Ukraine Recap: Zelenskiy to Court NATO After Canada Adds Troops

(Bloomberg) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will press his nation’s case for joining NATO in person at a summit in Lithuania on Wednesday as Canada announced plans to more than double the number of its troops in Latvia to help shore up the alliance’s eastern flank.

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Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, who will host NATO leaders for the two-day summit starting on Tuesday, underscored the need for more troops in the Baltic region, citing a “very bad cocktail” of new threats from neighboring Belarus and new “aggressive rhetoric” from its president, Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Vladimir Putin. “We need boots on the ground,” Nauseda told Bloomberg Television. “We need more forward defense here.”

Russia’s top military commander appeared on state television earlier Monday for the first time since the abortive mutiny by Wagner mercenaries aimed at ousting him. Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, who’s in charge of Russia’s war operations in Ukraine, was shown in a brief video receiving battlefield reports from officials.

Latest Coverage

• Zelenskiy to Visit NATO to Rally Support for Ukraine Membership

• Europe Can’t Supply Ukraine With Weapons Fast Enough, Here’s Why

• Solidarity or Squabbling: Five Things to Watch at NATO’s Summit

• Russian Army Chief Appears for First Time Since Wagner Mutiny

• Canada to Double Troops on NATO East Flank to Counter Russia

Markets

Russia’s refineries raised their crude-processing rate in first days of July to the highest in 12 weeks amid robust demand for their fuel abroad and looming cuts in domestic downstream subsidies.

Primary processing rates averaged 5.65 million barrels a day from July 1 to 5, according to a person familiar with the matter. That’s the highest level since early April and more than 190,000 barrels a day above the average for June 1-28. Russia’s refineries have been ramping up operations in recent weeks after the usual spring maintenance work.

Coming Up

(All times CET)

• US President Joe Biden arrives in Vilnius for the NATO summit

• German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock holds bilateral meetings in Vilnius

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