Georgian president and a consistent critic of the ruling party, Salome Zourabishwili, vetoed the “Russian law” — as she promised she would

Now the ball is in the parliament’s court which has enough votes to override it

the Russian economy turned on the third cosmic speed: Q1'24 GDP grew by 5.4%. The dynamics are above the estimates of Банк России and analysts. Inflation in Russia in April amounted to 0.5% m/m, 7.84% y/y. The key rate meanwhile is 16%

A St Petersburg court has seized €463mn worth of assets belonging to Italy’s UniCredit, the European lender with the second-biggest exposure to Russia, ⁦Anastasia Stognei⁩ ⁦Silvia Sciorilli Borrelli⁩ ⁦Joshua Franklin⁩ report on.ft.com/3ypIMpK

“This could lead to serious damage to the banking system if the US authorities take sanctions.”

The ECB is pushing European banks to hurry up their exits from Russia, fearful the US could punish them for violating sanctions: on.ft.com/3WM9aEn

Blinken appeared to express a shift in Washington’s view on Ukraine using US weapons in strikes on Russian territory. “We have not encouraged or enabled strikes outside of Ukraine, but ultimately Ukraine needs to make decisions for itself on how it conducts this war . . . and we

Slovak prime minister Robert Fico reportedly shot, alleged shooter detained on the spot

EU to freeze Georgia’s accession bid if it enacts Russia-inspired law, Brussels officials warn Tbilisi

ft.com/content/3493da… @ft w Anastasia Stognei

Spot the difference and deduce the reason for why this statement was released 20 hours after the events it refers to

“The Chinese parallel order is taking shape. We used to say they are building it. Now we can see the sinews.”

As Putin heads to Beijing, a look at how Russia and China’s economic ties challenge the west, with ⁦Joe Leahy⁩ ⁦Kai Waluszewski 魏凯⁩ on.ft.com/4bALmrc

“The main problem right now is the White House policy to limit our capability” to strike military targets inside Russia, David Arakhamia, chair of the ruling Servant of the People party in the Ukrainian parliament, said during a visit to Washington on Tuesday.

Georgia has adopted the law on “foreign agents” despite months of protests and warnings from Brussels

Analysts said that Georgia could slide into the Belarusian-style repression deployed after Lukashenko’s fraudulent victory in 2020

with Ben Hall

ft.com/content/8b3222…

China poses ‘genuine and increasing cyber risk’ to UK, warns GCHQ head.

Anne Keast-Butler's remarks follow slew of alleged China-related espionage activity in UK, including a suspected cyber attack that targeted records of military personnel.

ft.com/content/222497…

Life goes on, and by the end of the week, Putin will head to China. There, he'll discuss finetuning the lifeline Beijing has extended to Moscow since the invasion of Ukraine. This visit may show US threats are wishful thinking. Delving into this topic 👇on.ft.com/4biKyHC

This is a really brilliant inside account of a Russian sabotage campaign in Poland – bravo Thomas Grove Bojan Pancevski and Karolina Jeznach

wsj.com/world/europe/t…

Recent staff changes at the top in Russia reveal Putin's thinking about his entourage. Essentially, he divides his people into three categories: experts on the Anglo-Saxon conspiracy, old heavyweights and guys actually capable of working ('technocrats').

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By using the Russian economy as a giant sandbox, the Chinese authorities can fine-tune a financial infrastructure that can be used by other nations seeking an antidote to Washington’s weaponisation of the dollar, Alexandra Prokopenko writes

ft.com/content/d02df8…

Jan Dalley, the FT Arts Editor of many years standing, is stepping down in September having shaped arts coverage for.. well this century!
Somehow we have to replace her. It's an incredible job. Extraordinary candidates only please boards.greenhouse.io/financialtimes…

Georgia has become a test for the EU: it must send a clear message to the ruling party and suspend EU candidacy if the law is passed

But it also owes it to the Georgians and should do all it can to maintain links with the civil society and the opposition

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