Ukraine: realities | «The Weekly Five»: 26.06 – 02.07

FAZ: Several countries close to agreement on security guarantees for Ukraine

An agreement on security guarantees for Ukraine may be signed before the NATO summit to be held on July 11-12 in Vilnius.

This was reported by the German newspaper FAZ.

It is a multilateral system of guarantees for the transitional period until Ukraine's desired accession to NATO after the war. According to the report, the relevant framework agreement with Germany, France, the United Kingdom and the United States is almost ready.

Each member state will sign a separate agreement with Kyiv. We are talking about weapons, money, military aid, and training. This should allow Kyiv to defend itself without direct interference from the guarantor countries.

Accordingly, Germany wants to propose to maintain the current level of assistance until the end of the war.

WP: CIA chief secretly visits Ukraine, discloses plans to liberate territories

During a secret visit to Ukraine earlier this month by CIA Director William Burns, the Ukrainian authorities revealed to him a strategy to return the territories occupied by Russia and start ceasefire talks with Moscow by the end of the year.

The Washington Post writes about this, citing sources.

Burns's trip, which was not previously reported, included meetings with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and senior Ukrainian intelligence officials.

According to the newspaper's sources, the purpose of the visit was to reaffirm the US administration's commitment to sharing intelligence that would help Ukraine defend itself.

Publicly, Ukrainian officials have expressed frustration with the criticism of the pace of the counteroffensive so far.

But in private conversations, sources say, military planners in Kyiv have conveyed bullish confidence to Burns and others that their goal is to recapture significant territory by the fall; move artillery and missile systems to the border with Russia-controlled Crimea; push further into eastern Ukraine; and then begin talks with Moscow for the first time since peace talks broke down last March.

Poland wants to deploy nuclear weapons on its territory

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has said that his country would like to join the nuclear exchange program among NATO countries in view of Russia's intention to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

Morawiecki confirmed that Warsaw is interested in participating in this program.

«The final decision will depend on our American and NATO partners. We declare our will to act quickly in this matter,» the Polish prime minister said.

Morawiecki emphasized that «we do not want to sit idly by while Putin is stirring up all sorts of threats».

Bloomberg: EU leaders back plan to use frozen Russian assets to benefit Ukraine

Leaders of the European Union member states at the summit that began on Thursday supported the plan to use the frozen assets of the Central Bank of Russia in favor of Ukraine, which provides for the collection of income tax from them.

This was reported by Bloomberg.

EU leaders during talks in Brussels on Thursday supported the study of the option of using the profit from the assets of the Russian Central Bank. It is estimated that this profit could amount to about three billion euros a year.

The EU plans to enlist the support of the Group of Seven countries in this matter. According to Bloomberg, Brussels has already held talks with Washington, and discussions will continue in the coming days and weeks, and Britain has previously supported the plan to use the profits.

NATO is ready to defend itself against Russia and Belarus - Stoltenberg

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that a clear message has been sent to Moscow and Minsk that «NATO is ready to defend every ally, every inch of NATO territory».

CNN and Reuters report this with reference to Stoltenberg's statement at a joint press conference in The Hague on Tuesday with the leaders of seven NATO countries.

«If the Wagner military company deploys its serial killers in Belarus, all neighboring countries will face an even greater risk of instability».

Stoltenberg said that the alliance is ready to defend its members against Belarus and Russia and that the events related to the Wagner PMC uprising are «internal Russian affairs».

The project «Ukraine: realities» is implemented by the News agency «Konkurent» together with the Civic Movement «SVIDOMI» and the charity organization Global Empowerment Mission in English for readers from other countries to tell the stories of people who survived the horrors of the Russian occupation.

Проєкт «Ukraine: realities» реалізовується Інформаційним агентством «Конкурент» спільно з Громадянським Рухом «СВІДОМІ» та благодійною організацією Global Empowerment Mission англійською мовою для читачів з інших країн аби розповісти історії людей, які пережили жахи російської окупації.