Today with @eucopresident & @vonderleyen, we held the 1st-ever Armenia-EU Summit!
This marks yet another significant milestone in deepening 🇦🇲-🇪🇺 partnership of strategic importance.
We reaffirmed our shared resolve towards democracy, peace & better future for our citizens.
Macron: Russian interference in Armenia’s elections has been massive and is known to our services.
France will help expose these manipulations. Armenia is a great people that values its sovereignty and independence, and its prime minister is fighting that battle with courage.
Scandal brewing in “neutral” Ireland after revelations that one Russian-affiliated plant there has been supplying over 83% Irish exports of alumina to Russia where it’s smelted into aluminum, a critical component for war production.
Aughinish Alumina in County Limerick, Europe’s largest alumina refinery, owned by United Company Rusal (Russia’s largest aluminium producer), whose parent EN+ Group was founded by sanctioned oligarch Oleg Deripaska. An investigation by the Irish Times, OCCRP and other outlets, drawing on confidential documents, customs data and satellite imagery, established the supply chain.
The Irish government tried to deflect but when a reporter filmed the plant with signs in Russian, they could no longer deny it. Now internal documents were leaked showing that the company is threatening the Irish government with loss of jobs and all sorts of things if it tried to curb its exports to Russia.
The newest defense is that alumina isn’t under EU sanctions so technically no rules were broken. Except Ireland had no problem defying the EU and forging ahead with its own restrictions on imports from Israel with its Occupied Territories Bill. Because… reasons (or maybe Russian occupation of Ukraine is OK while Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands is not).
Australia stopped its alumina exports to Russia because the material is so necessary for the war (its main exporter was also 20%-owned by Deripaska). The neutral Irish government is operating under different standards, where morality is spelled in Russian.
I wonder what the Irish people, who overwhelmingly support Ukraine (in fact, they are among the strongest supporters in Europe when it comes to economic and financial aid), think about all of this.
❗🇺🇦👊 Zelenskyy delivers a strong and direct message to Putin:
🗣️ “If you personally, in your own thoughts, have not yet reached the conclusion that the time has come to end this war, Ukraine will continue to fight for its existence. We will have those who will support us.
But you too will have to fight much harder for your own existence — not for Russia’s, but for your personal one. And this is not a threat from me or from Ukraine. These are the facts of Russian history, which you know very well:
When Russia gets tired, changes happen.”
This is one of Zelenskyy’s sharpest and most psychologically pointed messages to Putin. He places full personal responsibility for the war on the Russian leader and subtly reminds him of the historical fate of Russian rulers who exhaust their country in prolonged conflicts. The tone is confident, calm, and uncompromising.
Video is generated by grok AI
I am deeply saddened to learn that Lily was among the Navy personnel who lost their lives in the helicopter accident yesterday in Devon. Lily was a force of nature, the only serving female Commando, and inspiration to other young women - and frankly to me as well.
When I met her in Parliament in May 2025, I put the following post out on LinkedIn with the photo below.
"Her journey ... is one of courage, persistence, and service.
Lily is doing a fantastic job helping young people understand what life in the Armed Forces is really like, and why service matters.
We need more stories like hers in the public eye."
The names of the three individuals who sadly lost their lives this week have been released in full: Lt Cdr Chris Gayson, Lt Lil-Mae Fisher, PO Owen Green. My thoughts are with their families and loved ones at this terribly sad moment.
In a statement carried on the Royal Navy website, Lily's family say of her:
“Lily-Mae was an extraordinary woman, daughter, sister, and partner. To say she was full of life is an understatement: she took every opportunity to push her limits, achieve more, and bring out the best in those around her.
“We are so proud of everything she accomplished. She has left an immeasurable hole in our lives, and in all the lives she has touched and inspired. The family kindly ask for time and space at this difficult time.”
Lisa is an American living in Kyiv and she shared a story on instagram about the silent burden many Ukrainian civilians carry living under constant Russian drone and missiles attacks to their cities.
📹: lisanwoods / Instagram
[Q]: Is Putin capable of launching a nuclear strike?
@DenShtilierman: Look, the most important thing in this war is to never think about the fact that Russia has nuclear weapons. If we think about that, we have already lost.
We have to fight as if they do not have anything. Moreover, experience shows that China does not need this. And without China, Russia is simply incapable of waging any war. Nobody in the world needs this,” - Denys Shtilierman, co-founder and chief designer of Fire Point.
I’ve been investigating the russian refinery for days now and the story gets darker and darker. The shipments are sent to Siberia, smelted, and sold to the russian company ‘ASK’. This company distributes aluminium directly to Russia’s missile & drone manufacturers.
❝Russia is terrorising the population. Our resolve in defending ourselves and continuing to support Ukraine in the face of this threat is unshaken.❞
— @SecGenNATO visits Ukraine 🇺🇦 with the North Atlantic Council
Artificial Intelligence is built on the creative work of millions of writers, artists, musicians, journalists, teachers, scientists and ordinary people. That work has been stolen by Big Tech oligarchs.
Now's the time to reclaim it and ensure AI works for ALL, not just the few.
“What keeps me here is my soldiers.”
Ukrainian street photographer Mykhailo Rybko crossed paths with American combat medic @bekamaciorowski.
She shared what brought her to Ukraine, and encourages her to stay here, 4 years in.
Thank you for your service, Rebekah!
Russia's biggest battle right now is Armenia.
Russia has already lost elections in Romania, Moldova, and Hungary, and is now losing in Armenia. If it loses Armenia, Georgia will likely be next. Turkey is watching closely.
Russia is now doing everything it can to pull Armenia back into its orbit. Following its defeat in Karabakh and the effective collapse of Russian security guarantees, Yerevan began dismantling the system of dependencies that Moscow had spent decades building. Armenia froze its participation in the CSTO, openly questioned Russia's role as a security guarantor, expanded cooperation with France, India, the United States, and the European Union, and began searching for alternative sources of military support and economic ties.
In response, Moscow launched a comprehensive pressure campaign aimed at making any attempt to leave Russia's orbit as costly as possible.
An investigation by the Dossier Center indicates that the Kremlin has been attempting to directly influence Armenia's domestic politics. This is not about supporting a single candidate but about building an entire anti-government infrastructure. Russian political strategists worked on projects associated with Samvel Karapetyan and Arman Tatoyan. At the same time, they deliberately avoided openly pro-Russian rhetoric. Instead, they promoted messages about "pragmatism," the need to take the Russian factor into account, and the alleged impossibility of Armenia's survival without cooperation with Moscow.
In parallel, the Kremlin intensified its information operations. According to Reuters and researchers tracking influence campaigns, Russia-linked networks created fake news websites, spread disinformation through social media, and coordinated campaigns against the government of PM Nikol Pashinyan.
The same familiar narratives were used: corruption, dictatorship, persecution of the Armenian Apostolic Church, "external control" by the West, and betrayal of national interests. The defining feature of these campaigns is that they do not promote any specific vision of the future. Their goal is to undermine trust in state institutions and create a sense of hopelessness.
A separate tool was economic pressure. Ahead of the elections, Russia began blocking or restricting Armenian exports to its market. Restrictions affected Jermuk mineral water, alcoholic beverages, flowers, vegetables, strawberries, and other products. Formally, the justification cited sanitary or technical violations. In reality, the Kremlin was demonstrating that any political distancing from Moscow could carry direct economic consequences for Armenian producers and exporters.
Energy remains another major lever. Russia controls most gas supplies to Armenia and regularly reminds Yerevan of this dependence. Fortunately, it is currently summer, and Armenia still has time before winter to address its reliance on Russian gas.
At the same time, Russian officials and representatives of the Eurasian Economic Union have warned of potential economic losses if Armenia continues to distance itself from Russian-led integration structures.
In this way, the Kremlin presents a simple choice: dependence on Russia or economic hardship.
Security blackmail is no less important. After its failure in Karabakh, Moscow lost the ability to convincingly present itself as an effective security guarantor. As a result, the emphasis shifted. Armenia is no longer offered protection; it is offered fear.
The Russian message is simple: perhaps we failed to protect you, but without us things will be even more dangerous. That is why Russian narratives constantly focus on the threat of a new war, regional instability, and external dangers.
Importantly, all of these tools function as a single system. Political interference is reinforced by information operations. Information operations are reinforced by economic pressure. Economic pressure is reinforced by security threats.
The Kremlin is trying to create an environment for Armenia in which any step toward greater independence will seem dangerous and too costly.
That is why the current struggle over Armenia is not a conflict between Russia and the West. It is a conflict between Armenia's desire to make its own decisions and the Kremlin's determination to preserve its mechanisms of control over the country.
Today is Kyiv Day
Western diplomats performed the song “Kyieve Miy”, which is considered the unofficial anthem of the Ukrainian capital.
The video was published by the British Embassy in Ukraine.
In addition to British diplomats, staff from the French and German embassies also took part.
Every day, ships leave this russian owned factory in Ireland straight for St Petersburg carrying thousands of tonnes of raw alumina for the war machine.
There’s corruption everywhere. Locals tell me politicians are bought by oligarchs.
Ireland is no longer militarily neutral.
REP. JIM HIMES: Lavrov's threats against diplomats in Kyiv are three things. Number one, it's a sign of utter desperation. Russians are losing ground on a net basis in Ukraine.
And the price they are paying is staggering. Russian people need to look at what they are being asked to provide in the form of their own blood, their own sons, for this mad dictator, to lose ground in Ukraine.
I think in the next couple of months, you will see Ukrainian military continue to recapture territory at great expense to Russia. So, it's a sign of desperation.
Number two, it's an admission of the mindset of a person who is very comfortable committing war crimes. Threatening civilian population and diplomats in that civilian population is perfectly indicative of the comfort that Russians have with committing war crimes: targeting hospitals, targeting maternity hospitals, targeting NGOs who are trying to deliver aid into communities along the front lines.
And third, I'm going to go back to Washington with Senator Blumenthal to make sure that Lavrov's threats result in additional resources coming to the people of Ukraine, because all that Lavrov represents is everything that free people need to be fighting against.
AUKUS full steam ahead 🇦🇺🇬🇧🇺🇸
Today in Singapore, @RichardMarlesMP, @JohnHealey_MP and @PeteHegseth have announced the first AUKUS Pillar II Signature Project.
The project will develop systems for Uncrewed Undersea Vehicles – protecting vital national seabed infrastructure.