Outcomes for Ukraine at the NATO summit. Ukraine strikes 12 Russia’s shadow fleet tankers, a tugboat and a cargo ship in the Azov Sea. Putin’s yacht moved to the Barents Sea for fear of Ukrainian drone attacks, media reports say.
Outcomes for Ukraine at NATO summit
The two most-sought outcomes of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi’s visit to a NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey were to secure allies’ further financial support to Ukraine and make deals to strengthen the country’s air defenses, the BBC said Thursday. The following is an abridged version of the article that we translated into English. A shortage of air defenses was felt as critical after Russia’s recent aerial attacks on Kyiv.
The summit declaration mentions Ukraine in a separate paragraph. According to media reports, some allies suggested the wording that said that Europe’s security is inextricably linked to Ukraine’s security. But the U.S. rejected the phrasing.
The declaration reads: “Ukraine contributes to transatlantic security, and Allies stand united in our unwavering support for Ukraine in defending its freedom, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.”
“For 2026, Allies pledge €70 billion in military equipment, assistance and training for Ukraine and affirm their sovereign commitments to sustaining at least equivalent levels in 2027,” it also said. This means Ukraine will get at least 140 billion euros in aid in the next two years.
The declaration also says that the support “must be equitable” and that “European Allies and Canada now finance the vast majority of security assistance to Ukraine.” This comes as yet another sign of the allies’ intention to accommodate the U.S. position on that.
Zelenskyi had a successful meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.
The U.S. President promised to grant Ukraine licenses to produce interceptors for Patriot air defense systems. Kyiv was seeking the decision for months.
U.S. officials voiced no criticism of Ukraine’s strikes against targets inside Russia that triggered fuel supply interruptions.
“The Russians are finding it more difficult to defend their own airspace—and what we hope that means is that’s going to create the space now to negotiate the end of this war,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was also present at the meeting, said.
“It’s an escalation, but it’s also an escalation that can help lead to an end,” Trump said.
The summit declaration mentions Russia just once, saying: “To counter the long-term threat Russia poses to Euro-Atlantic security and stability, and the persistent threat of terrorism, Allies are delivering on The Hague defence commitment.”
The phrasing almost copies that of the 2025 Hague summit declaration. The 2024 Washington summit declaration said Russia “remains the most significant and direct threat to Allies’ security.”
When asked about his message to Russian leader Vladimir Putin ahead of the summit on Wednesday, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said: “My message is that this Alliance of one billion people living in Europe, living in Canada, living in the United States, that this Alliance will defend every inch of our territory. That you cannot win from NATO. We are defensive. We will never attack anyone. We will only defend our way of life, our democracies, our territory. So, don’t fool with us, don’t play with us.”
Ahead of the summit, foreign media wrote about a possibility to restart the Ukraine-Russia peace talks.
Statements by Russian officials and those by Vladimir Putin show that Moscow seeks to restart the talks under U.S. mediation. The negotiations in this format have stalled since winter.
In spring, the EU countries started discussing a possibility to have e European mediator in the peace talks. One of the candidates for the role was Finnish President Alexander Stubb. Speaking to reporters ahead of the NATO summit in Ankara, Stubb shared his prospect on diplomatic efforts that could help end the war.
“This issue is constantly being discussed,” Stubb said [according to the English text by Interfax Ukraine].
He said he had conversations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, French President Emmanuel Macron, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and President of the European Council António Costa.
Stubb said he was not too optimistic about the chances for a breakthrough during the summit.
“I think we just need to gather our strength right now. But what I think we are seeing now is escalation. And, hopefully, this will lead to de-escalation and, in particular, to the Russians sitting down at the negotiating table,” Stubb said.
Only then it will be possible to restart the talks and get Putin to the negotiation table, he said.
An unnamed senior NATO official told reporters on the sidelines of the summit that the Alliance does not think that Russia is ready for full-fledged talks. He said Russia’s war aims remain unchanged.
He also said that across the Russian elites the moods are changing.
Some representatives of the elites now say that it’s Putin’s war, not theirs, he said. Putin has done a lot so that the residents of Moscow and St Petersburg experience as little war consequences as possible. But Ukrainian strikes, the situation around oil refineries and the sanctions are gradually changing it. So that the changes occur not only in the frontlines, but also inside Russia, he added.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that Russia would closely monitor the outcome of the NATO summit in Turkey.
During his meeting with Zelenskyi on the sidelines of the NATO summit, U.S. President Donald Trump said he believes Putin wants to end the war “soon.” Trump asked if any reporters had questions for Putin. BBC Ukraine correspondent Myroslava Petsa said: “When will he end this war? That is the question.” Trump answered: “That’s a good question. I don’t think I’ve ever asked him that question. I’ll be asking that question.”
Trump said he had discussed with Putin a possibility of him meeting Zelenskyi. Trump asked Zelenskyi if he would go to Moscow to meet with Putin. “There are a lot of Ukrainian drones there. It’s dangerous,” Zelenskyi responded.
Ukraine strikes 12 Russia’s shadow fleet tankers, tugboat, cargo ship in Azov Sea
The Ukrainian military struck 12 Russian tankers, a tugboat and a dry cargo ship in the Azov Sea overnight on Thursday, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a post to social media on Thursday.
The vessels were used to supply fuel to the Russian military, and to transport oil and petroleum products in circumvention of international sanctions, the Ukrainian General Staff said.
Ukraine’s defense forces also hit the Yug Rusi oil terminal in the city of Bataysk, in Russia’s Rostov region. The attack sparked a fire at the facility. It transports petroleum products for exports and is used to supply fuel to the Russian military in the southern direction, the Ukrainian General Staff said.
The Ukrainian military also struck a Russian ammunition depot near Sorokyne, in Luhansk region, the message reads.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said in a post to social media on Thursday that Ukraine’s defense forces had hit oil depots in Russia’s Stavropol and Tver, an oil pumping station in Ufa and an oil terminal in the Rostov region.
The KINEF oil refinery in the Leningrad region was likely hit, reports on Telegram said.
Putin’s yacht moved to Barents Sea for fear of Ukrainian drone attacks, media reports say
The Graceful, thought to be Vladimir Putin’s personal yacht, was recently moved through the Baltic and North Seas to the military port of Severomorsk, the base of Russia’s Northern Fleet in the Barents Sea, Russian news site The Insider said, citing a July 7 report by Denmark’s DR public broadcaster.
Earlier this month, the yacht passed through the Danish territorial waters accompanied by a Russian destroyer and a Project 23700 vessel called the Voevoda, The Insider said. After passing along Norway’s coast, both vessels switched off their AIS transmissions. On July 4, the Voevoda briefly transmitted its coordinates again while located about 70 kilometers from the Russian port of Severomorsk. On a July 5 satellite image, DR found two vessels at the pier that it assessed were highly likely the Graceful and Voevoda.
According to DR, the vessel had previously transmitted an AIS signal indicating that it was heading to Istanbul, but its final destination turned out to be a military port in Russia’s Murmansk Region.
The 119 million dollar yacht is believed to have been moved for fear of Ukrainian drone attacks.