NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said it appears Belarus is preparing to host large numbers of Wagner militia members — consistent with satellite imagery and other reports over the past week. “So far we haven’t seen so many of them go into Belarus,” Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels, adding that NATO was also tracking the movements of Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who he said has “moved around” recently. Prigozhin is currently back in Russia, according to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Sweden’s prime minister will come face to face with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday ahead of the NATO summit. President Joe Biden is also likely to meet with Erdogan, as the US looks to get Sweden’s bid to join the military alliance across the finish line. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is also on the move ahead of the NATO meeting. He traveled to Bulgaria on Thursday and may visit Prague. Zelenskiy is also expected to meet with Erdogan in Istanbul on Friday to bolster support for an extension of the Black Sea grain deal.
A Russian missile strike on a residential area killed at least five people and injured dozens more in the far western Ukrainian city of Lviv. It was the deadliest hit of the invasion on the city, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the Polish border and a key supply route and transportation hub. Ukraine and Russia announced a POW swap of 45 service members for each side.
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Markets
Russian Officialdom Unperturbed at Ruble’s Biggest Downswing
Top Russian officials couldn’t agree on what’s dragging down the ruble but signaled little alarm at the depreciation that’s brought the currency to its weakest levels since the immediate aftermath of the invasion of Ukraine.
As the ruble weakened past 93 per dollar on Thursday, Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina attributed the declines largely to a deterioration in trade that’s seen exports drop sharply while imports inch up.
