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Ukraine looks to jointly produce weapons with allies, while US halts some shipments
KYIV, Ukraine -- Ukraine is forging ahead with embryonic plans for joint weapons production with some of its international allies, top officials said, while the U.S. announced it was halting some arms shipments promised to help Ukraine fight off Russia. Those plans come at what appears to be a key point in the all-out war launched by Moscow nearly 3½ years ago. A renewed Russian push to capture more Ukrainian land has put Ukraine's short-handed defenses under severe strain, and Russian missiles and drones are battering Ukrainian cities. U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to find a peace settlement, meanwhile, have stalled. As Washington has distanced itself under U.S. President Donald Trump from Ukraine's war efforts, a bigger onus has fallen on European countries to pressure Russia. French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday held their first direct telephone call in almost three years. Macron's office said that during their two-hour conversation, the French leader underlined France's 'unwavering support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity' and called for a ceasefire. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that officials are preparing with a sense of urgency for upcoming meetings with European Union countries and other partners to talk about cooperation in weapons manufacturing. 'One of the key topics will be weapons production – our joint investments, joint projects,' Zelenskyy said in his daily address on Tuesday evening. Defense Minister Rustem Umerov announced that draft legislation on joint weapons production with international allies is expected to be put to a vote in the Ukrainian parliament later this month. The proposed laws were shown to national defense companies on Tuesday, Umerov said. The program includes plans to create a special legal and tax framework to help Ukrainian defense manufacturers scale up and modernize production, including building new facilities at home and abroad, according to Umerov. Earlier this week, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said during a visit to Kyiv that Germany aims to help Ukraine manufacture more weapons more quickly. He was accompanied on the trip by German defense industry representatives. The U.S. is halting some weapons deliveries to Ukraine out of concern that its own stockpiles have declined too far, officials said Tuesday. Certain munitions were longer-term commitments promised to Ukraine under the Biden administration, though the Defense Department didn't provide details on what specific weapons were being held back. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry summoned the U.S. chargé d'affaires, John Hinkel, on Wednesday to discuss ongoing defense cooperation. Deputy Foreign Minister Maryana Betsa thanked the U.S. for its continued support, but emphasized the 'critical importance' of maintaining previously allocated defense packages, especially for bolstering Ukraine's air defense. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Pentagon's decision will help bring a settlement closer, because "the fewer weapons supplied to Ukraine, the closer the end of the (war) is.' The United States has been Ukraine's biggest military backer since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of its neighbor on Feb. 24, 2022. Under Trump, there have been no new announcements of U.S. military or weapons aid to Ukraine. Between March and April, the United States allocated no new aid to Ukraine, according to Germany's Kiel Institute, which tracks such support. For the first time since June 2022, European countries surpassed the U.S. in total military aid, totaling 72 billion euros ($85 billion) compared with 65 billion euros ($77 billion) from the U.S., the institute said last month. Washington's latest decision could remove some of the most formidable weapons in Ukraine's battlefield arsenal. Analysts say Ukraine's European allies can fill some of the gaps and provide artillery systems. But they don't possess alternatives to the U.S.-made HIMARS missiles and air defense systems, especially Patriots, which are crucial to help defend Ukrainian cities from Russian air attacks.
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Sterling nudges lower but still near multi-year highs, looking past UK politics
LONDON (Reuters) -The pound eased a touch against the dollar on Wednesday but held near its near-four-year top hit the previous day, one of the many beneficiaries of the greenback's recent weakness. Investors by and large looked through political drama in Britain where Prime Minister Kier Starmer suffered the largest parliamentary rebellion of his premiership even as he was forced to back down on key parts of a benefit-cutting package. Markets this week were more focused on hints from Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey on Tuesday that the central bank could change the BoE's quantitative tightening process - the pace of which, analysts say, has been weighing on longer dated government bonds known as gilts. "The gilt market did not react negatively to the news from the Commons, at least partly thanks to Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey hinting at a potentially slowing quantitative tightening to give some relief to back-end liquidity. That may have helped shield sterling, too," said Francesco Pesole, currency analyst at ING, in a note. Sterling was last down 0.35% on the dollar, largely moving in line with peers, as the dollar's recent decline paused for breath. The pound hit $1.3787 on Tuesday, its highest since autumn 2021. Other European currencies such as the euro and Swiss franc are also at their strongest in years. Sterling was also a touch weaker on the euro, which was up 0.15% at 85.98 pence, an over two-month high. There is little British economic data expected for the rest of the day, though policy maker Alan Taylor will speak at the ECB's central bank conference at Sintra, Portugal. Taylor voted for a rate cut at the central bank's last meeting in June, when the rate-setting monetary policy committee voted to keep rates steady. Market pricing indicates a good chance of a BoE rate cut at their meeting next month, though it is not yet fully priced in. Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Melden Sie sich an, um Ihr Portfolio aufzurufen. Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten
Yahoo
39 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Gold holds gains amid US fiscal outlook and trade policy fears
Gold prices held steady in early European trading on Wednesday, consolidating gains from earlier in the week as concerns over the US fiscal outlook and trade policy underpinned demand for safe-haven assets. Gold futures slipped 0.4% to $3,338.10 an ounce, while spot gold was just above the flatline at $3,329.43 per ounce. Bullion has climbed more than 2% so far this week, rebounding from losses triggered by last week's Israel-Iran ceasefire, which had briefly eased geopolitical tensions. The latest upward momentum came after the US Senate narrowly passed president Donald Trump's sweeping tax-and-spending package, legislation expected to add $3.3tn to the national debt. Fears over a widening fiscal deficit have reignited investor appetite for gold. Read more: 'Too soon' to see price effects from tariffs, says Bank of England's Bailey "We anticipate a wide and volatile trading range of $3,600–3,100/oz for the rest of the year and year-end prices of $3,175/oz for 2025 and $3,025/oz for 2026,' the bank said in a note. It raised its 2025 average price forecast to $3,215 an ounce, up from $3,015, and its 2026 outlook to $3,125 from $2,915. Adding to market jitters is the fast-approaching July 9 deadline for Trump's proposed tariffs. The US president has reiterated there would be no extension, warning trading partners of pending tariff notifications, a move that has pushed investors to seek safe-havens. Oil prices were little changed on Wednesday as traders balanced expectations of increased supply from major producers next month against a softer US dollar and mixed economic signals from the United States, the world's largest oil consumer. Brent crude rose was just above the flatline at $67.16 a barrel, while the West Texas Intermediate hovered at $65.44 in early trading. Weighing on the market were fresh inventory figures from the American Petroleum Institute, which showed US crude stockpiles rose by 680,000 barrels last week. The build surprised some traders, as inventories typically decline during the peak summer demand season. "Today's oil price moves are being pushed by the interplay of potentially rising OPEC+ supply, confusing US inventory signals, uncertain geopolitical outlook, and macro-policy ambiguity," said Phillip Nova senior market analyst Priyanka Sachdeva. While the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, including Russia — known collectively as OPEC+ — are expected to raise output in the coming weeks, Sachdeva noted that such increases 'appear already priced in by investors and are unlikely to catch markets off-guard again imminently.' The pound edged lower against the dollar on Wednesday morning, slipping 0.3% to $1.3712, as the greenback strengthened following an unexpected surge in US job openings. The GBP/USD rally stalled after touching a three-and-a-half-year high around $1.3800 on Tuesday, with investors recalibrating positions in response to robust data from the US labour market. Figures released on Tuesday showed that US employers posted 7.769 million job openings in May, up from 7.395 million in April and significantly above economists' expectations of 7.3 million. The data, part of the US Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), suggested continued strength in the US employment market. The US Dollar Index ( which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, rose 0.1% to 96.70. Stocks: Create your watchlist and portfolio However, despite the dollar's near-term gains, analysts warned that broader pressure on the currency persists. The dollar has come under strain amid concerns over Trump's attacks on the Federal Reserve's independence, uncertainty surrounding the July 9 tariff deadline, and his proposed ''Big Beautiful Bill'. Analysts at National Australia Bank (NAB) said: "The confirmation that Trump's bill is an increase in issuance, an increase in government spending well beyond its means, is not necessarily good news for the Treasury market, and it's arguably one of the reasons the US dollar's going down." In other currency moves, the pound was muted against the euro, at €1.1640 at the time of writing. In equities, the UK's FTSE 100 (^FTSE) was higher, up 0.2% to trade at 8,796 points.
