Russia on the back foot with dynamics of war shifting in Ukraine’s favour, EU says – Europe live

in Madrid

Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, is facing a long and difficult summer as corruption cases involving his brother, his wife and his predecessor José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero come before judges over the coming days and weeks.

The socialist leader – who took power eight years ago after using a vote of no confidence to topple the corruption-mired government of the conservative People’s party (PP) – has insisted there has been no wrongdoing by his family. He has also defended Zapatero and his right to the presumption of innocence.

But with two of his former right-hand men also accused of corruption and his former attorney general banned from his post for two years after being found guilty of leaking confidential information, Sánchez has a lot to contend with ahead of next year’s general election.

Here’s a rundown of the cases – starting with the prime minister’s younger brother, David Sánchez, who is on trial in the south-west region of Extremadura today, accused of influence peddling and misuse of public office. Ten other people face the same charges.

Brussels correspondent

Meanwhile, EU regulators have fined the Chinese shopping website Temu €200m (£173m) for failing to stop the sale of illegal and dangerous products.

The European Commission imposed the penalty after a 19-month investigation that found consumers were very likely to encounter illegal or unsafe products including baby toys and electronics on the firm’s website.

An unpublished mystery shopping exercise carried out for the commission found a “high percentage” of unsafe baby products and a “very high percentage” of dangerous chargers for sale on the platform, as well as unsafe clothes and jewellery.

Consumer groups across Europe have previously reported baby toys with loose parts presenting choking hazards, dummy chains long enough that they could strangle a child, jewellery laced with dangerous metals including lead, clothes made with banned chemicals and chargers that posed risks of burns, electric shocks or fire.

The commission also criticised Temu over inadequate controls on the design of its website. Recommender systems and influencers’ promotions by influencers “could amplify dissemination risks of illegal products” it said.

The €200m fine is the second and highest-ever imposed under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which has applied to the world’s biggest tech companies since February 2024. It follows a €120m penalty issued to Elon Musk’s X last December for “deceptive” verification badges and lack of transparency over advertising.

A senior EU official said the commission had found a particularly serious breach of the act related to an inadequate risk assessment on unsafe products that Temu carried out in 2024.

Kallas also says it’s “very important that we push Ukraine and Russia to talk to each other.”

She explains that’s the case “because on there are so many issues where only they can decide, and nobody else.”

“There can be countries that do this shuttle diplomacy, but in the end it has to be them who, who sit down on these issues that only they can decide.”

Kallas also says the EU does not want to get into negotiations “instead of the US,” but to be ready to play a role in a “complimentary” way.

Kallas also gets asked if the ministers progressed the debate on whether the EU should appoint a single lead negotiator to talk to Russia.

She says “the broad consensus” was to focus on the existing European institutions, and she says that “it is much more important to be really ready on the issues” instead.

Cypriot foreign minister Constantinos Kombos, who hosted the meeting, adds that the ministers had “a very, very honest discussion about the principles that should guide our position.”

Otherwise he just echoes Kallas’s statement.

Kallas says that “the dynamics of the war are shifting in Ukraine’s favour.”

“Russia is on the back foot, militarily, economically, but also diplomatically, but as the latest strikes on Kyiv have shown, Russia still shows no genuine interest in peace, which was also the clear view of the ministers today.”

She says the ministers had “a really thorough discussion” on what Europe should ask for from Moscow in any potential negotiations.

She adds:

“Europe will never be a neutral mediator between Russia and Ukraine, because we are on Ukraine’s side, and we are defending our own core security interests.”

She says that an unconditional ceasefire is “a prerequisite for any kind of peace negotiations,” and Russia “must stop sabotage operations, cyber-attacks, election interference, airspace violations across Europe” and “there can be no legal recognition of the occupied Ukrainian territory.”

Despite Russia’s Lavrov’s criticism (11:23), she repeats “there must be also limitations” on Russia’s military.

Kallas also says that “too many countries continue to do business with Moscow, while simultaneously enjoying privileged access to European markets and investments, so Europe must use its leverage more effectively when it comes to trade, investment, market access, partnerships.”

The EU is already working on another round of sanctions on Russia, she adds.

Oh, that was quick.

Kallas is speaking now. I will bring you the key lines here.

We are expecting to hear from the EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, soon with a press conference after the informal meeting of EU ministers any moment now.

Meanwhile, the Russian foreign ministry’s spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, has been raging against all sorts of enemies of Russia over the last hour.

In the latest exchange, she claimed that “drone attacks on Russia from the direction of Europe and northern European states are increasing,” Reuters reported.

It’s important to note that there is absolutely nothing to suggest that this is actually true, but it fits a broader pattern of Moscow’s lies pressure on the Baltics in recent weeks.

Earlier, Zakharova also rejected the allegations that Moscow is jamming GPS signals in Europe demanding “some evidence” to prove it – despite literal examples of defence ministers of Spain or the UK facing GPS disturbances in recent months.

Zakharova also criticised the US decision to deploy additional US forces to Poland, warning it could lead to an escalation of tensions between Russia and the west …

… and also criticised US-Japanese military drills which could apparently threaten Russia’s eastern territories, and even blasted Armenia and Luxembourg for other issues.