European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos has voiced serious alarm over the Verkhovna Rada’s (Ukrainian Parliament) adoption of a contentious law stripping the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) of their independence.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot and his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha have travelled to Kharkiv after a visit to frontline Sumy.

Ukraine plans to open four embassies – in the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Panama and Uruguay – by the end of 2025.

In his address to Ukrainian diplomats, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has named three priority issues for Kyiv that he wants to discuss during the third round of talks with Russian representatives in Istanbul.

A meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (also known as the Ramstein Format) will take place on Monday 21 July and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is expected to attend.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced an agreement with France to train more Ukrainian pilots on Mirage fighter jets, in addition to those already undergoing training.

The presidents of Ukraine and France held a telephone conversation on Friday 18 July.

The detailed content of the European Union’s 18th package of sanctions against Russia has been unofficially disclosed in Brussels.

Romania’s Ministry of Defence has launched negotiations with Ukraine on the joint production of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which could also be sold to other European countries.

The 18th package of sanctions against Russia includes over 100 shadow fleet vessels, a lower price cap on Russian oil and measures targeting banks and companies outside the Russian Federation involved in supporting its war machine.

Taras Kachka, Ukraine’s former trade representative, has been officially nominated for the post of Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration.

Poland has summoned a representative of the Russian embassy following a strike by Shahed drones on a Polish company’s facility in the Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia.

The Italian government has no plans to join a US-NATO initiative to purchase American weapons for Ukraine with EU funds, citing a lack of available resources.

Egils Helmanis, Mayor of the Latvian city of Ogre, has been injured during his volunteer mission to Ukraine, likely near a frontline area, municipal representative Patriks Grīva has said.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was instrumental in persuading US President Donald Trump to provide Ukraine with more Patriot air defence systems, as Trump was increasingly frustrated with his failed attempts to convince Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin to halt the war.