President Vladimir Putin told a Russian newspaper that he offered Wagner mercenary forces the option of continuing to serve as a single unit under the same commander when he met with them after last month’s failed mutiny, the Associated Press reported. Putin spoke to the business daily Kommersant about the three-hour meeting attended by Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and top commanders on June 29, which was disclosed by the Kremlin this week. “All of them could have gathered in one place and co
(Bloomberg) — President Vladimir Putin told a Russian newspaper that he offered Wagner mercenary forces the option of continuing to serve as a single unit under the same commander when he met with them after last month’s failed mutiny, the Associated Press reported. Putin spoke to the business daily Kommersant about the three-hour meeting attended by Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and top commanders on June 29, which was disclosed by the Kremlin this week. “All of them could have gathered in one place and continued to serve,” Putin told the newspaper. “And nothing would have changed for them.
Germany’s finance minister said further financing of support for Ukraine should be distinct from the EU’s long-term budget, and that the bloc will continue to find solutions to help Kyiv. In the US, the House of Representatives defeated an effort by far-right Republicans to cut off security assistance to Ukraine, cementing — for now — a wall of bipartisan support for Kyiv.
Ukraine’s president said military intelligence sees no threat of another invasion from the territory of Belarus, where thousands of Wagner forces are likely to assemble. The conflict has reached a stalemate, a senior US intelligence official said, a downbeat assessment of a counteroffensive that some US and European leaders had hoped would turn the tide in Kyiv’s favor.
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Wheat futures steadied Thursday after their biggest decline in two weeks as markets assessed a more tenuous outlook for global supplies. The expiry of the deal allowing Ukraine shipments through the Black Sea is looming on July 17, and efforts to extend it continue. Putin said in a TV interview Thursday that Russia is still thinking about what to do with the deal, which Moscow has repeatedly criticized.
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