The West increases pressure on Russia

Brussels [Belgium], July 19: Yesterday (July 18), European Union (EU) Foreign Policy Commissioner Kaja Kallas announced that the union has approved one of the strongest sanctions packages against Russia.
According to Reuters, this is the 18th package of EU sanctions against Russia since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine in 2022. In particular, the price ceiling for Russian crude oil will be lowered to $47.6/barrel. The EU will also ban transactions related to Russia's Nord Stream gas pipeline and impose new sanctions on the Russian financial sector. Slovakia, after many vetoes, has now changed its mind, after being assured by Europe that it will support gas prices when the EU stops importing from Russia until the end of 2027.
Earlier, at a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London on July 17, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that Ukraine would not only receive air defense weapons, but would soon receive new long-range missiles, according to The Kyiv Independent . Earlier, German officials confirmed that they would send Patriot missile defense systems purchased from the US to Ukraine, but would not provide long-range cruise missiles produced by Berlin, Taurus. Under the German-funded deal, Ukraine will receive hundreds of domestically produced long-range weapons systems by the end of July. Also on July 17, US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said that Washington was coordinating with allies to speed up the transfer of weapons to Kyiv.
In a new initiative to add weapons to the battlefield, the Kyiv-based arms investment and procurement group Brave1 is inviting foreign arms manufacturers to bring new products to test on the front lines in Ukraine, according to Reuters.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper