July 26 – European Union countries approved a weakened emergency plan to curb their gas demand, after striking compromise deals to limit the cuts for some countries, as they brace for further Russian reductions in supply. read more

ECONOMY, DIPLOMACY

* A deal agreed by EU states to curb their gas use should yield enough gas savings to last through an average winter, if Russia were to fully cut supplies in July, the bloc’s energy chief Kadri Simson said. read more

* The Kremlin said a repaired gas turbine for Nord Stream 1, Russia’s biggest gas pipeline to Europe, had not yet arrived after maintenance in Canada, and that a second turbine was showing defects. read more

* Russian gas giant Gazprom (GAZP.MM) has sharply increased pressure in the Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod pipeline that delivers Russian gas to Europe without prior notice, the Ukrainian state pipeline operator company said. Such pressure spikes could lead to emergencies including pipeline ruptures, according to the Ukrainian company. read more

* The first ships to export grain from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports may move within a few days under a deal agreed by Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations last week, a U.N. spokesperson said. read more

* The Kremlin said it believes former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is in Moscow, and did not rule out possible contact with him. read more

* The EU decided to renew sanctions against Russia for a further six months, until the end of January 2023.

* Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said he saw no reason to criticise Russia over the invasion of Ukraine, extolling Russian-African friendship in remarks that likely delighted his visitor, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. read more

FIGHTING

* Russia’s armed forces destroyed eight Ukrainian missile and artillery arms depots in the southern Mykolaiv region and in the eastern Donetsk region, the defence ministry said in its daily briefing. read more

* Britain said there was no indication that a Ukrainian warship and a stock of anti-ship missiles were at the dock-side in Odesa port on Sunday, after Russia earlier said it had destroyed those targets with high-precision missiles. read more

* The Kremlin said Saturday’s Russian missile strikes in Odesa were on military targets and would not affect grain exports. read more

QUOTES

“We (the EU) will not be divided because gas is scarce,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in Prague after talks with her Czech counterpart. “Instead we stand together, and that is the most important signal to the Russian president.”

Compiled by Nick Macfie and Mark Heinrich

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

REUTERS

JULY 26, 2022

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-russia-what-you-need-know-right-now-2022-07-03/