Walking through Wedding.
It was a big work week because of the European Council Summit, a gathering of EU leaders that takes place roughly four times a year. The biggest was Belgium blocking a European decision to use frozen Russian assets to finance a loan for Ukraine. During the event, Russian fighter jets also violated Lithuanian airspace.
I managed to go for a couple of walks around Berlin’s Wedding neighborhood to stretch my legs between editing stories and a live blog for the event.
If you have some time, please do let me know what you think of this new format (my email is c.maza@protonmail.com). Every week, I read the news and try to select the stories I believe are the most significant and/or surprising. But mostly, I’m trying to curate the selection to paint a picture of how the world works today, to demonstrate trends in international news, and to cut through the noise and punditry to highlight facts worth noting. If this format is working or not working for you, or if you feel more or less confused or overwhelmed by the goings-on, please let me know. I do this for you all.
As I mentioned last week, Lazo Magazine will have some interesting stuff coming down the pipeline. In the meantime, you can support our work here or here.
Euractiv stories
Slovakia dropped its opposition to the EU’s latest round of sanctions against Russia, removing the last hurdle to the 19th package.
The EU formally approved its fresh round of sanctions on Russia, just hours after the U.S. sanctioned two large Russian oil firms.
Czechia proposed expediting gas support to Slovakia after EU energy ministers endorsed phasing out Russian gas imports, with a full ban planned for January 2028.
Hungary, which has been contracted to import Russian gas through 2036, is considering legal action against the EU ban.
Bulgaria said it would allow a plane carrying Vladimir Putin to fly through its airspace to facilitate a meeting between the Russian leader and Donald Trump in Budapest. The meeting, however, is now cancelled.
Europe’s Defense News
• A conflict between French and German industry partners is fueling doubts over whether Europe’s €100 billion fighter jet project (FCAS) will ever be completed, Euractiv reports.
• The European Commission and the Danish European Council Presidency are exploring additional sources of funding to increase the European Defense Industry Programme’s €1.5 billion budget, Euractiv reports.
• The European Commission presented its 2026 work program, putting forward multiple defense-related initiatives, including a push to simplify procurement, Euractiv reports.
Russia/Ukraine
• In a phone call with Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded Ukraine surrender complete control of Donetsk, a vital region in eastern Ukraine, as a condition for ending the war, the Washington Post reports.
• Russia restated its previous terms for a peace deal with Ukraine in a private “non-paper” sent to the United States, Reuters reports. The document reiterates Moscow’s demand for full control of Ukraine’s Donbas region and insists that no NATO troops be stationed in Ukraine under any settlement.
• The Trump administration quietly lifted a restriction on Ukraine’s use of some long-range missiles provided by Western allies, the Wall Street Journal reports.
• Ukraine and its European allies are insisting negotiations to end the war with Russia be based on current front lines, after mixed signals from the White House over Trump’s willingness to endorse Moscow’s territorial demands, the Financial Times reports. The joint statement is here.
• Ukraine’s parliament approved a budget amendment raising defense spending to a record 2.96 trillion hryvnias ($70.9 billion) for 2025, Reuters reports.
• British defense officials are investigating a possible cyberattack in which Russian-linked hackers stole sensitive military documents and posted them on the dark web, Stars and Stripes reports.
Eastern Europe & Eurasia
• Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Serb-majority entity, Republika Srpska, appointed Ana Trišić Babić as interim president, marking the first formal acknowledgement that Milorad Dodik is stepping aside after being barred from politics by a state court, Al Jazeera reports. Also, here’s a link to a lengthy Twitter post with some important context.
• Montenegro wants the EU’s help in fighting Russian disinformation as the Balkan nation moves toward membership of the bloc, Politico reports.
• Polish border guards discovered a tunnel connecting the Belarusian border with Poland, Euronews reports.
• The Kyiv Independent investigated Lithuania’s strained relationship with the Belarusian opposition living in exile in the Baltic country.
• A Polish court ordered the release of a Ukrainian man wanted by Germany for allegedly taking part in sabotaging the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines, the Wall Street Journal reports.
• Germany temporarily recalled its ambassador to Georgia, citing agitation against the European Union, AFP reports.
Other International News
• In a disturbing trend dubbed “pop fascism,” Franco, Mussolini, and Hitler are resurfacing on TikTok and beyond as memes, chants, and emojis, the JournalismFund.eu reports.
• Irish voters, in a cautionary rebuke to the governing establishment, elected an outspoken leftist to the country’s mostly ceremonial presidency, the Washington Post reports.
• Belgium endorsed Morocco’s proposal for Western Sahara to have autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty, Reuters reports.
• To secure Washington’s access to El Salvador’s most notorious prison, Secretary of State Marco Rubio promised to turn over “informants” under the protection of the U.S. government, the Washington Post reports.
• Turkey’s role in persuading Hamas to accept President Donald Trump’s Gaza ceasefire deal has turned its once-contentious ties to the group into a geopolitical advantage, Reuters reports.
• The Guardian reports that resistance in the West Bank is dying amid fears of becoming Israel’s ‘next Gaza.’
• A bill applying “the sovereignty of the State of Israel” to the occupied West Bank won preliminary approval from Israel’s parliament, Reuters reports.
• U.S. Vice President JD Vance criticized on Thursday a vote in Israel’s parliament the previous day about the annexation of the occupied West Bank, saying it amounted to an “insult” and went against the Trump administration policies, the Associated Press reports.
• It will take around 20 to 30 years to clear the surface of Gaza of unexploded ordnance, Reuters reports.
• The State Department removed the Human Rights Reporting Gateway, an online platform for reporting alleged human rights violations by foreign military units supplied with American weapons, the BBC reports.
You can write to me for any reason: c.maza@protonmail.com