Zelensky speaks with Witkoff and Kushner. EU: London is also involved in the loan to Kyiv

The sticking point remains that of restrictions on Russian gas, with Greece opposing restrictions on the transport of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Moscow to third countries.

The risk, according to Athens and its formidable Greek shipbuilding industry, is that, as a result of the restrictions, European companies will lose business to competitors from outside Europe. After weeks of efforts to overcome the vetoes of individual countries, today approval of the package is by no means a foregone conclusion.

However, during the Coreper II meeting, the EU Member States approved the UK’s participation in the loan to support Ukraine (€90 billion from the EU to cover Ukraine’s most urgent needs in 2026 and 2027) whilst the country continues to fight Russia’s war of aggression.

The measure will enable Ukraine to use the loan funds to purchase crucial defence products manufactured by UK-based companies, in addition to the existing framework for EU countries, the European Economic Area and other approved third countries. In total, the loan makes €60 billion available to Ukraine to invest in industrial capabilities in the defence sector, including the purchase of defence products. €30 billion is being made available to Ukraine as economic support and direct budgetary assistance.

The Kremlin is capitalising on the uncertainty and reiterates that it considers the sanctions against Russia to be completely illegal.

“The so-called sanctions – and I would like to reiterate this once again – we consider them to be completely illegal from the point of view of international law,” said the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov. “I don’t think we should be talking about the greaching of the limit on sanctions. This limit does not exist, just as there is no limit to madness,” added Peskov.

The decision on sanctions is expected on the day that General Oleksandr Syrsky steps down as head of the Kyiv armed forces to be replaced by Mykhajlo Drapatyi, who has just been appointed by Zelensky.

“Today I am stepping down from my post as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.” With these words, General Syrsky begins his farewell message after being dismissed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, following protests that erupted across the country calling for his removal.

“I am handing over to my successor an army that not only maintains its defences but is also on the offensive, taking the initiative, with a solid structure and people who know how to defeat the enemy,” Syrsky wrote on Telegram, “and I sincerely hope that this offensive will continue. We have everything we need to do so.”

“I have said it before and I repeat it today: my job is war. Positions may change, but this principle does not. Whatever my position, I will serve Ukraine until victory”, he added, “our country will hold out if everyone does their bit with the same tenacity as the Ukrainian army”.

Moscow has also commented on the change of leadership in the Kiev army: “It is not for us to comment on the matter. I do not believe this will lead to any change on the front lines. The dynamics in that area are well known: the armed forces are continuing their offensive across the entire front,” said Peskov, as quoted by Interfax. “The Kiev regime is crumbling from within, this is clear and visible to the naked eye,” remarked the Kremlin spokesperson.

Over the past day, the Russian armed forces have struck 15 settlements in the Kharkiv region, killing three people and injuring 11 others, including two children, according to the head of the regional military administration, Oleg Synegubov.

“In the village of Ruska Lozova, in the Dergachiv community, two women aged 51 and 50 died and a 54-year-old man was injured; in the village of Bezruky, also in the Dergachiv community, a 37-year-old man was injured and two women, aged 48 and 72, and a 10-year-old boy suffered severe stress-related symptoms; in the village of Zolochiv, a 60-year-old man, a 45-year-old woman and a 12-year-old boy were injured; in the village of Rai-Olenivka, in the Pisochyn community, a 66-year-old woman died and a 37-year-old woman suffered severe stress-related symptoms; in the village of Shevchenkove, a 68-year-old woman was injured and a 55-year-old man suffered severe stress symptoms”, Sinegubov wrote on his Telegram channel.

According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia attacked Ukraine overnight with four missiles of various types and 216 long-range attack drones. In the southern region of Odessa, a Russian drone killed a woman when it struck a two-storey block of flats. This was reported by the head of the regional military administration, Oleh Kiper.

The Ukrainian president, however, is celebrating some of the targets hit. “Today, Ukraine has successfully struck, using long-range missiles, strategic targets in the Krasnodar and Stavropol regions: logistics centres belonging to Wildberries, the Russian Amazon – already struck three days ago – involved in supplying the Russian army with drone components, navigation equipment and other gear, as well as another oil facility,” Zelensky said in a social media post.

“In the waters of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, an oil tanker and four cargo ships belonging to Russia’s shadow fleet have been struck”, he added, “we are bringing the war back home to Russia, in a completely legitimate manner. Peace is needed, and Ukraine has put forward all its proposals to the Russian side. We must force them to resort to diplomacy.”

Praise for Ukraine’s military response has also come from across the Atlantic. General John Caine, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, has stated that a Ukrainian F-16 fighter jet recently shot down a Russian combat aircraft, marking the first known aerial combat victory for this type of aircraft in service with the Ukrainian armed forces.

During a hearing, Caine stated that he believed Ukraine had significantly strengthened its multi-layered air defence system in recent years, thanks to the support of numerous partners. Caine also praised the remarkable performance of the Ukrainian defence industry. He stated that Ukraine is expanding its military capabilities, from surface-to-air systems to air-to-air capabilities. As previously reported by Ukrinform, on 8 July the Ukrainian Air Force announced that it had destroyed another Russian Su-35 fighter jet.

(Russian drones have struck five vessels operating on behalf of the Ukrainian armed forces in the Black Sea and in the port of Chernomorsk. This claim was made by the Russian Ministry of Defence, as reported by TASS. The ministry has published what it described as “footage of the 22 July attacks, carried out using Geran-4 Seeker drones, on four dry cargo ships and one bulk carrier in the waters of the Black Sea and in the port of Chernomorsk, which were being used to transport military equipment for the Ukrainian armed forces”. “The attacks achieved their objectives,” the ministry stated.