President Vladimir Putin said that Russia is facing “colossal challenges” in the high-tech sector, an unusually frank admission of the difficulties the Kremlin is experiencing as sanctions begin to bite.
The European Union, which boosted military financing for Ukraine on Monday, is also set to approve some additional sanctions measures, including a ban on Russian gold.
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said he was hopeful Russia and Ukraine could clinch a deal this week to help export grain from the war-torn country and avert a global food crisis. The comments come a day before Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets Putin to discuss efforts to facilitate shipments of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea.
(See RSAN on the Bloomberg Terminal for the Russian Sanctions Dashboard.)
Key Developments
- Russia Turns the Screws on Gas Market, Snubbing Transit Bookings
- Coal-Rich Poland Rushes to Imports as Russian Sanctions Bite
- Zelenskiy Bids to Oust Ukraine’s Security Chief, Top Prosecutor
- G-20 Finance Chiefs Blame Russia as Path to Soft Landing Narrows
- Russia Orders Forces to Strike Ukraine’s Long-Range Weapons
- Russian Assets Barely Touched Across EU With $14 Billion Seized
On the Ground
Russia ordered its troops to step up combat in all areas and target Ukraine’s long-range weapons. Ukraine has used advanced US-supplied HIMARS systems to strike Russian logistics centers, supply routes and ammunition depots behind the front lines in recent weeks. A Russian missile ruined an elevator with more than 5,000 tons of grain in the Dnipropetrovsk region, local governor Valentyn Reznichenko said on Telegram. Russian missiles also hit a military facility and a bridge across the Dniester estuary west of Odesa, Natalia Humeniuk, a spokeswoman for the Ukrainian military’s southern command said.
(All times CET)
Putin Says Sanctions Causing Russia ‘Colossal’ Tech Woes (2:25 p.m.)
Russia faces “colossal challenges” in high technology from international sanctions, but won’t simply give up or allow its economy to fall back by decades, Putin told officials during a videoconference on strategic development goals.
Instead, Moscow will “intensively” seek solutions by relying on the country’s own technological resources and the work of domestic innovative companies, the Russian president said, even as he chided the state-run Rostec corporation for failing to meet previous targets for development of internet technology.
Russia Fines Google $382 Million, Tass Says (2:15 p.m.)
A Moscow court ordered the local unit of Alphabet Inc.’s Google to pay a 21.77 billion ruble ($382 million) fine not removing content banned in Russia, Tass reported from the courtroom.
The fines, for repeated violations of orders to take down content deemed illegal, could be used as a pretext to block various Google services in Russia as the Kremlin cracks down on foreign tech companies.
Google’s local subsidiary filed for bankruptcy in June after authorities froze its local bank account amid escalating fines related to YouTube. However, it continues to offer free services, including search functions, YouTube, Gmail and Google Play.
EU Approves More Ukraine Arms Financing (1:15 p.m.)
EU foreign ministers approved another 500 million euros ($507 million) in military aid to Ukraine, boosting the total arms financing to 2.5 billion euros. It’s the fifth round of financing under the so-called European Peace Facility, which reimburses governments for military deliveries to Ukraine.
Russia Keeps Gas Buyers Guessing (11:08 a.m.)
Moscow again rejected additional gas-pipeline space offered by Ukraine, keeping European buyers guessing as future flows on the key Nord Stream route also remain uncertain.
At a monthly auction on Monday, Russia’s Gazprom PJSC opted not to book extra capacity to ship gas to Europe via Ukrainian pipelines in August. That keeps deliveries to the continent tight, just as concern grows that the Nord Stream link may not fully return when maintenance ends later this week.
Russia’s squeeze on gas supplies has unsettled the market, with European benchmark futures more than doubling in value this year. Last week, Germany started to withdraw gas from stockpiles that it had been building up for winter, while Hungary declared an “energy state of emergency.”
Russia Eyes Cooperation Pact With Iran (10:37 a.m.)
Russia handed a draft comprehensive strategic cooperation treaty to Iran in mid-June and expects to sign it in the near future, Interfax quoted Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.
It said some amendments were required taking into account Iranian opinion.
Russia Former State-TV Staffer Released (10:07 a.m.)
Russian police released a former state-television employee after several hours of detention, charging her under a strict new law against criticizing the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.