Update on the situation in Ukraine, and the highlights of the last few hours.
• Russia and Ukraine announced yesterday that they had exchanged 90 prisoners of war from each camp, following mediation by the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the exchange, posting photographs on Telegram of men surrounded by yellow and blue national flags.
• Russia announced yesterday its intention to block access on its territory to the broadcasting of 81 European media outlets, including the AFP website, in “retaliation” for the EU decision in May to ban four media outlets Russian state authorities.
• The European Union officially launched accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova in Luxembourg, a step described as “historic” both in kyiv and Brussels.
• Russian Defense Minister Andrei Beloussov and American Defense Minister Lloyd Austin discussed the situation in Ukraine last night during a telephone conversation, according to the Russian ministry. Andrei Belousov “underlined the risk of a further escalation of the situation linked to the supply of American weapons to the Ukrainian armed forces,” the ministry said in a statement. For his part, Lloyd Austin “stressed the importance of maintaining lines of communication in the context of Russia’s war against Ukraine.”
• American journalist Evan Gershkovich, detained in Russia for 15 months on espionage charges that he denies, must appear today before a court in Yekaterinburg, in the Urals, for the first day of his trial which is will be held behind closed doors. Reporter at the Wall Street Journal and aged 32, the American was arrested in March 2023 by the Russian security services (FSB), becoming the first Western journalist since Soviet times to be accused of espionage in Russia.
