Putin’s forces launch 100 deadly glide bombs and dozens of drones across frontline

European Union countries agreed a sanctions package against Belarus on Wednesday, EU diplomats and Belgium said, to try to close off a route to avoiding restrictions on Russia.

The EU adopted this week its 14th package of sanctions to punish Russia for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which included clauses that increased responsibility on EU companies exporting via non-EU countries.

“This package will strengthen our measures in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including combating circumvention of sanctions,” Belgium, which holds the EU presidency until the end of June, said on X.

China firmly opposes the European Union’s inclusion of some Chinese firms in a 14th package of sanctions on Russia, its commerce ministry said on Wednesday.

The move has a negative impact on China-EU economic and trade relations, the ministry said, adding it urges the bloc to “unconditionally” stop sanctioning Chinese firms.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the EU condemned Russia’s move to ban access inside Russia to 81 media outlets from the European Union.

“The EU condemns the totally unfounded decision by the Russian authorities to block access to over eighty European media in Russia,” said Borrell in a statement on Wednesday.

“This decision further restricts access to free and independent information and expands the already severe media censorship in Russia,” he added.

On Tuesday, Russia announced a ban on 81 different media outlets from the European Union including Agence France-Presse and Politico, in retaliation for a similar EU ban on several Russian media outlets.

International Criminal Court arrest warrants for two Russian officials involved in the Ukraine war are “absurd”, the Kremlin said.

Moscow said it did not recognise the warrants for Russian former defence minister Sergei Shoigu and Russian general Valery Gerasimov as the ICC does not have jurisdiction in Russia.

“We do not recognise the jurisdiction of this court. We are not members of the relevant statutes. Accordingly, we do not recognise these orders. Moreover, we consider it quite absurd, like the last two warrants that concerned the head of state and our children’s ombudsman,” Dmitry Peskov said.

Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte has been appointed as the next Nato chief after his only rival dropped out of the leadership race.

Mr Rutte will become the secretary-general of the alliance on 1 October and will replace the current boss Jens Stoltenberg.

His selection was confirmed by Nato ambassadors during a meeting at the 32-nation alliance’s headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on Wednesday.

The outgoing Dutch premier’s appointment became a formality after his only rival for the post, Romanian president Klaus Iohannis, quit the race last week.

The 57-year-old has been one of the driving forces behind Europe’s military support for Ukraine since Russia’s 2022 invasion, and says defeat on the battlefield for Moscow is vital to secure peace in Europe.