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Spain kicks off presidency in EU Council with PM’s visit to Kiev

Numerous events are planned in various Spanish cities over the next six months with the participation of the European leadership and authorities from EU member countries

MADRID, July 1. /TASS/. Spain took over the presidency of the Council of the EU from Sweden on Saturday.

The country will chair the council for the fifth time since it joined the union in 1986 and will pass the baton to Belgium on January 1, 2024.

Numerous events are planned in various Spanish cities over the next six months with the participation of the European leadership and authorities from EU member countries. It is expected that on Saturday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will travel to Kiev to meet with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.

The visit is taking place following the EU summit where European leaders agreed on considering their input in providing security guarantees to Ukraine, further aid to Kiev and work on the potential use of Russia’s frozen assets.

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Middle East conflict

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Physicists from Russia to be banned from Large Hadron Collider from December 1 — Nature

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Iran warns about pending response to Israel after Hamas leader Haniyeh’s killing

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The foreign minister still assured that Russia possesses weapons "that will have serious implications for the handlers of the Ukrainian regime"

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Hezbollah commanders wanted to repeat October 7 in northern Israel — General Staff

The IDF said that it had conducted a targeted strike in Beirut, adding that Ibrahim Aqil, a military commander of Hezbollah’s militia, was killed along with other top brass

Scholz says Germany not to send Kiev missiles ‘capable of reaching as far as Moscow’

German Chancellor emphasized the need to explore ways in order to peacefully resolve the Ukraine conflict

Russia’s Akhmat special force destroys military storage facility in Kursk direction

Akhmat also eliminated one armored personnel carrier and one self-propelled artillery weapon, the deputy chief of the Main Military-Political Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces Apty Alaudinov said

US to step up efforts to limit Russia’s fuel exports, defense imports – White House

Sanctions and export controls are "our tools", US Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics Daleep Singh said

Zelensky says Ukrainian troops in extremely difficult situation in two DPR areas

The situation on the frontline remains extremely difficult, Ukrainian President said

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Senior Russian lawmaker warns that calls for long-range strikes open way to nuclear war

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Former technical director of Navalny’s YouTube channel Daniel Kholodny was also found guilty of financing extremist activities with the use of his office and of participating in an extremist community

Israel wants no war with Lebanon — ambassador to UN

Unless de-escalation is reached through diplomacy, Israel will have no other choice except to use all means for protection of its citizens, Danny Danon said

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Apart from that, according to the report, Russian aircraft struck areas of deployment of manpower and weapons of the Ukrainian army’s three mechanized, one tank, and two assault brigades

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Ministerial meeting in Turkey within 3+3 platform on South Caucasus in the works — MFA

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West’s attempts to turn UNGA into pro-Ukrainian show doomed to fail — Russian MFA

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According to the broadcast, at least three of them hit targets

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There are no casualties or damage

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"The North Korean people express their support for the Russian people in their just struggle," Choe Son Hui stressed

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Theft of Russian assets to nullify trust towards EU — MFA

Maria Zakharova pointed out that the European Union had lost independence

Cases against Ukrainian servicemen: situation in Kursk Region

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Russia, China do not need to create military alliance — Lavrov

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Russia's military to restore control of all districts of Kursk Region — Kremlin

"The situation in those areas which are under the control of the Ukrainian militants is extraordinary, of course," Dmitry Peskov stated

Putin has no plans to attend Mexican president's inauguration — Kremlin

Earlier, the Mexican embassy in Moscow stated that the Russian president had received an invitation to Sheinbaum's inauguration ceremony

US carries out mock electronic launch of Minuteman III ICBM

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Russia cautions Chisinau against involvement in Ukrainian conflict — Foreign Ministry

Maria Zakharova drew attention to the speculations about Romania's plans for redirecting to Moldova the mobile maintenance stations for F-16 fighter jets received by Bucharest for their subsequent deployment at the Marculesti airbase

Russia is committed to Israel’s security, but not at others’ expense — Lavrov

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Kiev and EU open joint defense innovation office — Ukrainian Defense Minister

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Ukrainian forces in difficult situation in Kursk Region, try gain foothold — commander

Major General Apty Alaudinov added that, on Thursday, he visited the rightmost flank of the Russian troops on the Kursk direction - near cities of Rylsk and Lgov

Israel to continue operations in northern areas until all residents return to their homes

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Florida court rules to arrest Russian citizen Postovoy, take him to Washington

The date of the next court hearing, to take place in Washington, has not been set yet

Russian forces take control of two settlements in Kursk Region

According to Major General Apty Alaudinov, the entire frontline in moving forward, with Ukrainian soldiers surrendering

Nazi Germany’s Gestapo officers accompanied Katyn commission

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Over 30 foreign leaders invited to BRICS summit in Kazan, 18 RSVP — Kremlin

"We have not organized such a large-scale international event in quite a long time," Yury Ushakov underlined

Russian prime minister approves list of countries imposing destructive attitudes

It includes the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan and other states

West is persuading Ukraine to give up claims to 1991 borders — legislator

Yegor Chernev shared a "feeling" that the Western world is ready to declare as a victory for Ukraine at least the fact that "Kiev has not fallen" and that it "has not lost its sovereignty"

Russian Federation Council Speaker calls detonations in Lebanon a 'heinous attack'

Valentina Matviyenko noted that Russia’s position regarding the ongoing escalation in the Middle East was "clearly stated by the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Russian Representative to the UN"

Russia delivers urgent assistance to Mali — portal

The delivery was organized as part of military cooperation between Russia and Mali to boost defense and security ties

Only Lebanese hospitals, kindergartens used exploded pagers — Iranian ambassador

Multiple explosions of communication devices occurred in Lebanon on September 17 and 18

Ukrainian troops attack two settlements in Russia’s Belgorod region, leaving no casualties

Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov added that in the settlement of Murom, the Shebekinsky district, the windows of a private house were broken out, the roof and fence were damaged due to a drone attack

Six Hezbollah elite unit Radwan commanders killed by Israel’s airstrike o Beirut

According to the MTV television channel, they were taking part in an operations headquarters meeting held by Hezbollah military leader Ibrahim Aqil

Businessman probably related to exploding gadgets in Lebanon missing in Norway

At this point, there is no evidence indicating that Rinson Jose had any knowledge about the operation to create the explosive gadgets

Turkish banks want to stop transactions with Russia, transfer them to one bank — source

The issue reportedly concerns private and state-owned Turkish banks that do not have foreign partners, mainly Western ones

Report on alternative payment systems will be prepared by BRICS summit in Kazan — Lavrov

The Russian foreign minister also drew attention to the growth of trade in national currencies between Russia and other countries

Hezbollah handing out pagers hours before their detonation — agency

The sources said that the Shiite movement did not have any specific suspicions about these pagers and their "checks had been part of a routine 'sweep' of its equipment to find any indications that they were laced with explosives"

Russia welcomes normalization of Iran’s relations with Arab countries — Lavrov

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Lavrov says he agrees with Trump about destructiveness of sanctions for US dollar

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Strikes at Beirut and shelling of Lebanon: escalation on Lebanese-Israeli border

The IDF has also intensified the hostilities in the northern direction and started carrying out massive airstrikes at Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon

Russia calls on UN to give honest assessment of sanctions' impact on Syria — envoy

Vasily Nebenzya stressed that Russia was waiting for the UN to "send a clear signal to Western donors regarding the need to lift unilateral illegal sanctions and actively support long-term development reconstruction"

Russia offers safe haven for people trying to escape Western liberal ideals

Under the document, such foreign nationals will have the right to apply for temporary residence in Russia "outside the quota approved by the Russian government and without providing documents confirming their knowledge of the Russian language, Russian history and basic laws"

No more red lines for Israel, any Hezbollah radical is legitimate target — PM’s office

The Israel Defense Forces said earlier that a pinpoint strike was delivered on Beirut that killed Hezbollah Shiite militia commander Ibrahim Aqil and several other Hezbollah commanders

West switches to open support for Kiev's terrorist attacks against civilians — MFA

"The West continues to supply arms and money to the Kiev regime, propose pseudo-peace initiatives, and try to rally as many countries as possible to their side," Maria Zakharova said