Ukraine Latest: US, Allies Meet to Discuss Kyiv’s Defense Needs

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(Bloomberg) -- A Russian Su-34 military jet accidentally fired on the city of Belgorod north of the Ukrainian border, the Russian defense ministry said, leaving a massive crater and damaging homes and cars.

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Defense chiefs from Ukraine and its allies meeting in Ramstein Air Base in Germany outlined plans to set up repair centers for weapons delivered to Ukraine, while NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said additional logistics deliveries are likely to be announced.

The Ramstein meeting comes a day after Stoltenberg made a surprise trip to Kyiv, his first since the start of Russia’s invasion. Ukraine’s “rightful place” is in NATO, he said there. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said a “well-deserved political invitation” should be extended to Ukraine to join NATO at the alliance’s summit in Lithuania in July, which the Ukrainian leader plans to attend.

Key Developments

  • US Expands Hunt for Russia Sanctions Evaders to Distant Places

  • US, Ukraine Allies Consider Near-Total Ban on Exports to Russia

  • Russia’s Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Discuss OPEC+ Cooperation

  • Russian Arms Sales to India Stall Due to Fears Over US Sanctions

(All times CET)

Ukraine Says YouTube Removes Wagner Group Videos (4:54 p.m.)

YouTube removed videos posted by members of Russia’s Wagner Group, whose mercenaries fight alongside Moscow’s regular forces, Ukrainian Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko said on his Telegram channel.

Two Thirds of EU Fund for Ammo Stocks Used Up: Borrell (3:57 p.m.)

European countries have sought reimbursements worth more than two-thirds of the EU’s 1 billion euros set aside for stocks of ammunition to send to Ukraine, the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said on Twitter.

In addition, countries have already given advanced warning they would request another 200 million euros (219 million) in reimbursements, meaning the package is close to being used up, according to a senior EU official.

Separately, while the EU already signed off on plans in March to use another 1 billion euros to jointly procure ammunition, the effort has stalled in technical talks as diplomats seek to spell out the legal language of the text. In particular, the question of whether non-EU companies can benefit has nagged negotiators. The text should be finalized in the coming days, the EU official said.

US Expands Hunt for Russia Sanctions Evaders to Distant Places (3:20 p.m.)

The US Justice Department is looking for new ways to cut off Russian sanctions evasion by focusing on overseas investment advisers, hedge funds, law firms and private equity managers that have previously escaped scrutiny.

“People who are sitting in banks where they don’t care about US sanctions or money laundering or frankly fraud concerns, fit the bill when I say we are prioritizing facilitators,” Andrew Adams, head of the department’s Task Force Kleptocapture, told Bloomberg in an interview this week.

Adams’s remarks can be seen as a warning shot about the expanding US campaign to flush out sanctions evaders. They also underscore a perennial problem: law enforcement has struggled to crimp the ability of wealthy Russians and companies to conceal their money.

Ukraine, Poland and Germany to Set up Leopard Repair Center (3:09 p.m.)

Ukraine and Poland signed a letter of intent to create a center to service Leopard 2 main battle tanks that have been given to Ukraine, Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said. The center, which will be located in Poland, “will contribute to the strengthening of our cooperation and the capabilities of Ukrainian defenders,” the minister said.

Speaking at Ramstein military base alongside counterparts from allied nations, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said the cost of the hub in Poland will be €150 million to €200 million annually and it could start operating at the end of next month. He also said that Berlin is in talks with Romania to setting up a maintenance hub there for Marder infantry fighting vehicles it has donated to Ukraine.

Hungary Grain Lobby Urges Cabinet to Scrap Ukraine Import Ban (12:27 p.m.)

Hungary’s grain lobby criticized a government ban on agricultural imports from Ukraine, saying it would lead to shortages and undermine efforts to curb the EU’s highest inflation rate.

The country needs to import about 700,000 tons of feed corn after a poor harvest last year and eastern neighbor Ukraine would be the cheapest supplier, Zsofia Potsa, secretary-general of the Hungarian Grain Association, told Bloomberg.

Read more: Ukraine Grain Snarled Again With Blockages Now on Two Fronts

Ukraine’s Spring Grain Planting Pace Lagging (11:32 a.m.)

Ukrainian farmers have sown about 1 million hectares of spring grains as of Friday, the agriculture ministry said on its website. That’s down from about 1.53 million ha planted at the same point a year earlier.

US Defense Chief Lauds ‘Solidarity’ Around Leaks (10:27 a.m.)

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told his Ukrainian and allied counterparts he was struck by their solidarity and “commitment to reject efforts to divide us” over the biggest intelligence leak the US has faced in a decade. The leaks have exposed assessments of Russia’s war in Ukraine as well as how the US collects intelligence around the world.

“We will not let anything fracture our unity,” Austin told allied ministers, including Ukraine’s Reznikov, at the start of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Ramstein, Germany. “I take this issue very seriously and we will continue to work closely and respectfully with our deeply valued allies and partners.”

The US last week charged a 21-year-old Air National Guardsman in Massachusetts over the massive disclosure of intelligence secrets.

Read more: Airman Charged Over Leak as Biden Clamps Down on Secrets

Russian Arms Sales to India Stall on Sanctions Worries (10 a.m.)

Russian deliveries of military supplies to India have ground to a halt as the countries struggle to find a payment mechanism that doesn’t violate US sanctions, according to Indian officials with knowledge of the matter.

Indian payments for weapons amounting to more than $2 billion have been stuck for about a year, and Russia has stopped supplying credit for a pipeline of about $10 billion worth of spare parts as well as two S-400 missile-defense system batteries that have yet to be delivered, according to the officials, who asked not be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue. Russia is India’s biggest supplier of weapons needed to deter Pakistan and China.

Read more: Russian Arms Sales to India Stall Due to Fears Over US Sanctions

More Logistics Support Set to be Announced: Stoltenberg (9:41 a.m.)

Ukraine’s allies are likely to announce additional logistics deliveries when at today’s gathering in Ramstein, Germany, Stoltenberg told reporters ahead of the meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group. The supplies would help sustain weapons systems already sent to Kyiv.

“Sometimes we underestimate all the logistics that have to be in place just to have operational battle tank capabilities,” Stoltenberg said. “Maybe it’s a bit more boring, but logistics is extremely important. This is now a battle of attrition and a battle of attrition becomes a war of logistics.”

The NATO chief’s trip to Ramstein follows a visit to Kyiv on Thursday, where he met with Zelenskiy. Stoltenberg said Zelenskiy had accepted his invitation to join the July 11-12 NATO summit in Vilnius , and that they had discussed preparations for the meeting, including plans for allies to agree to a multiyear package to help Ukraine modernize its armed forces.

Russia Accidentally Strikes City Near Ukraine Border (8:30)

A Russian warplane accidentally fired on the city of Belgorod, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the Ukrainian border, Tass reported, citing the defense ministry.

“As a Sukhoi Su-34 air force plane was flying over the city of Belgorod, there was an accidental discharge of aviation ammunition,” Tass reported, citing the defense ministry.

An unspecified number of buildings were damaged, the state-run Tass news service reported, citing the ministry. Local authorities reported at least three injuries. The regional governor said on Telegram said the bomb left a 20-meter-wide (66 feet) crater on a main street.

Russian Equipment in ‘Dreadful State’: Germany (8:30 a.m.)

Some of the materiel the Kremlin is resupplying its forces in Ukraine with is in “a dreadful state” and “literally from the stone age,” said Pistorius, citing tanks he said were from the 1950s and 60s.

At the same time, it’s difficult to make an accurate assessment of Russia’s capacity to produce more modern equipment, which makes it all the more important that allies continue to support the government in Kyiv, above all with air-defense systems like the Patriot, Pistorius told public broadcaster ZDF. Germany this week delivered a Patriot to Ukraine and has also supplied the advanced IRIS-T air-defense system.

Mud Season in Ukraine is Slowing Operations on Both Sides, UK Says (8 a.m.)

Soft ground conditions across much of Ukraine “is highly likely slowing operations for both sides of the conflict,” the UK defense ministry said, adding that surface conditions should improve in the next few weeks.

“Russian online outlets are likely exaggerating the overall impact of mud on Ukrainian forces as part of an information operation aimed at raising Russian morale, and undermining Ukraine’s supporters, in light of an anticipated Ukrainian counter offensive,” the ministry said in a Twitter thread.

Ukraine Shoots Down Russian Drones (8 a.m.)

Ukraine’s air defense shot down eight out of 10 Iranian-made loitering “Shahed-136” drones launched by Russia overnight at infrastructure cargoes, its General Staff said.

Drones hit some civilian infrastructure in Ukraine’s central Poltava region and air defenses were also working in the Kyiv region, local authorities said on their Telegram channels.

It was a second consecutive night of drone attacks, after 10 of 11 of the UAVs were downed the previous night.

Zelenskiy Says He Expects NATO Invitation at July Summit (12:11 a. m.)

Ukraine wants to get an invitation to join NATO in July, when the military alliance’s summit is held in Lithuania, Zelenskiy said.

“Neither the majority of Ukrainians, nor the majority of Europeans, nor the majority of the inhabitants of the entire NATO space, will understand” if a “well-deserved political invitation” isn’t offered in Vilnius, Zelenskiy said late Thursday in his daily video address. “Ukraine did everything to ensure that our application was approved.”

Zelenskiy also repeated a call for Russian athletes to be banned from the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. “It is obvious that a terrorist state will do everything to justify itself through sports or to use the international Olympic Movement to support its aggression,” he said.

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