Capacity Expansion Pledge for the ‘prosperity, security and resilience of the Transatlantic economy and society’. NATO also released its first public version of the Updated Defence Production Action Plan, which outlines NATO’s commitment to aggregate demand, boost capacity and strengthen engagement with industry.
Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Moscow, June 24 (Xinhua) — China is acting as a “peace broker” in the Ukrainian crisis and is making efforts to facilitate peace talks, Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui said in a written interview with the Russian newspaper Izvestia on Monday.
“Since the comprehensive escalation of the Ukrainian crisis, China has been acting as a ‘peace broker’ and has been making consistent efforts to end the fighting and facilitate peace talks,” he said.
The Chinese ambassador stressed that China’s position on the Ukrainian issue is consistent and clear: the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states must be respected, the purposes and principles of the UN Charter must be observed, reasonable security concerns of all countries must be taken seriously, and all efforts for a peaceful settlement deserve support. “This is the authoritative position and fundamental principle of the Chinese side on the Ukrainian issue,” the ambassador explained, adding that China welcomes and supports all efforts aimed at achieving peace, and will continue to take an objective and fair position, promote consensus building and create conditions for resolving the crisis.
According to Zhang Hanhui, Li Hui, the special representative of the PRC government for Eurasian affairs, has already conducted four rounds of “shuttle diplomacy,” covering four continents – Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America. He visited both the parties to the conflict – Russia and Ukraine – and key European countries, including France and Germany. In addition, deep exchanges of views were held with countries of the Global South, such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Indonesia and South Africa. “These efforts have received wide approval and high praise from the international community, including Russia,” the diplomat noted.
In addition, in 2024, China and Brazil jointly established the Friends of Peace platform through the UN to seek ways to peacefully resolve the Ukrainian crisis, and several meetings have already been held. According to the ambassador, this group has become an important mechanism through which the countries of the Global South express their position on the Ukrainian issue and which reflects the common desire of the international community for a ceasefire and peace. “In its work, the group invariably adheres to an impartial, objective and open position, and is always ready to listen to the views and positions of all parties to the conflict, including Russia. The group adheres to the principle of consensus and focuses on promoting all actions that contribute to a political settlement and the restoration of peace,” the ambassador added.
At the same time, Zhang Hanhui confirmed that China did not participate in the discussions on sending peacekeeping forces to the conflict zone. “The Chinese side believes that three basic principles must be observed when sending peacekeeping forces: consent of the parties to the conflict, impartiality, and non-use of force except in self-defense. At present, there are serious disagreements between the parties concerned on the issue of post-war peacekeeping, there is no sign of an end to hostilities, and the number of casualties continues to rise,” the diplomat noted, adding that China calls on all parties to continue efforts to reduce tensions, create favorable conditions for dialogue, and open a “window” of opportunity for peace.
The Chinese ambassador acknowledged that the causes of the Ukrainian crisis are complex. He recalled the Chinese proverb that “a meter-thick layer of ice does not form in a day,” so “melting” it also takes time. “The end point of any conflict is the negotiating table. The Chinese side welcomes the holding of direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul and hopes that all parties can reach a fair, sustainable, binding and mutually acceptable peace agreement through dialogue and negotiations,” he said.
Zhang Hanhui pointed out that following the direct talks in Istanbul, Russia and Ukraine reached agreements on issues such as prisoner exchange, which created favorable conditions for establishing peace and was an important step forward. As the Chinese ambassador emphasized, China calls on the parties to the conflict to demonstrate a desire for negotiations, and also hopes that the parties concerned can provide favorable external conditions for the negotiation process, jointly support the trend towards peaceful negotiations, and ultimately come to a political settlement.
According to the diplomat, China hopes that peace and stability will be restored on the European continent as soon as possible, and is ready to continue to make constructive contributions to this. “Regardless of how the situation develops, China will always stand on the side of peace, on the side of dialogue, and on the right side of history. We will continue to make efforts to resolve the crisis and end the fighting, maintain contact with all parties, and contribute Chinese wisdom and strength to promoting a political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis,” Zhang Hanhui assured. –0–
Source: France-Diplomatie – Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development
The Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs took part in the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) held on June 23 in Brussels.
With regard to the situation in Ukraine, the Ministers underscored the EU and its Member States’ continued support for Ukraine more than three years after the start of the Russian war of aggression. The Member States agreed to step up pressure on Russia and the third countries that support it economically through the swift adoption of large-scale sanctions targeting the Russian economy.
The situation in the Middle East and the troubling escalation between Iran and Israel were also discussed. Coming a day after the joint statement issued on June 22 by the leaders of the E3 (Germany, France and the United Kingdom) on the situation in the Middle East, the meeting emphasized the importance of de-escalation and the need to achieve a diplomatic solution with regard to oversight of the nuclear program and stressed the need for Iran to cease its destabilizing actions.
The Minister reiterated that the current escalation must not overshadow the intolerable situation in Gaza, and particularly the intolerable obstacles hindering access to humanitarian aid, as well as continued settlement activity in the West Bank. The Ministers took note of the report by the High Representative/Vice-President of the European Commission, which states that article 2 of the EU-Israel association agreement, dealing with human rights, is not being respected. They authorized Kaja Kallas to hold talks with the Israeli authorities to obtain concrete improvements in the situation and in respect for international humanitarian law. The Ministers will decide on this basis how they will follow up at the next Foreign Affairs Council meeting in July.
Lastly, with regard to Georgia, the Ministers expressed their concern over the serious deterioration in the rule of law, violence against protesters and arbitrary arrests.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans on Tuesday announced a new military aid package worth 175 million euros (203 million U.S. dollars) for Ukraine.
The package includes radar systems, unmanned vehicles, and drones, along with contracts with Ukrainian companies to manufacture drones.
The announcement coincided with the opening of NATO’s annual summit in The Hague.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in The Hague on Tuesday, and met with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof. (1 euro = 1.16 U.S. dollar)
Source: Government of India
Source: Government of India (4)
The ceasefire between Israel and Iran unraveled within hours of its announcement, as both sides launched fresh attacks and accused each other of violations. Israeli officials confirmed a strike on a radar installation near Tehran in response to three missiles reportedly fired by Iran, one at 07:06 and two more at 10:25 local time, after the truce had taken effect.
Explosions were reported in Iran’s northern Mazandaran province, including the cities of Babol and Babolsar, prompting the activation of air defense systems. Tehran denied launching any new missiles, while Israel cited precise timings to assert Iranian non-compliance, resulting in conflicting narratives and casting doubt on the ceasefire’s enforceability. However, no further incidents were reported after U.S. President Donald Trump spoke directly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The ceasefire, brokered with Qatar’s mediation following intensive negotiations and U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, had been announced by President Trump on June 23. Both Netanyahu and Iranian state media publicly acknowledged the agreement, raising initial hopes of de-escalation. However, the swift breakdown revealed fundamental disagreements over the scope and terms of the truce.
Trump, visibly frustrated, condemned both sides: “Iran did. Israel did, too. I’m not happy with Israel. Don’t go out first hour. Not happy with Iran, either.” In a pointed warning, he added, “DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS. IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW!” Israeli officials later confirmed they had refrained from further attacks following Netanyahu’s call with the U.S. President.
The breakdown of the ceasefire coincides with the opening of the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, where the conflict has already overshadowed the alliance’s traditional focus on defense spending and unity. President Trump arrived at the summit just hours after announcing the truce, only to see it fall apart soon after. The renewed violence in West Asia has forced NATO leaders to address the region’s rapidly deteriorating security situation while continuing to grapple with ongoing challenges such as the war in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, regional air traffic is gradually resuming. Air India Express announced the restart of its services to West Asia from June 24, with flights resuming today on the Delhi, Muscat route, and additional services to Muscat, Riyadh, and Jeddah from Mumbai, Kozhikode, and Jaipur. Flights to and from major UAE cities, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Al Ain, and Ras Al Khaimah,are scheduled to resume tomorrow.
Source: Council of the European Union
On 24 June 2025, European Council President António Costa travelled to The Hague for the NATO Summit. During a meeting with Commission President von der Leyen, NATO Secretary General Rutte and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, he reaffirmed the EU’s unwavering support to Ukraine, condemned Russia’s continued aggression and welcomed progress on Ukraine’s path toward EU membership.
Source: European Central Bank
London, 24 June 2025
Since the extraordinary inflation surges in 2021-2022, the primary challenge facing monetary policy has been to return inflation to target in a timely manner.[1] In terms of interest rate policy, this required a rapid hiking cycle from July 2022 to September 2023, followed by a “hold at peak” phase and then a gradual reversal of the restrictive stance starting in June 2024.[2] The gradualism in the easing phase reflected ongoing uncertainty about the speed of the disinflation process.
While headline inflation is currently around the target, services inflation still has some distance to travel to make sure that inflation stabilises at the target on a sustainable basis. Still, there has been sufficient progress in returning inflation to target to consider that this monetary policy challenge is largely completed. This assessment is reinforced by the accumulating evidence that the remaining services disinflation is well on track: first, the projection errors for inflation, including for the services subcomponent, have been relatively small during the disinflation process; second, both the wage tracker data and survey indicators suggest that further deceleration in wage growth can be expected in both 2025 and 2026, facilitating further declines in services inflation.
However, this disinflation challenge has been superseded by a new set of challenges and monetary policymakers have to make sure that the medium-term inflation target is protected in a volatile environment in which, amongst other factors, there is high uncertainty about the future of long-standing international trade system.[3] This uncertainty extends beyond the calibration of new tariff regimes and includes the possibility of a broader set of non-tariff barriers, a deeper intertwining of economic policies and security policies and possible revisions to the treatment of foreign portfolio investors and foreign direct investors. In addition to policy uncertainty, geopolitical tensions, such as Russia’s unjustified war against Ukraine and the tragic conflict in the Middle East, remain a major source of uncertainty. Reflecting these developments, we have seen high volatility in energy prices this year and substantial currency repricing. There has also been considerable financial market volatility.
At the same time (and largely as an endogenous reaction to the changed security landscape), the fiscal outlook for the euro area has materially changed for the coming years, with the overall fiscal deficit looking set to remain above three per cent over the projection horizon. The near-term and medium-term implications for output and inflation of the structural changes associated with the green transition, the increasing business adoption of artificial intelligence applications and global shifts in comparative advantage are also highly uncertain, operating both on demand and supply with potentially different timelines.
Especially under current conditions of high uncertainty, it is essential to remain data dependent and take a meeting-by-meeting approach in making monetary policy decisions, with no pre-commitment to any particular future rate path. In addition to observing how activity and inflation are actually behaving, data dependence also extends to the incoming data on policy settings outside the monetary domain, since shifts in international and domestic policy regimes are highly relevant for future inflation dynamics. In this environment, the primary task for monetary policy makers is to make sure that any temporary deviations from target do not turn into longer-term deviations.
This orientation explains our June decision to cut rates by 25 basis points. The June projections were conditioned on a rate path that included a quarter-point reduction of the deposit facility rate (DFR) in June: model-based optimal policy simulations and an array of monetary policy feedback rules indicated a cut was appropriate under the baseline and also constituted a robust decision, remaining appropriate across a range of alternative future paths for inflation and the economy. By supporting the pricing pressure needed to generate target-consistent inflation in the medium-term, this cut helps ensure that the projected negative inflation deviation over the next eighteen months remains temporary and does not convert into a longer-term deviation of inflation from the target. This cut also guards against any uncertainty about our reaction function by demonstrating that we are determined to make sure that inflation returns to target in the medium term. This helps to underpin inflation expectations and avoid an unwarranted tightening in financial conditions.
It is worth noting, in particular, that the robustness of the decision was also supported by a set of model-based optimal policy simulations conducted on various combinations of the trade scenarios discussed in the Eurosystem staff projections report, even when also factoring in upside scenarios for fiscal expenditure. By contrast, leaving the DFR on hold at 2.25 per cent could have triggered an adverse repricing of the forward curve and a revision in inflation expectations that would risk generating a more pronounced and longer-lasting undershoot of the inflation target. In turn, if this risk materialised, a stronger monetary reaction would ultimately be required.
Looking ahead, our monetary policy will have to take into account not only the most likely path (the baseline) but also the risks to activity and inflation. To this end, it will be important to explore how alternative rate paths hold up in various plausible sensitivity and scenario analyses, in order to make sure we minimise the risk of extended deviations from our medium-term target.
Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Moscow, June 24 /Xinhua/ — The strategy of Western countries in the conflict around Ukraine has suffered a defeat, now the West is no longer talking about the possibility of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia on the battlefield, but is begging for a ceasefire for Ukraine without additional conditions. This was stated on Tuesday by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking at the 11th International Scientific and Expert Forum “Primakov Readings”.
“Remember how it all began? “Russia needs to be strategically defeated on the battlefield.” They shouted hysterically. After some time, the slogan changed, and they began to loudly declare that Russia should not win in Ukraine. And now they demand, ask, beg for an immediate ceasefire without preconditions,” said S. Lavrov.
“That is, the fiasco of Western strategy and tactics is obvious, but Europe is still trying,” he added.
According to him, Western countries, including Germany, are now trying to hide behind the alleged establishment of their own military production in Ukraine, but in reality they are supplying weapons there.
“They have now come up with a scheme according to which they will allegedly produce weapons on the territory of Ukraine,” said the Russian Foreign Minister. “Many observers have already cited facts that nothing like this will happen, this is simply a cover for supplying weapons from the same Germany and other European countries to the Ukrainian armed forces, referring to the fact that this is not support, not pumping up, but assistance in establishing their own production – and many such tricks are being implemented,” S. Lavrov emphasized. –0–
Source: Government of Iceland
Representatives of the countries that make up the Demining Capability Coalition met in Reykjavík last week.
Iceland and Lithuania are leading the work of the group, which supports training and the purchase of a variety of equipment for mine action in Ukraine. A total of 22 countries are part of the group, as well as twelve partners. Representatives of the Ukrainian government also attended the meeting.
“We are very proud to lead this extremely important project together with our Lithuanian friends, but in Ukraine, landmines cover a vast area and endanger the lives of innocent civilians, including children,” says Minister for Foreign Affairs Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir. “This situation, of course, affects Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s illegal and bloody war of aggression, so this support from us and the allies is of great importance to the Ukrainian people.”
At the meeting, the Ukrainians reviewed the situation in their country and informed about where help is urgently needed. Plans for contributions from the member states were reviewed, both in terms of equipment they intend to provide as well as plans for training and contributions to a fund that both handles joint purchases of necessary equipment for bomb detection and disposal and finances training projects. The fund has been useful in purchasing important equipment. Donations to the fund have been successful this year, but it is hoped that more countries will contribute funds to it in order to achieve the goals that the group has set for itself this year.
The meeting also reported on a field visit that representatives of the group, including Iceland, undertook to Ukraine in the first week of June.
Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
BUDAPEST, June 24 (Xinhua) — Hungary will try to block Ukraine’s integration into NATO and the EU at key summits of the two Western blocs this week, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on social media on Monday.
He said Hungary was seeking to prevent the establishment of institutional links between Ukraine and the two associations that could lead to conflict and financial instability in the region.
Orban described Ukraine’s potential membership in NATO as an “immediate and direct threat” due to the alliance’s collective defense commitments. Ukraine’s accession to the EU, he added, would pose a “constant and indirect threat” that could intensify at any time.
According to the Prime Minister, Ukraine’s membership in the European Union could have a negative impact on Hungary’s economy, harming the interests of farmers, leading to a decrease in wages, depriving Hungarian citizens of jobs and diverting funds from Hungary to Ukrainian needs.
Hungary will confidently overcome “stormy waters” with the help of experience and strength, V. Orban commented on the upcoming NATO and EU summits, which will be held this week in The Hague and Brussels, respectively. –0–